A World All Its Own

"... Where are we? ..."

A slow start on one world, as the sun broke the darkness of the night. This world, well, many of them can't fully make out right away. It wasn't Earth that was for sure, or even Equus for that matter. The morning sun of the twilight hours revealed a world as alien as one could be. While to some this was a minor problem, one group has already faced a bit of a brush with death, and now that they've landed, albeit a bit roughly, Team Harmony and the Mane six slowly went out to see just where they've all ended up. Pony, Human, and Gem alike had no idea what this place is, how far they were away, or what exactly could be here.

"What kind of place is this? Are we in Equestria?" wondered Jamie, looking around at the strange world. Unfortunately the more they looked, the more foreign things became.

"Nah, I don't think so. I've been workin with plants for years, and I've never seen anything like this before," Applejack noted. sure, she may be a farm pony, but no plant on any farm or otherwise matched any of these oddities. As they looked around though, they couldn't really see passed too much of the vegetation from there.

"Lapis, Rainbow, Twilight, think you three can fly up and see where we are?" asked Fulgurite.

"Already on it," Rainbow replied, as she, Lapis, and Twilight started to fly skyward. The first one to start shooting out complaints though was one of the Rubies, Eyeball. And boy was she upset with what had happened.

"I can't believe it! There goes my chance of getting home! what am I going to report back home? How will I even make my report?! ... And it's all your fault," Eyeball accused, looking to a particular unicorn and kid.

"What?! W-Wait, what'd I do?" Starlight gasped.

"You shut off the power in the White Diamond Space Station. YOU released that Gem monster that sent our ship flying into space!!"

"How was I supposed to know that?!" retorted Starlight. Before a fight could break out though, Garnet went in between them both. Eyeball groaned, but before a fight could start, Garnet went over and in between them.

"Ok, we don't need to play the blame game. Everyone makes mistakes. ... Even when you can see the future," Garnet said, looking off to the jungle nearby. Not even her future vision could've stopped that thing from ramming them off of the Space Station, and it all just went a little too fast for her to fully comprehend. Eyeball, annoyed, did calm down a bit, and as this was going on, some of the others went on over to the Sun Incinerator spaceship, which some of the technicians were looking over.

"Can't you make this fly again?" Fluttershy asked, as Peridot was checking the thrusters on the ship. Unfortunately it wasn't looking so good.

"Unfortunately the corrupted Gem rammed the back end of the ship and as such the thrusters were out during the warpspeed, thus causing the malfunction to tear apart the thrusters from the inside out and using up what power we have in order to get this ship a proper restart," Peridot explained, trying to get it to begin, only to be met with an electrical zap from what thrusters they got left.

"So ... in other words. We're stuck," Tiger's Eye concluded.

"Unfortunately, yes." Now THAT was rough news to hear.

"Hey, Peridot!" called Amethyst. Peridot turned and saw Amethyst with some of the Humans and Gems as she went over to her.

"Hey, you said before you've been traveling around planets, right?"

"I've been known for that."

"Great, you know what this planet is?" Steven then asked. It was an old little detail back when she had her limb enhancers still in tact, and with three hundred potential planets still in her known data bank that was her memory, she went over and began to take a look around.

"Hmm ... Ah!"

"Yeah?" gasped Amethyst.

"Nah. ..."

"Oh."

"... Ah, maybe -"

"Yeah?"

"Eh ... no."

"Yeah, that'd probably be stretching it," agreed Steven. This was gonna be a little bit harder than they thought, and with little idea to where they actually were that was a bit of a problem. Zircon, Flint, and Garnet looked around the group of humans, Gems, and ponies, seeing what kind of situation they've all ended up. To think, that they've just figured everything out for Pink Diamond's true murder, just to get tossed out of there and onto who knows where.

"Rainbow! Lapis! Twilight! What do you see up there?!" called Flint.

If anyone did see anything beyond the forest, it would be those three, but what they really were seeing wasn't anything they were familiar with. The flora all around them was simply a mixed bag of sorts: some mirroring trees, some looking like circular coral, and some even looking like some hybrid of a giant flower and a pinecone. Part from that, the rest of the world looked pretty unknown as of now. After getting the full area, they flew on down to the group. But before they did, they did spot something interesting further off into the sky ...

"Nothing but Alien jungle. But ... I think this could be a Gem colony."

"How so?"

"Look at that!" Rainbow answered, pointing a hoof straight up. The whole group looked on up, and sure enough they soon began to notice something just showing up in the gloom. It was hard to tell, but as Peridot and Diopside, with their enhanced vision, took a look themselves, it looked like a large planet. One that almost looked ready to split apart at any moment: grey, cut in several places, and debris floating around it like stone clouds from what they could see. As Peridot looked over the ship and tried to get it running, looking at the interior. Peridot needed a little bit before something clicked in her head.

"Aha! Sector 7!"

"Sector 7?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yeah! That was an old Gem colony from thousands of years back. My diamond mentioned Gems being created here, but due to the lack of need for this planet it was abandoned mid-completion. And if that planet's there, then -"

"Then this moon could have a Gem base on it!" realized Jasper in a gasp.

"Exactly!" Peridot agreed.

"Eh, Flint?" Fulgurite then called. Flint and the others took a look her way, and Fulgurite then pulled out something from the compartment. It looked a little bit dented for the moment, but still operating as it was supposed to be. It was about the size of a small disk, and thick as a donut with a brownish tint to it. However, a small antenna poked out from it, aiming upward and the tip having as green color, as it blinked every two seconds. Flint felt himself grit his teeth, but a part of him knew straight that White Diamond would do this. ... A small tracker.

"I knew it was too easy," Connie II sighed, upon seeing it.

"A Gem tracker. Why does that not surprise me?" Flint groaned, before grabbing the tracker, and smashing it onto the ground. Unfortunately, they didn't know how long that was going for.

"Let them come. I'm not going down without a fight," Bismuth said, her hands turning into hammers.

"Bismuth, we're not fighting anyone," Flint said.

"Why not?! They tried to shatter us, they took away everything, they have our Pearl! No way am I going to run away from them, I can fight them for months on end!" Bismuth yelled, not believing her ears.

"Yeah, you can. May I remind you we have a group of humans and ponies, one of which is crippled from the waist down! So unless you want to add more on White Diamond's death row, I suggest you buckle down and try to figure out how to get off this planet without them throwing us in her hybrid machine!" Flint yelled back. Bismuth felt a shiver in her back when she saw how scary Flint looked when intimidating someone. Flint was NOT in the mood to keep this sort of thing up.

"...uh, sorry, I'm just a bit on edge right now."

"I don't blame you," Bismuth sighed. Garnet got up on top of the Sun Incinerator. A strong whistle got everyone's attention to her. Getting all the facts, they had no more time to mess around.

"Ok, everyone listen up! We don't have enough time to get this ship flying again before White diamond's associates show up, so we have to start walking. If that planet is a Gem colony, there's got to be a Diamond Base somewhere on this planet, and odds are if we can find that, then we can message back to Homeworld, and figure out what to do from there. Keep in mind however, that not all of us are Gems: there's a group of both humans and ponies with us, and they require food and water, so we're going to have to help them survive just as well. Is that understood, everyone?" Garnet informed.

"Can't we fix up the ship?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, we can whip it back into shape in no time!" added Fulgurite.

"They're looking for us, Gems, they'll find us if we stay here. Come on, we got to put as much distance between them and us as we can," Flint instructed, getting a head start himself.

"Besides," added Zircon, "The odds of them finding the signature energy left by the Sun Incinerator after we start flying are exceptionally high, if they are indeed trying to find us. With their advance technology on their own ships, it won't be too long at all the second we start flying."

"Oh, thank you Zircon," Flint noted.

"Well, where do we even go?" Lars asked.

"Anywhere that's not here. Come on, one of you get Connie, and let's go," Flint instructed. The group started to head off, but ...

"Wait, where is Connie?"

"Come on, already? Connie, where're you?!" called Flint, trying to find her, but the group had nothing to go on. Connie was missing, and after looking, so was Steven! They haven't been here for five minutes and already they were in -

"It's ok, it's ok, we're here!" called a voice from inside the Sun Incinerator, just for one figure to come out. And it wasn't Connie nor Steven, but instead Stevonnie! The fusion took everyone by surprise somewhat as she came out, a bit wobbly in the knees, but still standing on her own two feet.

"Stevonnie? You feeling okay doing this, you two?" Twilight asked, going right up to her.

"Well, I thought it will help Connie come with us this way, you know?" Stevonnie admitted. normally this would be a bit of trouble, but with the situation, Flint nodded.

"If you two can stay that way, then fine. Ok, everyone, we're moving out!"

~~~~~~

The whole group began to head off away from the crash site, leaving the Sun Incinerator behind them, and into the alien world of the Jungle Moon. The sun from Sector 7 grew higher, and eventually the group did start to get a better look around the area. As probably expected, the whole area was mainly forest and jungle, though of course it wasn't the same as a jungle down on Earth or Equus. None of these plants they truly knew about, although they did resemble some of the plants back home somewhat, yet that wasn't comforting. Strange, odd calls and noises echoed all around them in this weird landscape, sounding in a way that was familiar ... yet wasn't. Of course, that was the least of their problems.
As they went along through the undergrowth, the Gems of the team stuck along the outside, with the ponies and humans moving along in the center, much like how a herd would protect their young from predators, which they all could agree on was somewhere on this moon. Fluorite took the liberty of giving some of the weaker individuals a ride. Jasper, Bismuth, Garnet, Flint and Topaz kept their eyes out especially, ready to fight at the slightest provocation at whatever was coming, though Tiger's Eye and Fulgurite were more eager to explore this big new world, taking lead. Tiger's Eye stopped and turned to Peridot.

"So, you've been here before Peridot? You must've had a blast while exploring this place," Tiger's Eye commented as she looked around before going off again.

"Well, it was only once during an exploration mission. Though I don't understand how the moon of this sector is still habitable."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because approximately 4,750 years ago, this planet was far drier and arid, life barely evident on the surface. In fact, one of the Sapphires at the time predicted that life would go extinct on the moon in the following five hundred years. ... Seemingly," Peridot explained.

"Well, that's life for you: always bouncing back," Stevonnie said. Whoever that Sapphire was, clearly she wasn't right, and life was more than abundant all over the place.

"You wouldn't happen to have made any fast food joints around here, do you?" Lars asked, them hearing a notable growl coming from one of their stomachs.

"Gems don't eat. And the food would've spoiled by now, anyway," replied Emerald, much to their dismay. What kind of food would be found around here anyway? As they continued going, one plant began to swell up at the stem, making Rhodonite, Fluttershy and Jamie jump. However, all it was doing was blooming, and a flower popped out. nothing too dangerous there.

"Well, we're alright. Look at how many plants there is around here," Starlight said, trotting over to one of the bushes. Humans aren't exactly horses, so the feeling was a bit more one-sided. Starlight Glimmer was joined by Applejack, checking out the plant in question. The exact plant was nothing more than an alien bush, but -

*HISSSS*

"AAHH!"

And it was time to meet the locals. Suddenly, and almost before they realized it, something charged out of the bushes, and leaped right onto Applejack, teeth sinking into her head! A quick and agile creature, AJ couldn't connect, and before she could hit it, it suddenly jumped off and landed ten feet away. The creature that found their group was small, about the size of the ponies, but looked more like a beetle in appearance. It stood on long armored legs, the entire body in an exoskeleton shaped in such a way that made it look like it had a rhino horn on its head. four eyes stared straight to the group, obviously this thing not afraid of any of them, no matter how big they were, or how many was there.

"An alien!" gasped Stevonnie. The alien hunter charged forward at lightning speed again, but Bismuth proved just fast enough to cut it's course, and turning her hand into an axe, sliced the creature in two! both halves landed not too far away, much of the group stunned but alright overall. ... Until the head became alive again and sprouted four new legs. These were smaller and not covered in armor, but it was enough to get the animal moving again. The animal went over back to the bush, and they all thought it was going to jump at em again, but all it did was turn around and hissed loudly, before jumping back into the bushes and out of sight.

"... Right. That happened," Tiger's Eye said.

"Yes, that indeed happened," Emerald replied, Twilight poking the other end of it, finding it was already dead, and will be dead.

"Anypony know what that was? Peridot?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't take much time to classify these creatures. But I think that one in particular is a type of Foracnid. but it's weird: they didn't look like that when I was here, nor reform so quickly. Must be to adapt to the drier climate," Peridot noted, thinking as Stevonnie picked up the remains.

"A few thousand years can make any animal evolve, Peridot. Life's interesting like that," Garnet said.

"How would you - ... wait, no, dumb question," Peridot corrected, remembering that this was a Gem who'd been on Earth for over five thousand years, some form of evolution would end up happening one way or another, convergent or otherwise. Either way, Stevonnie took a few sniffs of the raw meat, but it was rancid already, so she didn't bother with it.

"Well, if much of the life's like that, then maybe we better watch it. That thing didn't look scared of any of us," Rhodonite noted.

"Gems had not been here for thousands of years, they have no reason to be scared of us."

"Well that Foracnid does now," Bismuth said, her hand turning back to normal. Well, they just needed to be a little bit more careful in this place.

.......

From there, they continued on into the jungle, now a bit more vigilant, if not a bit more hungry. None of them were so willing to have a meal of that thing, whatever that was, and without too much knowledge on what can actually be edible around, they had little idea on what they could actually eat. Eventually in their little stroll, they began to come across something familiar to anyone: a small, shallow stream, flowing on through the jungle. Tired, and wary, the humans and ponies went over to the stream and began to have their drink. Well, at least the water tastes the same. Like deer, some of them occasionally looked around the area to be sure nothing was going to jump out at them.

"Does anyone know where we're going?" Lars wondered.

"Not really, but we'll be alright. Just try to hold in there, ok?" Stevonnie reassured, smiling to Lars. Lars flustered a little bit and went back to his drink. Sure it wasn't any pop or soda from the vending machine, but it was good enough.

"Oh, I do hope we find help soon. I only wonder what must be going on back at home. Poor Angel," Fluttershy wondered. She wasn't the only one wondering about what was going on at home, or what will happen once they do get home.

"Oh crud, what're my parents gonna think of me?" Lars realized.

"It'll be ok, Lars, really," Sadie tried to reassure him.

"How do you know; I leave Beach City and their son comes home looking like some cotton candy!" Lars said.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Pinkie commented, who herself looked very much like cotton candy.

"Oh. Eh, no offense," Lars simply replied. Still, thoughts like this were scattered around the place, either with them going home to Earth or to Homeworld. If even half of what they knew was truly going on back home, then one thing was for sure, they had A LOT to handle, especially for the Crystal Gems. Steven, without a Beach House to call home, and the Gems who basically need to start from the ground up again, Warp Pad and all.

"What are we gonna do when we get back?" asked Jade.

"I have no idea: Pearl's still gone and so's our home. ... Eh, Off-Colors, you don't think you have room for a few more Gems at the barn, do you?" Amethyst asked.

"Don't think we do," Tiger's Eye admitted. It was then some attention went over to Garnet.

"So, uh, Garnet, you've been known to predict the future. Do you have a possible idea?" Zircon asked. Admittedly though Garnet was a bit too ticked off at the moment to think properly, steam being visible seeping off her head despite her seemingly monotone expression.

"I swear, White Diamond. You're gonna pay for all of this," she muttered, Ruby coming up in her voice. Even the most level-headed of the group had her problems with the situation. The Rutile Twins went over to her, both concerned a little bit, and they could actually see a mixture of hot and cold coming from her, one side burning hot while the other freezing cold.

"Garnet?" they both asked. Garnet snapped out of it and turned to them.

"Eh, sorry. ... We'll be fine. Let's just find a connection back to Homeworld and we'll be okay," Garnet instructed, which didn't exactly answer Zircon's question. As the others were drinking nearby though, they were enjoying it just a little too much, and something actually came up from the otherside of the stream to join them in the drink. The first one to notice was Sadie, who looked across the stream to see the new creature also drinking.
This animal looked a lot different from the Foracnid, and actually looked more like a hoofed animal. The animal was a bit bigger than the Foracnid, about as big as a human being would naturally be, though that was only from the huge hump on its back. Its skin was a turquoise color, and had messy yellowish stripes along its huge, camel-like hump. It stood on four stubby legs, each ending in pig-like hooves, and the small head on its thicker neck ended in a bird-like beak. This odd animal was a lot less aggressive though, and didn't feel too threatened by them either.

"Uh oh," Sadie gulped. Some of the others saw this, and were ready to attack in case it thought of having some meat for lunch. The odd animal finished its drink, seeing them looking ready to fight, but all it did was lift up its head and squirt water at their faces before moving away from the river. Clearly, it wasn't too spooked by them, and moved off to some nearby foliage, where it proved its herbivorous diet by eating some low-growing tubers.

"Huh. Ok, we're fine. I'm fine," said Stevonnie, a little wet but not hurt. Seeing it eating up some tubers though did leave them a bit hungry again, the group not finding much known food since they got here, maybe even longer. Garbonzo and Soup went over to investigate what it was eating, thinking it could be something they can have themselves. Their growling stomachs needed something, and it was not the time to be picky. Being a little impatient, Garbonzo tried his luck, but the alien wasn't willing to share and tried to push him away. He was a bit persistent, and actually tried to push the animal aside, ala cow-tip. However, this didn't suit the alien, and it gave a more forceful spit. Instead of water, it was saliva, and it spat hard right at Garbonzo's face like a Llama would.

"Garbonzo!" Garbonzo gasped, jumping back and getting the sticky saliva off his face. Maybe his stomach could hold off for a while more. This animal decided that it wasn't gonna stay around, so it pulled off a decent sized tuber before strolling away. Well, at least they wouldn't be getting eaten by it, that was for sure.

"Well, it's not a meat-eater," concluded Connie II.

"That was Elefante Alienigena, one of the herbivores on the Jungle Moon. It's diet mainly consists of hard plant matter, so you should be fine. This one must've shrunk to adapt to the tropical environment ... either that or we just ran into a juvenile," Peridot noted. A larger animal in a jungle just wouldn't work so well, so shrinking down did make sense, yet they had to wonder how big it would normally be.

"Wait a minute. If it can eat these, maybe we can too," Sadie assumed, pulling out another tuber from the same area. The tuber in particular felt pretty heavy, and full of a form of liquid, but she had no idea of what. However, she was up for anything at this point, and ready to bite down into it, but Jasper grabbed it from her.

"Hey!"

"Don't get desperate: we have no clue if this is even edible for your kind. ... Amethyst!" Jasper called. Amethyst went over to her, and was given the tuber.

"Eat this, see if it's poisonous," Jasper instructed.

"Eh, whatever. Bottom's up," Amethyst shrugged, before shoving the thing into her mouth. She chewed it for a bit, but the moment that liquid got onto her tongue ...

"BLAH! ACK!" AND out came the tuber, now shriveled from all the liquid gone. Amethyst didn't mind eating up anything that others would find gross, but if she can't handle it, then maybe they might as well not bother. Thank the stars she was a Gem, otherwise they'd be in more trouble than it was worth. There wasn't too many tubers to feed them all anyway.

~~~~~~

And so they were on their way again, and after quenching their thirst, they continued off through this strange world. As they were walking, Lapis kept to the skies and served as a lookout for much of them as they kept going, the sky itself becoming a bit denser in clouds. With the jungle terrain however, it began to turn into a more hilly landscape, with the flattened land giving way to hills and valleys.

"Look, some of the others are getting worn out, can't we stop?" asked Emerald in a groan.

"What's wrong? Too much for a tough rock like you?" teased Peridot. Not too often she could turn the tables on him. Emerald could care less at this point, his fingers in his ears.

"No, no, I'm just sick of hearing them whine," Emerald griped. And whining they were, in particular Rarity and Melanite. Rarity wasn't the type of pony to be on constant hikes through the wilderness, and Melanite was just not used to it herself. Many of their complaints weren't suiting well with some of the others too, as most of these were mainly petty at best.

"Ignore em. Lazuli, can you see anything?!" Peridot called.

"No luck, still don't see any base anywhere for miles. Nothing but jungle," Lapis answered, flying down to them. Not a good answer for them, but the organic members were getting pretty hungry now after such a long time.

"Well we better find somewhere soon. Looks like someone's having a hard time keeping up," Jasper noted, looking back to the humans and ponies. Despite their previous set up, much of the group was getting a bit weak for continuing, and while they weren't thirty, starvation was a bit close behind them.

"You all getting tired there?" asked Garnet.

"I swear, I'm gonna start seeing things if I don't eat something soon," Jamie said, Lapis keeping him up. Much of the Gems didn't know how long a human or pony could go without food, but as it stood, they were pretty close to just dropping right there.

"Can you all try to keep up? I'm sure we'll find something edible in this jungle at some point," Peridot said. However, many of them were staring at her kinda funny, wide eyed.

"... Eh ... you're staring a little bit."

"No I'm not ... just, just stand still for a minute," Stevonnie simply said, but her eyes were still as wide as disks, and she began to walk over to her. Peridot began to get a little nervous.

"Uh, y-you ok? Why're you looking at me like that?" Peridot asked, backing up as they started to crowd her. All of a sudden, almost before they realized it ...

*chomp*

"AAHH! HELP HELP!" Onion got his first bite right into her head! Peridot raced around in a panic, arms flailing like crazy to get Onion to let go of her, many of the organic group seeing her as a running giant slice of key lime pie (beats a Dorito). Peridot got Onion off of her, but she ran off blindly into the jungle with them following.

"Peridot, get back here!" called Rhodonite, but of course Peridot didn't stop. As scary (if not funny) the situation was, they couldn't risk them running off into danger like this. Peridot ran like a maniac, her screeching voice echoing throughout the jungle. The others rushed to catch up, just in time to see Peridot run head long into one of the local trees. Only then did Onion let go, hitting the tree himself. That wasn't the only thing that fell to the ground though, as something fell from the tree, and landed Peridot right in the head.

"Peridot! You alright?" asked Jade, rushing over to her.

"Keep that thing away from me!" Peridot demanded, rushing away from Onion and going right by Garnet, hiding behind her. They looked up and saw a lot more of that same object within the branches of this tree, all of which looked like purple eggplants, each one probably as big as one of the Onion gang kids. Garnet took a look over to Jasper, the orange Gem not needing a word before she went right up to the tree. The first actual sign of food anywhere that they could eat, and Jasper wasn't waiting any longer. She got out her Gem weapon, and without a second missed, slammed her head into the tree, making a ton of fruit fall to the ground.

"FOOD!" gasped the ponies and humans.

"Wait a minute, we don't know if - and you're already eating it." before Flint could finish, everyone was trying to get the fruit out of the tree, going in and digging into the fallen fruit. The Gems kept their distance as the humans and ponies (and Spike) were eating up the delicious fruit. only one fruit was out of their reach, and Amethyst took a bite of it.

"Hmm ... tangy. It's okay, guys," Amethyst answered. Not that it mattered now anyway, since the first five fruits were already gone at this point.

"We'll just wait until their finished."

.......

*urp*

And all the fruit sacrificed their lives that day from that tree, as there was not a single fruit left. Well, a very few at the very top of the tree still remained out of reach, but that was about it. The feeding frenzy lasted about twenty minutes straight, and each one of them, evident by their bloated stomach, had quite a bit each. They all laid by the tree, satisfied, and stuffed to the gills.

"Eh ... you all good?" asked Fulgurite.

"Plenty good, thank you," Stevonnie said with a smile, patting her bloated belly in satisfaction.

"Please tell me Humans and Ponies aren't always that ... ravenous," Melanite said, standing over nearby and humbled by what they've witnessed.

"Better than them eating us," Garnet said, mostly referring to Peridot in particular.

~~~~~~

"Does anyone know where we're going?" groaned Melanite.

After their little binge of alien fruit, the group went off from there and after a while, the thick forests actually began to become more clear and open. They kept their guard up, but as they went on, some of the Gems were taking their time to relax and observe the world go by. Navy, Leggy, Padparadscha, Fluttershy and Jade relaxed on Fluorite's back, and looked up through the trees at the afternoon sky. They even noticed a flock of what looked like some rays flying by, looking similar to Cow Rays. One of these alien flyers flew closer to the tree tops and grazed on the top branches before flying off to join the flying flock, without even touching the tree or even stopping its flight.

"This is such a lovely planet," Navy said.

"There goes some more aliens," Padparadscha said, pointing up to the creatures.

"You're not getting tired, are you Fluorite?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's alright. It's pretty comfortable actually," Fluorite replied. The Gems on her back then noticed some familiar fruit up in some branches, the same fruit they just stuffed themselves with a while ago. Well, they couldn't risk another attack from the gang, so when she saw this, Fluttershy began to pull off some fruit for them to have later. She managed about ten fruit before getting back to the others. As she was doing that though, a much smaller animal began to flutter on by her. It looked small, only about the size of a lightbulb, and fluttered around on three sets of transparent wings. It looked like a mix of dragonfly, frog, and a hint of bird with a frog-like mouth, tipped with a bird beak and a round froggy body. The odd animal rested on Fluorite's back, Leggy growing very curious over it, crawling over and trying to catch it. Of course, the tiny animal didn't stick around, and flew out of range. Leggy tried to get it, climbing up onto Fluorite's head, but just missing the little creature, as it flew over towards Applejack and Connie II.

"How will we know when we find this Jungle Moon Base?" AJ asked Bismuth.

"It's hard to miss: just look for a Gem tower standing out in the open," Bismuth answered.

"I don't know if it'll be that simple. I mean, how long has this place been abandoned?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nature will take back anything that isn't maintained. I mean, the Gem tower could be covered in vines, or tree roots, or -"

"A Moss tower?" Padparadscha cut in.

"Eh, yeah. And hey, you've caught up this time," Connie II said, just for her to walk into Amethyst.

"I think we found it," Garnet stated.

And find something they did. The Ray Aliens had flown to this same location, and were grazing on the moss covering the thing. The object itself was very tall, easily the size of any tower and the shape of one as well. But unfortunately, as Connie II had mentioned, the place looked like a wreck: moss growing around the top and the roots of this world coiling around the bottom, climbing up it like snakes. This object didn't look like any tree of the planet, not by a long shot, and they could even see the building structure within the vines and growing plants. This HAS to be the Jungle Moon Base!

"YES! Our ticket home!" Tiger's Eye beamed, getting a head start in rushing right to it, alongside Fulgurite.

"You really think anything works in there?" Stevonnie asked.

"Well, for now it's the only shot we have. Come on, let's go in," Garnet instructed.

And so they did. It took little time for the huge group to get over to the front door of this moon base, and after tearing some vines away, got the doors open to venture on in. If one would call Earth's Moon Base ancient, then this one didn't even look like a moon base and more like someone's flora project gone awry. The thick roots and vines going up to the base made navigation a little bit of a puzzler to work around, and the bottom floor made it a bit hard to take five steps without going over at least one vine or stepping in some kind of moss. At this bottom floor, there really wasn't any sort of light apart from the door, making view a little bit difficult to top it off with. On the bright side, the place didn't look like it was inhabited recently, Gem or alien, or otherwise, so there wasn't gonna be any surprise guests for this little visit. That didn't mean it made it any easier, none of them able to see very much in there at first.

"Mane, can't see. Anypony got a light as one of their tricks?" Rainbow asked.

"I got it," Peridot replied. With some focus, her gemstone began to glow a bit, and sure enough it ended up acting like a sort of greenish flashlight, but she wasn't alone: Eyeball doing the same thing with her own gemstone. It wasn't the best light, but the best off what they got. And what did they first see up on one of the walls?

"A interesting piece of architecture. Who is that?" Navy asked.

"Yeah, who?" added in Leggy.

"Don't you know anything?! That's the mural for our lost Pink Diamond," Eyeball made clear, pointing to the mural. The mural didn't exactly match the one seen in the Earth Moon Base; the one on Earth showed her rising out of the ground with a single planet and moon in her grasp. This one was a little harder to make out thanks to the roots, but what they could make out was a Diamond in a sitting, crisscross position, her gaze seemingly looking upward with her arms spread, palms upward as if she was ready to receive something. If they did add whatever that was, it was too broken up and covered by flora to make out properly.

"Pink Diamond was here?" wondered Stevonnie, going up to the mural and placing her hand on it.

"This was an old base, so maybe," shrugged Flint. But they weren't there to figure out some artwork, and Flint got Peridot to aim her light upward, hoping to find some sort of route up. But all they could see was a ceiling with a diamond mural on it, this one showing all four diamonds much like the Sky Arena back home. No evidence to go upward though by what they could make out.

"Come on, there has to be some way to get to the upper level. Some ladder, or some stairs, or something," Flint groaned.

"Wait a minute, the Earth's Moon Base needed them activated, remember?" Peridot reminded, though it didn't help.

"And where're we supposed to do that here? You see any starting point anywhere, because I don't," Flint stated. Sure, he was more observant, but he had his limits, and with the dim light and multitude of foreign flora obscuring everything, it surely made the task a bit hard to make out, even for him.

"I'll get ya a way up. Here we go!" Rainbow said, her wings spread, and with a mighty jump, zoomed straight up to the ceiling. If there was some way upward, then some sort of opening had to be somewhere. Fluttershy joined her up there and took a look around a bit, both Pegasus feeling the top with their hooves for some hatch, but nothing seemed to be evident in here. Not even an outline of a door for them to feel. That didn't add up. They all saw how tall this thing was, they weren't even half way up and that seemingly was as tall as it would go?

"Find anything up there?" called Sadie.

"Nothing, just a ceiling!" Rainbow called. They really had to think hard on what to do here.

"Isn't there something we can find here to call em or something?" Lars asked in annoyance.

"Communication amongst any base is over near the top of the base, we have to get up there somehow. Sure you two can't find anything up there?" called up Doc. The pegasi tried to figure something out, but eventually Rainbow Dash tried a more forward approach, and gave the ceiling a good hit. The hit struck one of the diamond symbols, and then did something start to happen: when hitting the Blue Diamond symbol, a door appeared a floor up from them, along with a set of spiral stairs that hugged the circular wall. FINALLY they were getting somewhere! Twilight was the first to get there, and looked on inside, her head peering in, but all she could make out was just some star chart. Nothing to communicate in there by what she could see.

"Just a star chart," Twilight answered, flying back down. Good thing she removed her head, because shortly afterwards, the stairs and door disappeared, making her dropped to the ground.

"Oh great, it's a mind puzzle. The last thing we need right now," groaned Army.

"We'll figure it out. Try the White Diamond symbol," Garnet instructed. Fluttershy did and pressed it, and sure enough, another door and stairs appeared, this one at the very top, but didn't completely connect to the ceiling, though a few steps did tell them that it should connect. Guess White Diamond would be placed at the top, given her status, but that didn't help them out.

"That it? This should be simple," Rainbow said, flying over by Fluttershy, and hitting all four of them at once, one hoof per symbol. However, the room suddenly lit red and made a loud long beeping noise before calming down. Some game this was turning out to be.

"Looks like it isn't that simple," shrugged Fluttershy.

"It's one of those order puzzles. We just have to get them in the right order," concluded Twilight, flying up there herself to try and figure it out. She first tried the obvious one, which was the Diamond placement order: White, Blue, Yellow, Pink. But that didn't get them anywhere. Whoever left this place with this kind of puzzle didn't want any returning plunderers to ancient history. Each attempt did bring up some stairs and a door, but that didn't lead the full way to the top, and the other rooms they did check didn't lead to any communication room, much to their dismay.

"This isn't getting us anywhere. Come on, Twilight, you're the smartest when it comes to these puzzles," Rainbow said.

"I'm doing the best I can," Twilight said, but she was in an enigma on this one. Each diamond made a different set of stairs show up, but they didn't bring them all the way. White was first, that was obvious, but what came after that wasn't anything special, or as easy. She closed her eyes and thought it over, but as she was thinking about each diamond, something began to click in her head.

"Alright, I think I got it, stand back," Twilight decided.

White. Yellow. Blue. Pink. ... .

Still getting red.

"What?! But that has to be it," Twilight snapped. The others watched from below, observing this, but as they were, some of the Gems started to think back just a little bit.

"Twilight, try it again! I think we got it!" Diopside called.

"It doesn't work!"

"Just do it!" called Flint. Well, Twilight did, but after hitting pink, Flint got out his pistol, and shot the White symbol again.

White, Yellow, Blue, Pink, White.

And sure enough, they got the greenlight! With that order figured out, all the stairs than began to appear, and this time they all stayed there. The only problem however was that not all of them showed, and the last ten steps didn't appear, but a door from the ceiling did show up.

"Good job, you two," said Stevonnie. Good as it was, the missing stairs did prove to still be a problem. Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy flew on up into the top room. And sure enough, they found themselves at the upper level of the Jungle Moon Base. This one looked a bit out of date like the other areas of the base, but not too many vines to obscure their view. They soon saw a promising sign, and seeing what she could recognize as a communication system in a diamond communicator! Fluttershy looked down to everyone else.

"We found them I think! Come on up, everypony," Fluttershy called.

"What about the remaining stairs? Not all of us can fly," Tiger's Eye wondered.

"Allow me," Fluorite said, already beginning to climb up the stairs. Fluorite just got herself fitting on said stairs as she moved upward. They were so close, and Fluorite wasn't going to give up so quickly. Fluorite got to the end of the stairs, and once she did that, she began to act like an actual caterpillar, trying to reach for the top floor. With such a large body and little room it wasn't the easiest task, but after some attempts, Fluorite finally got to the upper level, her front arms grabbing the top floor. They didn't need to wait much longer to figure out what she was doing when she stopped and waited for them.

"Fluorite's using herself as a bridge," gasped Padparadscha in realization. Guess it did spell it out for the others in case some didn't get it right away. The others began to go up, and as the idea was, began using Fluorite as a make shift bridge to get to the upper level.

"You sure you're alright with this?" asked Applejack.

"I'm fine. Just don't wait too long," Fluorite simply answered, and this mostly implied to the larger Gems, who went over as quick as they could so Fluorite didn't end up buckling under their weight. Fluorite managed to hold herself out though, and once everyone was safely up on the upper level, Fluorite pulled herself up. The whole team was up on the upper level now, and once they saw the communication system, they wasted no time in getting there, with Garnet first.

"This is Garnet calling in from the Jungle Moon Base, come in Homeworld. ... Homeworld, do you copy? ... they're not connecting," Garnet concluded, after her attempts.

"Of course they're not connecting, it's out of power. Here, let me have a look at it," Fulgurite said, going over. Garnet stepped aside, and Fulgurite got the thing open, removing a metal plate under the communicator, just to find that the various wires looked like a complete mess: some kinked and others cut altogether in several places. If that didn't say it wasn't going to work, then what will?

"Alright then. Peri, come here, help me with this will ya?" Fulgurite said, Peridot going over and checking out the wiring herself. So, the two technicians began to get to work on the wires. Everyone waited with some baited breath, as the two techies of the group messed around with the connections, mainly trying to work with the ones that had been cut. They heard a few sparks fly, but Fulgurite made sure they didn't zap Peridot as they worked.

"How're we looking?" Amethyst asked.

"All of the connections are worn out. hopefully when we got them reconnected we can make this work - OW!" Peridot was cut off when her hand got zapped by a stray wire.

"Sorry," Fulgurite replied, getting one of her strands of hair over the wire so it wouldn't zap her again. As they were trying to handle this, Padparadscha and Eyeball looked over to one side of the communication display, and actually noticed a few stray wired that had been chewed away at, the two still shooting some sparks as Fulgurite and Peridot tried to work on their end. Both of them went over to the wires, looking to them a bit closely. They didn't look too bad, but their connections into the wall were still a bit worn away by passage of time.

"You two find something?" Rarity asked, heading over to them.

"Faulty wiring," Eyeball simply stated, and indeed it looked as such. Rarity may not know much on mechanics, but seeing this told her that it wasn't ever going to connect from there. Eyeball went over and looked the wires over, and soon got them picked up and tried to connect them to the wires in the wall. Rarity helped a bit with some of her magic tying the wires together, and once that was done, the communicator suddenly jumped to life. Fulgurite and Peridot backed up as the machine began to come back on, much to their delight.

"We found the problem," stated Padparadscha, catching their attention. Jasper went over to the three, Eyeball looking up to the Gem.

"Good job," she said. Eyeball flustered up and turned away. Now that they got the thing working, then came the task of actually making a connection. Just because a phone has batteries, doesn't mean it'll always have bars. So, with it running, they gave it another try. When they started it up, it tried to show a projection screen, but it seemed to show mainly static.

"This is Garnet calling in Homeworld, come in Homeworld. ... Homeworld, do you copy, over?"

And this time they got a response. It was a bit blurry at first, but eventually a connection finally got itself through, though the room they were seeing wasn't a standard Diamond room. In fact it didn't look much like any other room they've seen, and no one seemed to be around at the moment. At least, not at first, until the noise from the machine caught the attention from passing Blue Pearl.

"Pearl, that you?" called Twilight.

"Wha? ... Y-You're alright."

"Where're the Diamonds?" asked Flint. Blue Pearl glanced off screen for a minute, before she moved away, seemingly going to get them. It didn't take more than a minute before one of the Diamonds showed up, Yellow Diamond in particular seeing the call.

"Good to see you," said Garnet.

"What are you doing calling the Diamond line? We thought you'd be arriving on Homeworld by now," Yellow Diamond asked, though not sounding too malicious in her tone.

"S-Sorry to contact you this way, but we've had a little situation," informed Doc. Yellow Diamond studied the room a little bit.

"Where are you all?"

"Abandoned Gem Colony Sector 7, on the Jungle Moon Base. We've lost our course, and we're currently stranded here," answered Twilight. That news surprised Yellow a bit.

"Sector 7? That's light years away from Homeworld, how'd you end up there?"

"Let's just say there was a malfunction as we took off," Connie II said. It was probably the best way to sum up the situation, even if it wasn't exactly true.

"Where's Blue Diamond?" asked Lapis. It was a bit odd for Blue Pearl to get Yellow Diamond instead of her own diamond. Yellow sighed.

"She's in the next room, but now may not be a good time to talk to her."

"How come?" Stevonnie asked.

"Because she's trying to recuperate Pink right now. Pink Diamond's barely holding on in there," Yellow revealed. The Crystal Gems were especially shocked, though it sure sounded like White succeeded in her mission to revive her after all.

"P-Pink's alive?!" gasped Eyeball.

"Yes, but not as she was. White Diamond had been adding foreign shards into her in order to make her like Blue and me. We're trying to remove the shards to bring her back to normal," Yellow explained, though some with a keen eye could see the inner anger Yellow had in her for what White Diamond did. Adding shards to a already broken stone was as bad as force fusion, and Garnet felt herself shutter on the idea. Yellow then went back to the subject matter.

"Anyway, we'll have our troops come and retrieve you, though it might -" before Yellow could finish, suddenly the signal began to lose itself, and the screen started to glitch out again.

"Diamond, hold on, you're breaking up," Fulgurite said, trying to work it to make the connection again. However, it wasn't much use. Yellow tried on her end as well, but again, both sides lost eachother, and suddenly they got a new signal cutting them off altogether, and another Diamond standing there in what looked like some ship's bunker. White Diamond had made contact to them.

"Of course, why not?" Peridot groaned, hand to forehead.

"Oh clod, what in the stars do -"

"This message is being recorded and broadcasted upon Gemship 7x3, as intriguing and confusing as that may be from someone as myself. As such, I'm not able to hear or see you as of this moment, though I do imagine that you all might have a few questions. I'm sure though that they would be answered by the completion of this broadcast," White suddenly cut in. This made them a little bit confused, but at least White wasn't actually seeing them or talking to them right now. White Diamond cleared her throat, standing proper, with her hands casually behind her back.

"I'm sure some of you are aware of recent events in regards to a few ... peculiar facts being brought on by my fellow Diamonds. Amongst these would include my Hybrid project, and particularly, involving the more recent news of Pink Diamond. I'm not going to deny the fact that she was indeed killed, and yes, it was that act that began our Gem War down on Earth." As she was talking, she moved over to a ship window, the camera able to see just outside at what looked like an unknown planet not too far off.

"Now, on that subject, I'm sure you've been informed by now that it was myself who had shattered her. ... And, you'd be right. Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that peculiar act, and in a way yes, it was truly myself that did end up triggering the Gem War in some capacity. Now with that said, I'm sure you're all a bit appalled by this, shocked even, and considering something rather hypocritical on my part. ... Eh, no. No, that's where I have to draw the line." White Diamond paused for a moment, and snapped her fingers, showing a screen behind her showing the anatomy of Pink Diamond compared to the other three, showing her as very small in comparison, and showing her gemstone as well, and comparing it to a typical diamond stone.

"In our established rules over the thousands of years, we all are aware that any Gems that either fail to complete the tasks they're made for, or are considered defective when compared to the initial cut of the quarry, will have to be purged. Because we all know that Gems such as these hold little use towards Homeworld. Just because our dear Pink Diamond is a Diamond, doesn't exclude the rule. And I'm sure many who do remember her could agree that she is quite different from what a Diamond would be visualized as," White explained, presenting the diagram better so they all could see. The group watching this had mixed feelings about it.

"So with that said, yes, it is a cruel act, but yes, it doesn't break any of the rules established. That, and I've been working to recreate her since her shattering in order to better suit her. So before any of you come to my ship's hatch and start pestering, I have taken steps to revive her. ... Well, up to more recent events that is." White Diamond removed the screen soon after by gently pushing it aside, the screen now facing towards the window of the ship.

"Now, as for the hybrid project, the diamonds probably told you all about my plans to replace all gems with such things. Well, that was probably more my fault: a brush of power would end up saying things one would regret. You will begin see more of my Hybrid Gems come and begin their tasks on various colonies, but depending on you, it won't replace you all as a whole. Unfortunately, my project had a bit of a setback, and as of currently, my own space station had lost its core power due to some rebellious individuals. They may look familiar." And then a screen showed the Crystal Gems, the Mane six, Off-Colors, and the group of humans, much to the worry of everyone watching.

"Now, I'm going to say what I've told Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond: just because they saved Homeworld from this "Osicone" doesn't exclude their crimes during the Gem War. Anyone who'd gone through the Gem War themselves would know why that is, regardless if they truly shattered Pink or not. They have rebelled already, and now they've did this again on my own station. A little desperation had cut off the power, and it has gone to the point when I had to evacuate my own ship. Disappointing, really." White paused, her eyes looking down and she actually did look a bit bummed out, before she gathered herself.

"Anyway. I here by announced wanted status on all of these figures. They've refused to comply to me, they've fought my soldiers, and broke the trial I've placed on them. Do I even need to re-mention that I had to leave my own station because of that?" Before she continued, the screen behind her started to show numerous areas of the station, all having little to no power within them at the point. "I hope I've made the proper perspective on things. This is White Diamond, signing off."

Or, she would've signed off of the screen on their end didn't suddenly glitch into another one. This one suddenly showed White Diamond in another part of the ship, her sitting down in a seat, and actually showing a picture behind her of the Space Station again, this time seemingly looking out of a window instead of a projection screen.

"Well, my dear, dear Gems. Ponies. Humans. I'd imagine you all had a bit of fun," White stated. The others weren't sure if this was apart of the same broadcast or a new one altogether, but they've kept quiet as White glanced off outside.

"I'm sure you've seen my broadcast by now while flying around in that Sun Incinerator of yours. That's been broadcasted to all of the other colonies, so I'm sure you all might be on the chopping block some time soon. I did give you all a word of warning, but it seems that the concept of Gem Hybrids and Diamond regeneration made you all jump away from me. Fair enough. Though, your jump is a little bit too quick, unfortunately." White then presented a few different screens next: one of a corrupted gem, one of a few notable Gems not with them, and a picture of a working camera inside the facility. Pearl. And Aquamarine. And a few notable Zooman too.

"You all recognize these figures, surely. The same ones you've left behind in my station. I've got evacuation of my troops, though they weren't much of use to me. Plus, Pearl just couldn't follow my orders correctly. Guess my attempt to keep her mind in control didn't work with her. Then again, she is a rather peculiar Pearl, and always had been. Now, I'm not gonna stop you for trying to get them back, as I'm sure that's what you're planning to do. And I haven't called another war, not yet. Not much point in one, is there? Though I'll say one thing. You can try all the tricks you want. You can play your childish games, but rest assured ... I will break you."

And then did the message stop. To say that they were unnerved by this was sugar-coating it. They've made an enemy out of White Diamond, Pearl, Aquamarine, and the Zoomans are trapped there, and at the moment, who knows what's gonna happen next? To say they were a bit shaken was a sugarcoat.

"She's finally out for us. Now what do we do?" asked Stevonnie.

"... We'll just have to wait." decided Garnet.

The Fish and the Blacksmith

View Online

And so, after getting their own message out for the Diamonds, then came the part of actually waiting for them to come. On the brighter side of things, they all had a place to wait it out in the form of the Jungle Moon Base, but it was difficult to say exactly how long it will be, especially considering they're trying to revive Pink Diamond to her original state at the moment. It didn't help that there was so much left on their mind too thanks to White Diamond's little message for them on the communication either. So many left behind, and they had to handle it the second someone does come around ... hopefully some good help.
For the moment, the weather around the Jungle Moon Base had actually become a little bit worse, as clouds of rain began to come down onto the Jungle Moon. As some Gems weren't even close to being calm with weather like this, hearing the beating rain and even distant thunders didn't suit too tell for em, and they all got themselves comfortable as best they could manage up in the main room. They needed somewhere for a spotting point, and if they wandered off then who knows how long it'll take for them to track em down? They sat down in groups around the place, really having nothing better to do in the wake of the situation. Whatever aliens would be going around weren't going to be going about in weather like this, so any alien activity was out of the question. The only thing they could really do is engage in small talk to pass the time.

"There, don't be scared, Ruby," Twilight said, Leggy getting scared of the rain coming down and huddling next to her when she heard the thunder.

"W-What is it?" Leggy asked.

"That's just a rainstorm. We'll be fine as long as we stay in here," Stevonnie answered.

"Rain? Storm?" Leggy jumped when they heard thunder outside again. Seeing her scared, Stevonnie went over to her and sat down next to her. Leggy cuddled up against her, whimpering a little like a scared child.

"Oh yeah, Homeworld doesn't get storms like this. Look, it may sound scary, but it's really just rain, I promise."

"Does Earth get "rain"?" Leggy asked, looking up to her.

"All the time, and you know what, it actually helps the planet. And it looks like it helps the Jungle Moon too," Stevonnie explained, glancing outside from the Moon Base's windows. When she finished, a closer lightning bolt could be seen, and a shaking thunder rumbled the foundation. Nothing really shook, but they still felt it, and Leggy just stayed next to Stevonnie.

"Hey, speaking of which, what do you think's gonna happen once we get off this moon? I dunno about you, but sounds like we got A LOT to work with," Applejack asked, as she walked over with some of the others who overheard, sitting down in their little group.

"You tell us. Pink Diamond, the Space Station, the price on our heads, no Crystal Temple, Lars being ... revived. It's a lot to take in," Stevonnie admitted, counting out each event on her fingers.

"You think that's a lot to take in? I should be dead for all I know, but I'm still here ... and pink," Lars stated, still finding it hard to believe himself.

"Point taken," Stevonnie replied.

"Well, we're still alive, and we still got eachother. Things could be worse, right?" commented Onyx.

"You know, she's not wrong," Bismuth agreed. "We've been through mystical monsters, enemy soldiers, and survived White Diamond's imprisonment twice. What more could they hit tough creatures like us with?" A fair point, but White had thrown them for a loop enough times already. Before their conversation could continue, they began to hear somepony's stomach growl. Twilight smiled sheepishly.

"Guess I'm still a little hungry. got anymore of that fruit?"

"Onion's Gang ate the last of them," answered Lars. Bismuth checked the others, and she didn't see any fruit left from Fluttershy's rations, so she went on and got up.

"Looks like we're gonna need some more then. Don't want another onion incident," Bismuth joked. Before she went off however, someone else went over to her.

"Going out alone, Bismuth?" she asked with a grin.

"Hey, Lapis. You wanna come along?" Bismuth offered. Lapis flew over to her and to the stairs leading down.

"Only if you can keep up with me," Lapis said with a smug grin. Bismuth couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's my line," she joked, before both Lapis and Bismuth went on downstairs to get some more fruit from the jungle. Stevonnie found this a bit interesting.

"Huh. They seem to be getting along well. I wonder when that happened. ..."

"Shall I tell you?" The group turned and saw Tiger's Eye sitting off nearby, the Gem overhearing the conversation.

"You know, Tiger's Eye?" asked Onyx, as Tiger's Eye moved right over to them, sitting right next to her fellow Gem.

"Of course I do, those two had me going in for a loop before we all got stuck here. Plus it was Garnet's idea."

"What're you talking about?" Leggy asked. Tiger's Eye stretched.

"You guys up for a story?" she asked.

"Story time!" Pinkie suddenly chimed in, popping up out of nowhere. Still, despite that, Tiger's Eye got her memory to work.

---(Start Flashback)---

Here we go, alright: it was a chill day for me. I just found a good spot to have a little human activity called a nap. Just ready to doze off when Garnet comes up to me and says -

"Tiger's Eye! Come down from there, I have a favor to ask you," Garnet called. Tiger's Eye took a bit to come back around, but after snoozing up in a nearby tree in a manor similar to a leopard, she took a look down to the fusion in question. She looked off nearby, and saw Bismuth, Rhodonite, and a rather reluctant Lapis Lazuli standing next to her. Tiger's Eye stretched for a bit before she sat up in the tree branch.

"I told you, I don't want to do this," Lapis quietly stated, but Garnet paid her no mind, as Tiger's Eye jumped down from her perch.

"Hey Garnet, what's going on?" Tiger's Eye asked.

"I've got a mission for Bismuth and Lapis to attend to, and I want you to go along with them," Garnet simply instructed. It seemed pretty straightforward enough, the first mission assigned to her in ... well, ever.

"Me as a tag-along? Eh, I dunno, I was in the middle of a very nice nap," Tiger's Eye said, looking back up into the tree.

"Come on, T, it'll be a blast. We'll be out there against the elements, fighting beasts and taking names. You wanna be apart of that?" Bismuth insisted. Tiger's Eye began to get a little interested on that part.

"Ok, ok, where're is this monster at anyway?"

"A bit vague for the moment. It's rather flighty, but your best bet would be at the Prime Kindergarten," Garnet instructed. And Tiger's Eye lost her interest the second she mentioned a kindergarten.

"And you all have fun with that," Tiger's Eye commented, climbing back up into the tree.

"Tiger's Eye."

"What? I've been in a kindergarten for 1,100 years, I think I can go without seeing another one. Besides, there's nothing new to see," Tiger's Eye stated, about ready to go back to sleep, when Garnet punched the tree, making her tumble down into her arms.

"You've been in the Supreme Kindergarten. The Prime Kindergarten might hold more surprises for you than you think," Garnet reassured, placing Tiger's Eye down over by Lapis and Bismuth. She'd never been to it before, so maybe that could work. She looked to Rhodonite, who actually looked a bit calmer with the idea than usual.

"You're chill about this, Rhodonite, aren't ya?"

"W-Well, you're going to a Kindergarten. There's nothing too dangerous in a Kindergarten, right Garnet?" Rhodonite asked, though she was hoping for a good answer. Garnet decided to calm her nerves and nodded her head. That gave Tiger's Eye less of a reason to go off.

"Come on, it'll be fun. You're going on your first mission on Earth, don't you want to look around Earth a little bit more?" Bismuth asked. Tiger's Eye thought about it, and eventually she simply shrugged.

"You know what, why not? But if we get nothing out of it in twenty minutes, I'm leaving," Tiger's Eye said, going off on her way to the nearest warp pad. Bismuth and Lapis began to go, but before Tiger's Eye went off, Garnet placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Tiger's Eye? I do want to ask one thing of you. ... Try to keep the harmony, please?" Garnet asked.

"Harmony? What for?" Tiger wondered, scratching her head.

"Bismuth and Lapis aren't getting along, and I want to help them with this mission. But they'll know something's up if I go with them, so ..." Tiger's Eye could get the rest of the idea, as she looked to Bismuth and Lapis. Bismuth looked alright and ready to go, but Lapis looked more withdrawn than usual. As Tiger's Eye left, she managed to hear something from Rhodonite and Garnet as she, Bismuth, and Lapis went off.

"Harmony mode engaged," Tiger's Eye stated, before catching up to the others.

"You sure about this? No offense, but Tiger's Eye never kept a secret in her life," Rhodonite whispered.

"It'll be fine," Garnet reassured with a smile.

"I can hear you, Rhodonite!" called Tiger's Eye, annoyed with the statement.

Well, one Warp later and we were at the Prime Kindergarten. Another Kindergarten. Yipee. I mean, I only needed one look at it to know what I got myself into, and what was exactly anything new with it?; tons of holes, a few injectors, so on so forth. And unlucky for me, this was no different from the Supreme. A bit smaller, maybe, but that was it.

It was very quiet when they got there, and they began to move on out through the place. Tiger's Eye didn't bother going off ahead of the group, seeing all this before, and letting Bismuth take the lead. Lapis just stayed quiet for their walk around.

"Keep an eye out troops, that monster could be anywhere," Bismuth stated, pretty confident in the task. Tiger's Eye felt a bit more bored than anything as she observed the area. The injectors were rather abundant, more so than the Supreme, but apart from that there wasn't anything too special about it. Lapis didn't bother herself too much, something Tiger's Eye noted fairly early on. Tiger's Eye moved on ahead and jumped onto a fallen injector.

"What's with you?" Tiger's Eye asked.

"Oh, nothing, I'm fine," Lapis insisted, trying to play it off like nothing was wrong. Tiger's Eye felt a little bit confused.

"This is fine? You looked giddy as ever not too long ago. What, got in an argument with that Jamie guy or something?" Tiger's Eye questioned. Lapis Lazuli flew off back to Bismuth after that, not wanting to talk about it. Tiger's Eye needed to step up her game here if she did want to keep harmony between these two. By the time the Off-Color caught up with the other Gems, it seemed that the path ahead split up in two. Although it was a full canyon, it looked like something had went through here recently according to the deeper path dug out in the nearby wall, the hole itself only barely visible behind a few injectors. Bismuth was already on it, her hands turning into hammers, and with a well aimed uppercut swing, knocked the injectors clear out of sight, and out of the way!

"Tada!" shouted Bismuth with a grin. Tiger's Eye applauded her with a smile, but her smile went away when she saw Lapis Lazuli. Lapis didn't really look too impressed, arms crossed and gaze lowered, as she went over to the tunnel herself.

Okay, I knew something wasn't right here. Yeah, I didn't know Lapis too much, but she wasn't know for this quick mood swing far as I knew. I thought Jamie had something to do with it for sure.

"We got ourselves a tunneler," Lapis said.

"HELLOOOO!" Called Tiger's Eye.

Helloooo ... Helloooo ... Helloooo ...

Nothing much apparently, but it could be anything in there. Now her previous statement on this place being boring was pushed aside as she took the lead on inside, going in about a foot in before looking back.

"We got our target. You ready for some action?" Bismuth asked, smirking to Lapis. Lapis sighed.

"Sure, whatever," Lapis responded. Bismuth looked a little bummed out, but Tiger's Eye wasn't leaving something like this lying down.

"Cheer up, Lazuli, whatever Jamie did to you, you can deal with it later," Tiger's Eye reassured her, really believing that the problem related to this Jamie fella. Lapis now felt more embarrassed than anything.

"W-What? N-No, he's fine, and so am I!" Lapis insisted, her face turning more blue than usual. Bismuth smirked.

"Oohh. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone," Bismuth joked. Flustered, Lapis rushed on ahead, not wanting to talk about it any further. That wasn't the problem anyway, according to Garnet, something she remembered.

So was it Jamie or was it Bismuth? I've never seen Jamie officially myself, but Garnet never really said squat about him, and according to Lapis's bag of reactions, sounded more like something Bismuth had done, or something. So, after checking the tunnel, it was back at point A, and we actually ended up splitting. Lapis came with me and Bismuth went solo.

Tiger's Eye and Lapis got themselves in a different part of the Prime, this area passing by the Warp Pad entrance, and plenty of other Injectors. Tiger's Eye, now more interested in the Kindergarten with the possible beast going around, went on ahead and along the many various holes, trying to figure out where the monster had gone off to. Lapis was checking the area from the skyline, though oddly she felt less annoyed about things, though still looked like something bugged her a bit.

"So, Lapis, you wanna share something, or what?" Tiger's Eye asked, getting to the point.

"Share what, I'm fine really," Lapis insisted, this time showing a friendly smile on her face.

"What's with the grin? You were just ticked off at Bismuth a minute ago."

Well that didn't work, and Lapis tried to fly to a different spot. However, Tiger's Eye wasn't leaving her be and followed her easily, landing in front of her on a wall side Gem Injector. Lapis stopped fast when she landed there.

"Quit running off, will you? How're we gonna get anywhere if you keep doing that? Look, just say it will you, she's not here to hear you if that's what you're worried about." Tiger's Eye was referring to the mission, but Lapis took it as something different, and she sat down over on the same injector.

"Sorry, sorry. ... Look, Bismuth and I have a ... bad encounter."

"Oh? Do tell," Tiger's Eye insisted. Lapis groaned.

"She acts like she never did anything wrong, but ... UGH, she acts like everything's fine, but it's not! I've been trapped on this planet for so long. Trapped, and left behind inside a mirror, all because she had to find me and take me down. She's the reason I was stuck. ... So alone. ... So trapped. ..."

"So what?" Tiger's Eye suddenly cut in. Not the best choice of words.

"What do you mean so what?!" Tiger's Eye stumbled back on Lapis's outburst.

"You sound like you're overreacting. you just got stuck in a mirror, that doesn't sound so bad," Tiger's Eye said.

"Well it is that bad, especially after getting your stone cracked and accused of being a Crystal Gem," Lapis made clear, remembering all the accusations and interrogations she had to go through because of it all. Tiger's Eye though didn't think of it as such, but before they could go any further, they began to hear something underneath them both. Lapis and Tiger's Eye looked down and saw something move on by.
It looked like five different creatures, each one looking fairly large and robust, moving around like a group of hunting dogs. Each one looked as large as a bear or rhino, no eyes or ears on their rounded heads, and their bodies covered in a coat of hair like a mane. Two seemed to be leading the pack, with three others trailing close behind.
One brick red and the other purple like Amethyst, both of them with five horns on their heads.
The three others trailing included one being a brick spotted orange with three horns, one looking like a nose, one cobbled with grey and orange mixed with three horns on the forehead, and one green in color with only one single horn like a Unicorn.

Lapis and I stayed put on our little bunker, seeing this Quartz Pack show up. They sure looked like quartzes to me, judging on their types and all, but we didn't jump at them right away. I dunno about Lapis, but I thought they looked pretty nervous already, especially the smaller ones. And well, we found out why.

A distant moan. Not a sound they were familiar with, and neither were Lapis and Tiger's Eye. Then came out another surprise, and another resident of the Prime Kindergarten: a Gem experiment! They could tell it was the moment it came out, showing a humanoid-like creature with fused two heads, one side with two arms and the other with a large muscular arm ending in two hands split at the palms. Colors on it varied from light green, to yellow, to orange, to brown.
It was joined by two others: one looking like a crab with a toothed lined mouth and five legs carrying it around, and another one with the body of a hand, two legs out of the index and middle finger, with a large eye at the top.

"Gem Monsters and experiments?" wondered Tiger's Eye, curious over what would happen next. Lapis was a bit more confused herself. She had seen her share of Gem monsters, so seeing this kind of set up was a first for her.

Immediately the leading member of the group growled at the experiments, and the strange experiments paused on seeing them. Normally someone would just run away, but instead they charged forward right at them. The five horned monsters roared at them, only making one of them slow down, but the smaller ones backed up as they came close. The cobbled tri-horn made a run for it, only for the crab mutant to jump at it, landing right on its head! The brick red one rushed at the crab mutant, biting down hard onto one of its legs before shaking it like crazy, the cobbled one shaking off the attack. The humanoid mutant targeted the orange one head one, whacking it hard in the head with its large arm like a hammer. The orange and purple one tackled it to the ground, both pulling hard on its arms like a tug of war. The experiment proved stronger than it looked, and actually lifted one off the ground in a swing, sending the orange one flying to the wall! The tremors from that made the injector Lapis and Tiger's Eye were on a bit unstable, and losing its grip. Lapis got out her water wings and grabbed Tiger's Eye before the injector fell right down onto the fight! The corrupted Gems noticed it a little sooner, and bolted for it, but the Gem mutants ended up crushed underneath it, the Quartz Pack high-tailing it out of there. The clustered up gemstones were left on the ground for Lapis and Tiger's Eye to gather up.

"Lapis! Tiger! What happened over here?!" called Bismuth, rushing over. Such a crash wasn't going to go unnoticed.

"You wait until now to show up?" Lapis said, angry at the wait.

"We're fine, but some pack of monsters got in a fight with some of the experiments," Tiger's Eye answered, showing some of the cluster Gems she had gotten for Bismuth. Lapis was still a bit ticked, but her words were quickly forgotten about when a distant roar echoed throughout the Prime Kindergarten.

"Come on," Lapis groaned, already getting out her wings and flying off after the Quartz Pack. Tiger's Eye and Bismuth watched her go, seeing how frustrated she was.

"Did she get hurt?"

"No, she's just ticked off, that's all. Something about a mirror. Come on, let's catch up," Tiger's Eye answered, running off to keep up with Lapis Lazuli. Bismuth however didn't catch up, and Tiger's Eye and Lapis soon took notice, but Tiger's Eye got a hit from Lapis.

"Why'd you say that?" Lapis groaned. she really didn't want to deal with it, but her blabbering on about it wasn't helping.

"What? You said that, didn't you?" Tiger's Eye retorted, rubbing the back of her head. Bismuth did walk up to them at this point, though Bismuth was more focused on Lapis than Tiger's Eye. The defective Gem took a sidestep to give them some space. Lapis felt a curse come up in her mind towards Tiger's Eye, her gaze looking down in an annoyed expression. Bismuth knew what Tiger's Eye was talking about.

"Lapis, look, I -" Lapis got her quiet when she brought a hand up, finger pointed upward to get her to shut up.

"You were going to say you're sorry, weren't you? ... I've been trapped for thousands of years. Because you had to attack me. Homeworld questioned me, berated me, all the while I was forced to sit there and take all of that. You think just saying "I'm sorry" is going to fix that?" Lapis questioned. Tiger's Eye felt a shiver run through her with that response.

"Now, listen Lapis, I know it's bad, but I had to fight for Earth. I got caught up in it, ok? I didn't mean to have you go through all that."

"I bet you didn't," Lapis spat, turning away again as she crossed her arms.

"Lapis, I was fighting for the Crystal Gems, what was I supposed to do?"

"OH, so you admit you had to attack me! I didn't even fight, and you just jumped on me like it was nothing to you!" Lapis snapped. Bismuth didn't use the right words here.

"Now wait a minute, just let me explain -"

"No, I don't want to hear it! Ugh, let's just find those targets and get this over with," she stated, not wanting to hear whatever she had to say. Tiger's Eye began to grow more troubled now, and only got even more so when Bismuth went right up to her.

"Lapis, I've tried to be nice to you, but all you've done was shut me out! I was hoping we could be friends, but I guess that's up to you," Bismuth said. Lapis had enough.

"Why're you pretending nothing's wrong?! I've suffered because of you, and you're acting like it's no big deal!"

"You think I don't know, Lapis? You're talking to a Gem who -"

"Don't you start that! You've not been cracked, you've not been trapped, and you've not been treated like dirt the whole time," Lapis cut in, now off the ground and flying above her.

"I did too. Ok, so I wasn't cracked, but I ended up trapped inside a bubble for most of the war. All my friends are dead, and I couldn't do anything! You think I've just stopped caring about them?"

"Actually yes!"

Tiger's Eye couldn't help but back up as the argument continued, but as they were talking, she kept her look around them. she took note of a smaller creature watching them from one of the many holes, seemingly stalking them.

"You serious? Yes, I was tough in the Gem War, but one thing I'm not is uncaring! I was heartbroken, torn up, when I found out just how much I've missed when I got back. Old Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake, they're all gone now and I couldn't do anything! Don't you stand there and think that I'm horrible just because of one time between us both. Yes, I attacked you, but no, I didn't intend for you to go through all that! How was I supposed to know, anyway?"

"You had Garnet, didn't she tell you?"

"Garnet wasn't even there!" yelled Bismuth. Despite her anger, Lapis was becoming a bit more humbled by her. Bismuth was more imposing after all.

"Look, I'm really trying. You're the only one still has something against me, and I'm trying to fix that. If there's anything I can do, anything to help with this, I'll do it. Just say what it is I have to do." Lapis paused for a minute, and then looked right up to her.

"I want you ... To leave!"

~~~~~~~

"She said that?!" gasped Rarity. The story Tiger's Eye was telling got a bit of a crowd at this point; Leggy, Stevonnie, AJ, Twilight, Sadie, and Lars being joined by Rarity, Amethyst, Soup, Jamie, Fluttershy, and even Melanite.

"Oh yeah, she was ticked off. After seeing her so happy and giddy, it was like someone messed with her programing or something," Tiger's Eye noted, still shivering on remembering that face. Amethyst and Stevonnie (or the Steven side to Stevonnie), were well aware of the kind of backstory Tiger's Eye was talking about, and both couldn't help but cringe a little.

"Well then what? Did they talk it out?" Stevonnie asked.

"Eh ... well ..."

~~~~~~~

"... Ok."

And without another word, Bismuth turned and began to walk away! Tiger's Eye felt a hit of guilt strike her, and Tiger's Eye quickly got over to Bismuth.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, l-let's not get too hasty," Tiger's Eye said, trying to push Bismuth off back towards Lapis, but Tiger's Eye strength was nothing compared, and she was literally pushed along the ground as Bismuth kept walking. Tiger's Eye was moved aside, and bismuth went on through the Prime Kindergarten. Tiger's Eye tried getting to Lapis instead, but she was already gone and out of sight. Tiger's Eye stopped and looked back and forth between both directions, growing a bit frustrated both at herself and the others.

"Oh, dang-it! Now what am I supposed to do? If I got back myself, Garnet's gonna kill me when she puts two and two together. Come on, think, think." before Tiger's Eye could think up of an answer, she began to hear growling off nearby. Sure enough, that same creature crawled out of its hiding place to confront the lone Gem. And this one didn't look like any quartz Gem or Gem experiment she had witnessed already. The creature coming out looked way too huge for the hole it walked out of, climbing up the Prime Kindergarten wall with ease. It looked like an odd lizard, six legs gripping the wall like a gecko. Its mouth was long and narrow like a gharial, though it ended in a beak rather than lined with teeth, and despite most of its body covered in scales, it still had what looked like a mane down its back, shaggy and red like ember. The tail was completely flat like a beaver, patting the wall as it came out of hiding. While seeing such an odd creature wasn't enough of a surprise, it didn't help that in the creature's jaws looked like part of a clustered stone, which it proceeded to swallow.

"OK, that's something! What's this?" Tiger's Eye wondered. The single eye on the head looked off the wall and directly at Tiger's Eye, and for the moment it appeared to be a stand off. Was this thing what Garnet sent them after, or no? The strange animal crawled down from the wall, and stood on the ground. As it had the head of a crocodile, it was easily as long as one, and it hissed at her as she backed up, unsure how to react. Should she fight it? Should she run? The animal sniffed the air for a minute or two, its jaws wide open. Slowly, Tiger's Eye began to back up, not removing her gaze from the animal conical eye. As for the creature, it took only one look to her gemstone. And one look was all it took.

"WHOA!" Reacting fast, Tiger's Eye jumped out of the way as the creature lunged forward, jaws closed and trying to skewer her as if its mouth turned into a spear. It tried snapping several more times before it quickly turned and bolted off for it, the creature rushing after her. With Tiger's Eye's speed, she got a good headstart on the creature but this six-legged beast kept pretty good pace with her, going along the walls to gain a height advantage Tiger's Eye turned around, and brought out her bow and arrow, starting to shoot the animal, but much to her surprise, the tail of this creature not only reflected the shots, but shot one right back at her like a baseball getting hit by a bat!

"GUYS! Where are you, I found the problem!" Tiger's Eye shouted, just before the creature leaped onto her head first! With its mouth wide open, Tiger's Eye ducked fast. The front jaws skewered the ground like scissors, and with it open, left just big enough of a gap for Tiger's neck! It got its mouth out, but the distraction got Tiger's Eye enough time to slip out, and rush up the wall. She didn't stop until she was on a Gem Injector.

"Lapis! Bismuth! Get over your tiff and come back here!" Tiger's Eye called, but she didn't get any answer. The monster jumped up the wall and rushed up to her level, going onto the injector with her. Tiger's Eye backed up until she was on the very edge of the injector, face to face with such an odd creature, as it opened its mouth and hissed again.

"Oh, come on. Why did I have to bring em up? If I'd kept my mouth shut they would still be here. Mad, sure, but still here," Tiger's Eye told herself, almost losing her footing on the injector end. This put more weight onto the injector, making it more unstable in its footing, making it groan and creak. The animal lunged forward, and Tiger's Eye made the biggest jump she could do, landing on the wall as the shift in weight made the injector bend. The creature though was quick to react, and leaped across the canyon onto the opposite wall, the Injector falling down in a huge crash. Tiger's Eye simply looked over to the animal as it made another hiss, and actually used its beak like a jackhammer, digging a tunnel into one of the pre-existing holes.

"Huh. So that's where that hole came from."

I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what to do: Lapis and Bismuth were gone, I was alone, and now we had not just Gem mutants and corrupted Quartzes to worry about, but this freak of nature too! Well, Garnet wasn't lying either: no Kindergarten had ANY of this. Anyway, after that little venture, I did what any sensible Gem would do: hightail it out of there and try to find the others. And hopefully in one piece, and before any monsters show up again.

"Lapis! Bismuth!" Tiger's Eye called at a point. she stopped over by another part of the Prime Kindergarten, this time nearby the Warp Pad, as she perched herself off nearby.

"Lapis Lazuli! Bismuth! Where are you guys! I'm sorry for what I said, if it was me!" Tiger's Eye called again, but not getting much response. All she could see were holes, injectors, and empty landscape. She sat down like a dog would, trying to find some clue on any of them.

"Come on already. You'd think after another crash they would come running. Or anything would come running. ... Unless ..." A thought shot through her head of that monster eating them both, but she quickly shook her head.

"No, no, no, they're stronger than that. HELLO!! LAPIS! BISMUTH!"

Still nothing evident. Tiger's Eye groaned, and started to wander a little bit away from the Warp Pad, and over on some more unstable ground.

"Lapis! Bismu - AAAHHHH!" *thud* "... Ow."

Next thing I knew, I was underground, tumbling head over heels and ending up in some other room. It look all, green, and like something Homeworld would make.
I believe that's the control room for the Prime Kindergarten.
Thanks Peridot. Now as I was saying, I was stuck underground, and no, Bismuth and Lapis weren't there. As much as I wanted them to be at that point. But what did I find?

"What're these?" Tiger's Eye wondered. Looking into the control room, Tiger's Eye soon began to notice something over in the ground off nearby. Tiger's Eye hopped over to said objects, seeing about five of them, and all looking like eggs. Eggs that were colored suspiciously like rocks, but Tiger's Eye knew a rock from something else, and these were indeed eggs.

"Didn't one of the ponies mention this before? Let's see, what was it ... E ... egg? Egg! but wait, why're they here of all places?" Tiger's Eye tapped one of the eggs out of curiosity. Suddenly, one of the eggs moved, nudging under her fingers. And then ...

*hissss*

"Crud, it's back!" she gasped, jumping up and out of the way. Sure enough, something moved out of the shadows, and turned out to be the same animal she saw earlier. This one was more interested in protecting its eggs though, and didn't go too far from them. Tiger's Eye kept her distance from this thing, as it then proceeded to ... swallow the eggs. It didn't take long til all the eggs were stored inside the creature, and after that, it focused its attention towards Tiger's Eye. Instead of jumping though, it shoved its beak into the ground, and seemingly injected the eggs in multiple places, each one underground.

"Wha? So is this an injector monster, or ..." Tiger's Eye was very confused, but after all the eggs were properly incubated, the creature looked back up at her and zoomed up to her level, making her stumble back. Here we go again.

"Tiger's Eye, is that you down there?!"

"Oh, thank the stars," Tiger's Eye sighed. Looking up to where she stumbled in, Lapis and Bismuth slid down to see the creature confronting Tiger's Eye. Clearly they got worried over the crash they heard earlier, no doubt, but the creature was more aggressive when it saw them. Three against one, and this monster was willing to comply, especially with eggs to protect.

"What is that thing?" Lapis asked.

"Don't ask me, but it eats Gems, so unless you wanna be a side dish, let's go!" Tiger's Eye informed.

And not a moment too soon, and the monster jumped right at them, making them scatter! Tiger's Eye, Lapis, and bismuth made a three way split, all missing the creature's jaws, but its singular conical eye focused on Lapis Lazuli, as it gave another loud hissing. Lapis had little time to react, as it jumped right on her, its beak snapping at her. Lapis only avoided getting snapped by grabbing it by the jaws, but it didn't make that any easier. After a few shakes, it dislodged itself and its beaver tail whacked her down off the platform, dangerously close to the eggs. Lapis fell onto her back, and looked up to see the monster ready to jump on top of her, only for Bismuth to suddenly jump in and send it flying with a well-aimed hammer hit.

"Back off!" Bismuth ordered. but of course, the creature wanted them gone, but when it saw her gemstone, it soon aimed for that instead. Lapis felt a little stunned, but not from the monster itself, but from what Bismuth did. Lapis just told her to get lost, yet here she was trying to save her life. The beast lunged for Bismuth, and actually got its beak into her Gemstone, though it didn't damage it on sight as it was an inner gem, much to Bismuth's luck. She gripped the creature by the mouth, the beast unable to peak or open its jaws, thrashing to get away from her. Bismuth kept her grip and forced it out of her gemstone, and with a few good swings, threw the creature to the back of the room. This knocked it out for a moment as Bismuth went down to Lapis, extending a helping hand.

"... You ok?" Bismuth asked. Lapis paused for a moment or two, trying to contemplate, and without another word took Bismuth's hand, getting up to her feet. Tiger's Eye peered down to them for a moment.

"Nice, but you better get out of there, I think its eggs are there," Tiger's Eye said, not wanting the animal upset with them any further. Bismuth and Lapis looked around, but all they were seeing was mounds under their feet. Speaking of, the creature got itself shaken off from the hit, seeing Lapis, Tiger's Eye, and Bismuth all up on the same level at that point.

"What do we do with that thing?" Tiger's Eye asked. Bismuth looked a little closer at it.

"We leave it. It's not a Gem, and therefore not why we're here. Come on, let's go," Bismuth decided. and not a moment too soon, them all leaving before the creature could snap at any of them. Its eggs were safe, and that was all that mattered.

Sweet. But what about Bismuth and Lapis?
I'm getting to that. So we got out of there, and left eh ... whatever it was with its "eggs", or whatever you call it. Bismuth even sealed up the entrance to the control room. she said it wouldn't follow them, though I'm sure it could just dig itself out. Anyway, there we were, up by the Warp Pad again after a few more minutes of searching. Guess that beast drove the rest out, because we found nothing after that. Sure we found a few stray, tiny Gem experiments but that was about it.

"Ok, so that's that. alright, let's go back," Tiger's Eye decided, heading to the Warp Pad and waiting for Bismuth and Lapis. Bismuth had salvaged whatever they did manage to find, bubbling them already. Lapis trailed behind her for a bit, but eventually, Tiger's Eye saw her stop. Normally she'd call it out, but she didn't bring anything up this time.

"Bismuth?" Lapis asked, getting her attention.

"What's up?"

"... Why'd you do that?" Bismuth turned fully to face her, a little confused.

"Do what?"

"I told you to leave me alone, I called you careless and everything ... and ... you still saved me?" Lapis was still trying to wrap her head around it. Bismuth paused, but she then smiled and playfully fluffed Lapis's hair.

"We're Crystal Gems, we stick together. and you know what? I should apologize. You were caught up in it, so was I, and we both ended up where we didn't want to be," Bismuth concluded. Lapis shrugged.

"Guess so. I mean, there's no such thing as a good war, right?" Lapis said. Bismuth chuckled.

"Yeah, true that."

"So ... we good?" Lapis asked meekly. Bismuth sighed.

"Well, like I said, that's up to you. I'm good with you, but ..."

"... Then we're good," Lapis concluded. Tiger's Eye smiled on hearing that, as they all got up onto the Warp Pad. With a tap of Tiger's Eye's foot, the Warp Pad activated, and they were off on their way.

~~~~~~~

"And by that there, looks like the two are pretty good since," Tiger's Eye finished. It was a bit of a good story, and one that kept them all distracted from the storm outside. Or rather, lack there of, as by the time she finished, the storm had since passed them by, though the sun was starting to set by now, being dusk at this point when the others looked on outside.

"Whoa, where'd the rain go?" Leggy asked, curious more than anything.

"Must've cleared up during that story. Good job, Tiger," Onyx said, thumbs up.

"Heh, weren't nothin," Tiger's Eye replied. And not a moment too soon, as they began to hear something come up the stairs again.

"Soup's on!" called Lapis, as she and Bismuth came back up. Bismuth brought up the majority of the catch, plenty of fruit for them to eat, along with a few extra types they found were edible. Much of the group were glad to see them back, both of which a little bit wet from the rain outside, but otherwise okay. Stevonnie watched from afar for a moment before she took a look outside with Leggy, seeing the Jungles outside.

It sure looked beautiful. ...

*grrrrr*

~~~~~~

It's difficult to say exactly just how much time had gone by since they've first landed. Sure, the days on the Jungle Moon seem to be going as they should, but they weren't sure if the time here was the same as the time on Earth, or Equus for that matter. Another long night had gone by, and the alien world sun rose up, though admittedly it was a little bit harder to tell with the giant planet it was circling around to truly be sure. Although many of them didn't need it, most of the group spent the time sleeping inside the room, a few keeping watch just to be sure that nothing bad would happen. Those on guard were Topaz, Rhodonite (who couldn't sleep anyway), Flint, and Zircon, though even they ended up dozing off after a while. nothing seemed to have happened through the night, lucky then, and when the sun did begin to come up, it was a signal that danger was over. Speaking of, much of the ponies and humans were in their own groups around the place: Lars, Sadie, and Twilight sleeping by Fluorite, Stevonnie sleeping with Jamie, AJ, RD, and Leggy, and so on. not a sound there was inside the room, but even so, one tiny little animal thought it had found a good spot to investigate. It was the same froggy dragonfly that came by earlier, and with most of them sleeping, it didn't feel too threatened by many of them, as it fluttered on inside, this little guy got the attention of one figure in particular, especially when it thought funny to land on her muzzle.
Pinkie Pie. The pink mare shot one eye open the second it felt the thing on her face, seeing eye to eye with it. she didn't look spooked, but more curious, like a little kid would be. And since she was just waking up, she shook off the weird looking bug, only for the animal to land over on Leggy next. The Gem woke up fairly quickly on seeing this similar animal, and she tried to catch it as with earlier. The little creature fluttered off out of reach, landing just along the rim of the window, Leggy trying to catch it again in a little hop. The flying alien wasn't going to stick around, and actually flew on outside. Leggy looked on outside to the morning light alongside Pinkie Pie. Pinkie liked a good chase as much as the next pony, but she knew that maybe it might not be the best idea to just go off.

That didn't stop Leggy though: climbing out the window, she began to go down the tower on the thick vines, trying to get her little animal, which they saw land off in the trees down below. Pinkie peeked down from the roost, and saw Leggy going off down.

"Wait for me," Pinkie called, her voice hushed. One hoof after the other, and Pinkie followed Leggy down along the vines. It actually took only half an hour to do, the last bit having them both slide down a vine like a fire pole until they landed on the ground, with Pinkie landing on Leggy's square head.

"Oh! Lookie," Leggy said, pointing off to the nearby trees. The pink mare and little Ruby took sight of their little animal, who actually was starting to glow a tiny bit in small beeps, like a flashlight, as it rested in the morning shade, and helping itself to some morning dew. Leggy and Pinkie went on over to the animal, Leggy trying again to catch it in a pounce. Of course, the animal didn't wait around, and flew out of her reach. That didn't stop Leggy from trying to catch it though, and she kept trying to jump for it, as it fluttered from tree to tree. It took Leggy a bit but she finally managed to get it under both hands. The little animal squirmed slightly under her hands, but then Leggy and Pinkie Pie found it actually got settled in both hands.

"Gotcha," Leggy said.

"It looks so cute. Couche Couche coo," Pinkie said, her hoof rubbing the little animal. The tiny animal chirped like a spring peeper, before it hopped out of Leggy's hands, and off back into the trees. Both mare and Gem were ready to go off after the little thing again, but Pinkie's sense started to go off with a twitch of her tail.

Something's coming their way.

And if her Pinkie sense didn't say that, the looming shadow sure did. Leggy and Pinkie both paused, and looked over to the source of this shadow.
A creature. A huge, dinosaur-like creature. In fact, it looked like some weird cross between a tyrannosaur and a chicken: back end scaled and front end looking feathered. It had the body type similar to a T-Rex, though as this was no Earth 2.0, there's a lot that separated this thing from your typical dinosaur: two large feet ending in three toed claws, but they look a lot like human feet, if someone would stand on their tiptoes. On the heel looked like a long claw, making it appear like it had high heels on its feet. The tail was a lot more stunted, like that of a bear. As for the front, it looked like that of a Silkie Chicken, with a lot of scruffy feathers going up its chest, and over its head, all colored up in a mess of greens and pinks, camouflage no doubt. It didn't show any eyes, but it did show a large beak much like the other lifeforms found here, though the beak on this one had an extra edge on the front to look like sabre teeth. It had forearms sure, but they didn't look too long, and ended up crab-like pincers.
Pinkie Pie and Leggy starred up at this newcoming creature as it towered over them, easily the size of an Earth Elephant, and as long as a Semi-Truck.

"Uh ... hello?" Pinkie said, waving a hoof. Either this thing didn't see them, or it saw that as a threat, because it gave a good loud roar at them soon afterwards, which sounded like a low-toned vulture screech. They weren't having fun anymore, and the giant animal proceeded to try and crush them under its feet. It used its high heel like a dagger, the rest of the foot arched up. Pinkie Pie grabbed Leggy and bolted for it, the high hell skewering the ground as they bolted for the Moon Base. They got right to the front door, and bolted inside just in time. And lucky for them, the giant animal was too big to fit inside, slamming its body into the wall of the Moon Base. If they weren't awake before, the whole group sure was now from such a tremor. Pinkie Pie went all Fulgurite speed to get back up to the higher level, Leggy following behind as she held Pinkie's tail.

"What was that?!" shouted Peridot.

"Ruby, Pinkie, what did you do?" Rhodonite asked.

"Nothing! We didn't do anything. Well, expect finding this alien who chased us here," Pinkie said, Leggy nodding in agreement. Army though got up to them and whacked them both in the head.

"You clods, can't you stay still for one minute without getting us in trouble?!" Army snapped. She was ready to jump at them again, but Garnet got hold of her, lifting her up like a baby, as Army thrashed and kicked to be put back down.

"Adorable," Garnet simply said. Though this wasn't the time for some jokes, especially when they heard the screeching from said animal down below them. Garnet got Army held under her arm before addressing the others.

"Ok, everyone calm down, we'll be okay up here," Garnet reassured. Rhodonite, Peridot, and Fluttershy took a look down to the lower level, and saw the creature still trying to get in from the bottom level, forcing itself in.

"It's inside," Rhodonite managed to say through her teeth, pointing down to the lower level.

"Peridot, got any idea what that even is?" Fluttershy asked, a little humbled. Peridot tried to think, but she looked as worried as they were.

"I have no idea."

"What do you mean you have no idea?!" snapped Rhodonite.

"I mean I have no idea, I didn't study everything!" snapped back Peridot, only for them all to be quiet when it screeched at them. They all moved away from the door, Onion's gang doing the hand gesture to be quiet. It can't know where they are, or how to get them. The screaming from Peridot and Rhodonite though made it aware that something was in here somewhere. With all their focus on the door though, none of them noticed that another shadow loomed from the upper windows ...

"MOVE!"

In a sudden screech, the upper windows suddenly shattered wide open as a secondary head from the same creature charged through, almost grabbing them.

"Alright, you wanna fight, you got one," Bismuth said, bringing out her hammers. She and Rainbow were ready to go, but before they could go in, the first animal shot its head through the bottom door. This forced the group to the center of the room, both beaks snapping at them from both of their escape routes.

"T-Two of them?" said Melanite. Topaz took to the offensive, bringing out her weapon and she, Rainbow, and Bismuth went to attack the aliens. Rainbow gave a power kick to the first one, and the other two went for the one by the shattered window, so strong together it knocked it off the tower! The thud when it landed shook the Moon Base. The first one stopped and seemed to retreat, its head no longer poking through the door.

"I-Is it enough?"

...

*BAM* not even close. The floor underneath them was suddenly skewered by the creature's heels, and front pincers, making an unstable square form up on the upper level. With the combined weight of the Gems, Humans, Ponies, AND the alien, the floor collapsing was inevitable. Everything, including the alien, fell right down to the bottom level in a massive heap of flooring and bodies. They shook off the fall, though some of them didn't really get up so quickly, injured in some way.

"Everyone okay?" asked Topaz.

"I think so ... wait, where's Stevonnie?" wondered Twilight. It didn't take much longer for them to find her. Or rather, her components. Removing some of the heap, Steven and Connie had come back, forcing to unfuse in the fall, and a bit dazed but otherwise okay.

"You two alright?" Garnet asked, going right up to them.

"Yeah, we're fine," Steven answered. No time for a check up: the beast came out alright as well, as it forced off the rubble. Sure it was dazed, but it didn't get hurt too much in the fall. It moved very fast in its next attack, and attempted to peck at the group, forcing them to scatter, including Connie. ... And Connie got to her feet. something that surprised even her.

*CRASH*

In comes the second alien, able to slam its way through the door, a lot more forcefully. They were hoping they would fight eachother or something, but these two were working together, and eyed the amount of choices on their breakfast plate for the morning. The situation had becoming very critical.

"Still think we'll be alright, Garnet?" Rhodonite asked, suspiciously this time around. Garnet adjusted her shades.

"Give them a minute."

"Give who a minute?!" Rhodonite snapped. This was not the time for some half answers, especially with these two aliens ready to attack them. They had their meal in sight, but before they could do anything, both predators then sensed something else. Something, to them, far more dangerous, as a shadow went by the moon base roof. Both of the animals glanced upward, and while still hungry, they weren't going to stick around and wait for this creature to find them. They both turned and made a run for it back into the jungle, leaving their quarry behind them, much to their confusion. What could've chased them off?

"... Hey. Hey, look, a gemship."

Flint, Zircon, and Rhodonite took a look outside, and indeed a welcoming sight could be seen far above them. It started out faint, but with the morning light, they were starting to make out a sort of shape in the air. What the aliens thought was some sort of predator was actually the silhouette of Blue Diamond's gem warship! And boy did it look impressive: a giant blue arm easily large enough to fit a town inside, much like the White Diamond Space Station. The cavalry had arrived to see them home.

"We're saved!" Melanite gasped.

They were ready to go now.

Entirely New

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Diamond Log: 73A-42X

We have just received the missing Gems, Ponies, and Humans from the abandoned Gem colony of Sector 7. The Crystal Gems, Elements of Harmony, Ruby Squad, and the Human Team, along with a few extras that escaped the station had recovered fairly well on arrival. Though, with the news of their current wanted status, the situation is becoming more problematic. for them, anyway. It won't be very long until White Diamond would try anything against them now. I have no doubt in my mind as well that she will be against me as well, with my previous actions against her wishes. I'll try to figure it all out. ...

The message left in her personal log did make Blue Diamond think quite a bit on the situation, one way or another. The fly away from Sector 7 towards the next planet was not as fast as the Sun Incinerator was, but in that regard, it was plenty good to get off of the Jungle Moon before any associates to White Diamond would arrive on them, though alert was still fairly high to those controlling her warship. If a tracker was placed on the incinerator, then odds are they would be looking for them as well. Better safe than sorry.
This time to chill out on the main ship itself did give them all some pause for thought as they were going, the Mane Six and Crystal Gems taking their own time to relax and catch up on a few things. Steven, Connie, Amethyst, Pearl, Jasper, Lapis, Peridot, Garnet, Fulgurite, and the Mane Six were all in the same room, catching up on some things with eachother now that they actually had time to do so, and it was all fine and well at first, with Connie going over her own little bit of venturing up to the point of return, and then some. She hadn't seen either of them for a while anyway, given how she lost her memory and all. And of course, she was caught up in their shenanigans for similar reasons. If they could say anything though, they were just glad that Connie and Steven were back on better terms again.

"So how much further until we get back?" Steven asked.

"Blue Diamond said it'll be a while. We're not going straight to Homeworld, so who knows how long it'll be?" replied Lapis. The idea of going home was a good thing, but the concept of everything from home being ... well, gone, was something to think about.

"Good. If White's going to look anywhere, she'll look there first," Garnet stated.

"Why there? Why not Earth?" Connie asked, confused.

"Because she knows her fellow Diamonds too well," Garnet replied, adjusting her shades. Guess future vision came up with this statement.

"Hey, by the way, you feeling better now, Connie? Your legs aren't as ... broken," Rarity pointed out. Connie looked down to her legs, even giving one of them a stretch, and feeling them no longer ache.

"Yeah, I know. I could've swore that I was gonna end up in a wheelchair the rest of my life," Connie stated.

"I was wondering about that: such an injury would've scarred you for life, but you came out alright," Twilight pondered. Fulgurite stretched and laid down.

"Eh give her some credit: she is half-gem, so surviving this sort of thing's kind of a no brainer," Fulgurite shrugged. Though, she didn't realize the wide-eye stares and blank expressions until she looked to them all.

"... What?"

"Repeat that again?" Rainbow asked. Fulgurite then realized the problem, hand to forehead.

"Oh, right, he didn't tell you, did he?"

"Who?" asked Jasper.

"Discord. He stopped by after Connie's uh ... "accident", and apparently since you've been fusing so much Connie, some of our DNA got stuck with you. In your case you get regenerate now, I guess." Fulgurite explained. Connie just stayed wide-eyed as she looked to herself. She looked to her hands, and then to her legs, imagining the type of DNA flowing in her now. As shocking as it was, it made a surprising amount of sense.

"OOOO, we got TWO halfsies now! This is getting interesting," Pinkie beamed, and indeed it was, especially when Amethyst's mind began to go to work about it.

"Hold up. So, if Connie's getting Gem DNA. Then, does that mean I'm getting human DNA?" Amethyst wondered.

"Maybe, who knows? We'll know when you start bleeding or something," Fulgurite answered, taking it in her stride.

"That explains a lot," Connie answered, thinking back to the prostatic she was supposed to get.

"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well ... I haven't been as hungry lately ... and my limbs didn't get hurt as bad as they should."

"Obviously, but that's great. Right?" Rainbow asked.

"We'll have to deal with it later. For now, we should be going off to the White Diamond Space Station. We'll be going there to get Pearl back, and rescue the Zooman. Blue Pearl will tell us when we get there in just a bit," Garnet said. And as she expected, the doors to their room did open up, but instead of Blue Pearl, in came Flint. And Flint looked wanting to talk to them about something himself, as the group turned to him. Behind him were a few of the other Gems: Bismuth, Diopside, Jade, Star, Onyx, and Topaz.

"Close enough," Garnet said on seeing him.

"Hey, Flint! So, we arrived for the rescue yet?" Pinkie Pie asked, ready to go, even doing some front hoof punches. Flint looked a little puzzled at first.

"What're you talking about, Pinkie?"

"Our rescue to save Pearl and the Zooman from the Space Station, remember?" Pinkie said, as if Flint already knew. Flint did get the idea, but -

"Oh that. Well, that's what I came to talk to you about: you're not going."

The reaction following was kinda immediate.

"Well, ok, we'll get them back, and you can wait back in Equestria -"

"All of you are not going," Flint corrected. He might as well get that over with before the wrong idea would go around. NOW the reaction was unanimous with Flint being the exception: surprise dominate. None of them were going?! The first one to jump to him was Lapis and Twilight.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, why?!" Lapis asked.

"What do you mean why: we can't all just charge back into the base, that's what White Diamond would want us to do. Don't pretend she didn't place those obvious clues and NOT expect us all to go in," Flint explained. As reasonable as that may be, the idea of her still being gone was quite a bit of trouble all the same.

"But Pearl's trapped on that station, we're not going to just leave her."

"I never said we were: I already got a team together right here. We'll find them," Flint explained, presenting the team in question behind him.

"And why'd you do this without telling us first?" Jasper questioned.

"Because I knew you'll all try to charge off anyway. I wanted to wait at least until we're closer to Earth before -"

"WE'RE AT EARTH ALREADY?!" gasped Steven. They didn't realize that this "while" went quicker than they thought, but when the ponies looked outside, sure enough, there was Earth coming closer to them! Bismuth went on over to them next.

"Whoa, we're fast," Fluttershy said.

"Don't you worry about a thing, you guys: I'll make sure we'll get em out," Bismuth promised, giving a wink and a smile. A good promise from a good Gem, though it was still out of the blue.

"But what about the rest of you?" Fulgurite asked. She didn't want to come off as rude, but she didn't want to feel left out of this same as the others. Flint got it all covered apparently.

"This is a rescue mission, and they all got the right qualities: Diopside can see better than anyone else can, including night vision with her Gem eye. Star Quartz is very stealthy, and can remain out of sight as well as I can with my camo cloak, and as for Onyx, she knows the Space Station top to bottom, so she's coming as our navigator. Topaz is coming for our extra muscle and guard to get them all our. Plus, Aquamarine's trapped in there too so she wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. Jade can heal us as well if it does come to blows," Flint explained. He wished Jade wouldn't come, but Jade wouldn't take no for an answer, so he just had to watch himself a bit more as all.

"You can see in the dark, Dio?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It works as good as in the day," Diopside answered, one hand over her normal eye as her Gem eye adjusted like a camera. Fare enough. With the idea the station might not have much light, that would be useful too.

"We all got this. Besides, it's about time you all deserve a holiday. Trust me, we got this," Bismuth reassured.

"But you think we can't handle it?" Jasper questioned.

"I didn't say that at all, but -"

"You need a break."

Everyone turned over to Star Quartz, not expecting her to say that.

"Star?" Applejack asked, as she walked over to them.

"You've all done a lot. And she'll be after you the most, right? I mean ... I might be wrong. But after the trauma you've gone through, why would you want more? That doesn't sound it makes much sense." This was specific, and towards Lapis and Jasper in particular, with the memory of the fusion they made together coming through both of them. Malachite's birthplace was on that space station, after all.

"Eh Tu, Star? That's something I expect from Flint to say. Eh, no offense," Rainbow said.

"I would've said the same. But she's right: you all need some time to wait. Besides, what about Earth? Who's going to be keeping an eye on that if we all go back? Someone has to stay and watch over things."

"I'll buy that last one," Applejack admitted.

"Look, it may be out of nowhere, but it looks like we'll be dropping you off soon. So, we'll be going to the station, and figure it out from there," Flint concluded. Garnet though felt a little bit uneasy about it, but not because of some future vision she had. But more over she'll have to wait behind as this went down. She glanced off to the window, and to Earth. At this point, it really was a crossroads on who'll be staying and who'll be going.

"Something wrong, Garnet?" Applejack asked, the first to notice her trouble.

"... Flint."

"Garnet, if you're going to convince me not to -"

"Be careful."

To be honest, this was a bit of a surprise. Garnet removed her shades for the moment, and looked to Flint eye to eye. Even Flint was a bit surprised. Typically it was a bit of butting heads between these two, and lately they would just agree mutually. But now, it was Flint who's right, and Garnet had to agree this time. Talk about a switch.

"You're right. Please be careful in there, and get them back. If anything happened to you, or them, I'll never forgive myself." Her final part was met with a tear going down her face. Flint simply nodded.

"You may not have to worry about that."

And as if waiting for her cue, Blue Pearl came on by, looking into the room.

"We're here, everyone," she said. Well, it was now or never.

~~~~~~

The flight was a bit of a fare one, but the arm warship found a good spot for the group to be dropped off at. The humans, Mane six, Off-Colors, and Crystal Gems in particular were placed on down in the drop zone, which turned out to be from a Warp Pad by the barn. It was probably the best spot they could do without everyone below freaking out of a giant arm flying in the sky, and with some modified Warp Pads on the ship, landing was out of the question. Bismuth, Flint, Star Quartz, Onyx, Jade, Topaz, and Diopside didn't show up with them for the sake of the mission, which while it was a bit unfortunate, it was at least a explanation that they could go by. They will be back, they were sure.
With them all back though, the Off-Colors got themselves off right over to the barn, happy to see it unaffected by anything White Diamond had done. Sure, it did look a little bit shaken up on the inside, but really that was about it, possibly for them trying to avoid her. Either way, the rest of the group left them to their reacquaintance with the barn, and went on through the beach over to theirs. They were joined by some of the humans, namely Lars and Connie.

"Well, the Off-Colors were glad to be home," commented Lars.

"I'll say: I never seen Rhodonite so psyched to be back, hugging and kissing the pole like that," Amethyst noted. Of course, it was out of her happiness to be home, let's not get that twisted.

"Who could blame her for being homesick? We all were locked up not too long ago," Twilight reminded.

"Yes, noted. But it's good to be back home. Oh, I'm not gonna do anything for a month."

"It's not here," Garnet suddenly stated, stopping on the spot. It was here that they all saw the Crystal Temple, or lack there of as it turned out. Not any scrap of the Beach House remained, and not even a Warp Pad was evident inside. The only thing left was the back door, but seeing Steven without a room of his own, or even a house for that matter, was quite the shock. Everyone went over to the front cave, that itself looking like it hadn't been touched by anyone, Gem included.

"You really weren't kidding," Lapis gasped.

"I'm very sorry guys," Lars replied, rubbing his arm. He wished he could've done more, but there was just so much one person could do.

"There must be something left," Garnet stated, going right to the back door. She got it opened no problem, and the first room she checked was the Burning Room. Lars knew exactly what was on the otherside, and when they all saw just how empty and lifeless it all was, it left them ... well, at a loss for words. What other saying could be said here? All of their work over thousands of years, now gone as if they did nothing. And the fusion was simply dumbfounded.

"All gone ... all of them ..." Garnet felt weak in her own legs, and she fell backwards, for Jasper to catch her. It was rare to see Garnet look so defeated like this, really, and with seeing this, she really felt like her mission had hit the restart button, which probably summed up the situation best.

"I can't believe it! She can't have taken all of them, there was thousands in here!" Peridot said, remembering from her own visit in here. Seeing somewhere so bright with the light of bubbles and Gems, now empty and dark made that very hard to believe, one way or another. Amethyst than thought of something.

"Wait." Amethyst closed the door, and activated her own room to be sure. However, her room laid as empty as the burning room: not an inch of her junk anywhere inside. No T-Rex skeleton, no furniture, no extra trinkets over the years, not even a spec of paper. Just a large seaside cave with crystals and seawater, and that was about it. Still, Amethyst was pretty ticked off to seeing all of her junk gone.

"COME ON! She took this too?!" Amethyst yelled, rushing in to try and salvage whatever was left. She might understand all the stuff from Steven's place, but Amethyst's junk too? White Diamond was paranoid if she thought taking this away was a good idea! Amethyst looked up and down her room for some sort of reminisce of her pile, but there was nothing left but crystals and sand. Seeing all of this, much of the ponies tried to comfort the Gems, starting with Fluttershy who went on over to Amethyst, a hoof on her shoulder. So much for all the memories.

"Well now what do I do? I don't even have a home here at the Temple anymore," Steven wondered, looking back to where the front of the house would be. Funny looking at it now with everything removed.

"Alrigh' everypony. It does look bad now, but we're still alive, and we got eachother. I mean, let's face it, it could be worse right?" Applejack brought up.

"Yeah, no matter how bad things get, there's always someone worse off than us. And anyway, there's always Greg, he can let you live with him," Rarity reminded. While not the best home ever, it was the best shot he would ever really get at this point with no house at the temple to live in.

"Yeah. But it's all gone: my TV, my fridge, my toy collection, my bed, my Portal Key -"

"Portal key?! She took that from you too?!" Connie gasped.

"All of ours: she grabbed all of us and managed to confiscate our keys before she locked us up. Didn't want us makin a portal back home from her ship," Applejack explained. Bad enough that the main Warp Pad was seemingly down, but the portal keys gone meant that the Mane Six were basically stuck down there on Earth, this time without any Discord special key. White really had planned everything out aside from them it would seem.

"And if the Warp Pad is down ... then I guess we're trapped here now. This time for good."

...

"I wouldn't say that," said Lapis.

"Lapis, you saw her take all of our keys away. She took mine, Twilight's, Pinkie's, Fluttershy's, Steven's, Amethyst's, Garnet's -" before Rarity could continue, Lapis's gemstone started to glow a bit, and after a short while, something started to come out of it. It was encased in a small ice orb, which Lapis brought out in one of her water wings. And what happened to be inside when Lapis brought it out?

Peridot and Pearl's Portal Keys!

"OH YEAH, I forgot we did that!" Peridot realized.

"Did what?" Twilight asked. It was Garnet who answered.

"I suggested for her to keep better track on where her key was. She kept losing hers in the Temple," Garnet explained. Peridot felt herself cringe before clearing her throat.

"Yes. Noted, Garnet. So after some conversation, I had Lazuli hold onto it for me until I could find a proper place for it. Good timing, right?" Peridot finished. Well that surely was a lucky break on their part, as Lapis gave Peridot her Portal Key. With the Warp Pads down, looked like it was back to square one again. In this case, back to the portal keys. Sure there was only two, one of which not able to work without its owner, but it was better than nothing.

"Good planning on your part, Garnet, but seriously, they couldn't have taken everything. There anything you can think of that they can't get to?" Fulgurite asked, trying to figure something out. Garnet thought for a bit on the Temple's structure, and what rooms could and couldn't be accessed through a simple Temple door, until one particular room came to mind. Rather than say what that was though, she went off passed the others fairly quickly, reaching the back where most of the crystals were, and soon another pathway showed itself: a tunnel with crystalline veins coming from the top.

"On stars, please don't have her take it," Garnet told herself, and as the others caught up, Garnet rushed down it.

"Hey, hold up!" Fulgurite called, rushing to catch up with her. The others did the same, and after what actually was a nostalgic rush through the tunnel, they got to the next room. Steven remembered this part fairly well, albeit vaguely during a runabout to get a "together breakfast" going, but now it didn't look as bright as it was before. The room they managed to get to was the main central hub of the Crystal Temple: a room where all the others connect to in some way, shape, or form.
The room appeared to be fairly empty, though it naturally was as no one really claimed this room like the others prior to this. Two doors stood across from eachother, one leading to Amethyst's room and the other to Pearl's Room if one were to go through. What was an impressive sight though was what stood up on the ceiling of the room. A large, red object, connected to the walls of the room like tree roots, and it giving off a sort of very faint glow. Not as bright as Steven remembered it, as if it got severely weakened somehow, but it was still there. A single vein touched the floor, and went straight down in a matter like a fire pole. Garnet stood there looking up at this thing with a few mixed emotions.

"WHOA. What's this room?" Connie asked.

"The Crystal Heart," Garnet answered, though she didn't turn to any of them. "It powers the entire temple. ... Though, it looks like the soldiers drained its power while here."

"And the good news?" Lars asked meekly.

"It's still here. ..." AND that was the best news they got at all. They all paused for a minute, taking the time to hear the faint thumps from the Crystal Heart. If this Temple was indeed alive, then it won't be for very long at the rate this heart was going. It sure explained the darker atmosphere of the Temple itself if the core was low on power.

"Wait, maybe I can fix it. Someone fly me up there," Steven said.

"Way ahead of ya," Twilight said, picking him up and flying him up to the heart itself. He didn't want to lose his home, not like this. So, with a lick of his hand, and with some focus, he got his healing powers to work on the Crystal Heart. ...

Nothing happened.

"Maybe I didn't get enough spit."

"Come back down you two, that won't work on this," Garnet instructed, as disappointed as she was on it.

"Well then what do we do, Garnet? If thyat's the battery to your temple, it won't -" Fulgurite didn't even finish her sentence to realize where this was going. "... Wait, you don't mean."

"No, no, of course not. ... Steven. Why don't you go to Beach City with your friends. We have some discussing to do here, and they need to get home too," Garnet instructed.

~~~~~~

"Eh, ok. So, you sure they won't freak out too much?" Lars asked, as he, Connie, and Steven were heading off over to his house. Sure he may have tried some more confidence in his approach, but the idea that he would just pop back into Beach City with a complete body paint job from oranges to pinks was going to set someone off in some way, shape, or form. And Lars was especially going to be a bit put on the line when it comes to his own parents.

"Don't worry, we'll explain everything, and we'll be there right by you," Steven promised. Lars tried to calm down, hand going through his hair.

"Yeah, sure. But can you leave out the whole "away from life" bit? I don't think my folks will be fine with having a zombie as a son," Lars asked. Made sense, though what could they come up with for having Lars all pink like this? Both Connie and Steven nodded, and Lars was just about ready to go on inside. Gathering his nerves, Lars went on to knock on the door, but at first, nothing seemed to happen. Yet, they did begin to hear something going on inside, faint voices from in there seemingly from Dante and Martha. Soon though, the door opened up, fairly quick too, and made Lars back up a bit as his dad came out. Lars didn't know what to say at first, but he went to smile.

"I'm back," Lars simply said with a nervous grin. Dante just stood there wide eyed. In fact, he needed a double check to make sure his eyes weren't tricking him. Yes, this was his son, but yes, he was as pink as Lion. Martha eventually came up.

"Who is it? Oh, if it's that two-bit mayor again, I'll -" Martha stopped herself on seeing Lars.

"L-Laramie?" Dante said. Lars gave a few nervous chuckles.

"Yeah, it's me. You two okay?" Lars asked. Steven and Connie stood aside, as both parents went on and hugged their child. Lars kinda expected that at least, and Connie and Steven couldn't help but smile at the heart-warming moment.

"My baby! I thought we lost you for good! OH, I'm so glad you're alright," Martha said. However, the surprise Lars was back at all did kinda blind them for a moment on the obvious concept, which Martha herself brought on up.

"Laramie? ... Why are you all pink?"

"Eh ... I-It's a long story. But I'm fine, really," Lars reassured them, hands up in front of him. He had some explaining to do, surely. Martha and Dante looked to one another for a minute, Lars feeling a little nervous. What could they be thinking now? He glanced over to Connie and Steven, who were just as in the dark as he was.

"Well you have to be hungry after your trip. Come in, and we'll have a nice breakfast," Martha said. Mundane, but whatever. He would have time to explain himself in there anyway.

"You two can go now, I'll take it from here," Lars said.

"If you're sure," Connie said. Lars nodded before going on inside. Well, that was one person down. Looking to Connie, Steven knew where they'll be going next.

.......

Next up was Connie. If Martha and Dante were anything to go by, Priyanka and Doug must be WAY over their heads by now. It was difficult enough just to get this far so it was anyone's guess on where this will go now. It was a bit of a walk to get to Connie's place, a bit of help from Lion as well, but they honestly weren't in that much of a hurry. Lion stopped over by the garage, and Connie and Steven got off. Connie may not have the physical differences that Lars had, but that didn't mean she was off the hook just yet. That would be up to her own parents to decide. ... Oh joy. Steven gave her some silent reassurance, holding her hand, but before they could even get to the door, the door swung open with Priyanka and Doug coming out. They were so stressed out they didn't even notice her just yet.

"We'll never figure out where they went off to, and we're losing time! Who knows what they're doing to Connie. Hi, Connie. What are we going to d-" Priyanka's scared rambles halted immediately on what she just said, and soon both she and Doug looked over to their daughter standing there, looking fairly okay overall.

"I'm back," Connie said. Guess she took a replay of Lars's situation, because she was a bit nervous. However, both Doug and Priyanka were right up to her, crying up a storm as they hugged her tight, especially Priyanka. Well, they're happy, but Steven wondered what they're going to do next, and he even backed up a little bit.

"Steven?" Doug said. Steven shivered. "... Everyone okay?"

"W-Well. Yeah, we're fine," Steven said, though he didn't know if it was a sincere question or a suspicious one. Doug was a cop after all, and he could be charged if he didn't watch it.

"Alright, Universe. You have some explaining to do."

Connie began to freak out.

"W-Wait, don't blame him! I decided to go off and save him, not him, don't be mad at him please. He did so much for us, I had to do something to help him out, really! He saved us, he saved me, he -"

"OK, OK, one thing at a time!" Doug instructed. Connie clammed up, and Doug cleared his throat.

"Now, as I was saying. ... Maybe you can explain this "DNA sharing" business. Hmm?"

... Out of all the things they could've asked him, and they chose something he barely knew about. All Steven could do was shrug nervously.

"I kinda just found out this morning," Steven admitted. And here they all planned out for the obvious disappearing act both of them did on them and they bring up a subject both of them barely found out. Hard enough explaining fusion to these two, how were they going to get a grip around this? Steven tried to get some sort of answer for him, but eventually Doug decided to give him a break.

"You know what, nevermind. Apparently you've gone through enough. Thanks for bringing Connie back to us," Doug said. They still had the memory of White Diamond's invasion in tact, so whatever she had planned for them must've left em' shaken up so no point in rocking the boat any further. Steven smiled, and watched the parents go on inside with Connie, and Steven was left with Lion. Well, he would go in, but he wasn't sure if he really should try or not, given everything. He'll check back with her later on and see what the deal is. Lion gave some reassurance in a lick to the head before they began to go off.

.......

So from Connie's house, it was off to the next stop, this time being Greg. If there was anyone that would be happy to see him again it would be his old man. In a quick portal hop, Steven reached the carwash in no time at all, and as he was hoping for, Greg's van was parked off not too far away. And just as with the other folks, Greg was a bit nervous over what was going on, pacing back and forth, trying to think.

"Hey Dad!" Steven said, smiling. Greg stopped and saw Steven, his mood quickly changing from worry to glee, as he and Steven met up in a hug. Lion sat down nearby, but he wasn't going to get a break just yet, as someone else popped out of the van on hearing the voice.

"Blue! Good to see you too boy," Steven said. And the Gem dog was more than happy to see them too, barking happily as he gave Steven a few doggy licks. Steven laughed a little bit, as Lion went over to Blue , the Gem dog happy to see Lion as well.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're okay! I saw one of those diamonds come back, and I tried to find you ... BGut you're okay! Guess she was no match for the Crystal Gems," Greg said, his arm in a flex as a visual point.

"No way, they were super strong!" Steven said.

"But you were able to beat them back?" Greg inquired.

"No. They totally stomped us! This warrior, Rupee, was super beefy and knocked me unconscious. Then they abducted me onto the Space Station because they wanted to take me away forever. And then we broke out and I almost died!" Steven may sound enthused, but Greg really lost his own confidence. He wasn't even smiling anymore.

"What did they want with you?" he asked, a bit panicky in his tone.

"They wanted me to be apart of some hybrid experiment project."

"A-are more Homeworld Gems coming after you?!" Greg asked in a stammer. Steven no longer felt as confident in sharing his story so clearly.

"I... uh... Maybe?"

Greg's face showed he was clearly distraught. Not a good enough answer apparently.

"Steven. I-I'm supportive and very proud of you. And I'll be right back." On that remark, Greg made a dash to the front of the van, and into the driver's seat, as he began to scramble through some of his CDs.

"Ok, ok, gotta calm down, where's my relaxing music CD?" he asked himself, scrambling through a number of them in his hand. He could barely keep still as a few of them fell to the front of the car. In his shaky hands, he did manage to pick one out.

"T-This one?" He popped it into the holder, but unfortunately he ended up with blasting rock music instead.

"Wrong one! Stop! Eject!" Steven could clearly see Greg wasn't taking this all very well, him even punching his radio just to get the music to stop so he could relax a bit. Steven didn't know exactly what went down in Beach City, but whatever it was, it sure had quite an affect on everyone, be it from losing family or losing memory alone. Steven wasn't sure if sticking around was a good idea, given that the simple story alone was enough to scare Greg like this. Lion and Blue paused their own version of catch-up to see the situation.

"Hope Twilight's having better luck." Steven thought.

~~~~~~

Dear Princess Celestia:

I'm not sure if you do still remember me or not, considering White Diamond, but if you do, I'm happy to report that I've returned with all of my friends safe and sound. And I also want to report that I've made a brand new friend while there, and she had agreed to take me on as her teacher. Just like how you taught me the meaning of friendship. I know it might not be my call to make, but I feel that it would bring a better future for all of us. I will always strive to spread friendship across Equus, Earth, and beyond as best me and my friends can, old and new. Your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. In case you don't remember me, I've attached your previous lessons to this letter as a memoir and proof I am indeed your student. I promise it'll all make sense.

It took a bit for Twilight to finish up her letter to Princess Celestia, taking time to write it out alongside Spike over by Sugarcube corner, the alicorn hoping that the brainwashing effect didn't come to Equestria as well. While Beach City may have confirmed problems, Twilight and her company weren't sure if all of the issues were resolved, or even started back in their world. Many of the residents still recognized them in some way, and even if they didn't the sight of an alicorn princess was still something they got notice of so they didn't want to upset her (make that what you will). Soon after she finished up her message, Spike sent it off on its way, and he had to gather up his fire in order to get it all through.

"AND there off," Spike concluded.

"Thanks for the help, Spike," Twilight replied, as she and Spike began to go off from there, and towards the direction of home. Now, this wouldn't be too bad in the grand scheme of things, but both of them did feel a bit distraught about the situation.

And here's why: upon arriving at their destination ... well, typically they would see a library in the tree, a balcony up on the upper level, a nice front door, a couple windows, a book sign for the Golden Oak Library as well, and the inside, multitude of books, and Twilight's home. ... But now. All that was there was a simple tree. No additions, no pony-made constructions, not even a door. Some way, somehow, this tree was restored to its origin state, and any and all evidence of Twilight and Spike's home had been completely removed altogether. Just like the Crystal Temple. In fact, the only thing that was left was the bee hive that hung from its branches, but that was about it. All the books Twilight had in there, all the memories it held from years, and the only thing showing for it now was bark, leaves, and a couple of branches.

"I really miss this place, Spike. We had so many wonderful memories here," Twilight sighed, as she went around the tree. To think that just a week or two ago, this was her home.

"We did, didn't we...?" Spike replied.

"Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry. Of course losing the Golden Oak Library was hard for you too," Twilight said, before she and Spike shared a hug. It'll be a while before they would end up finding out a home again, wherever that would be, and whenever it would be. Well. At least the tree was still there ...

All of a sudden, a notable letter: after a quick burp from Spike, the letter came back, with Celestia's notable mark onto it. Well, Twilight could say it was a hint she did remember, only confirmed once she opened it.

Twilight Sparkle:

Indeed, I do remember you. I want to deeply apologize for what had happened, and I'm trying to make it up to you. You and your friends don't deserve any of this after everything you've done. I would've made it to Beach City myself, but I'm afraid White Diamond had destroyed the Warp Pads. Beyond repair. And with what I had been told, I'm afraid a direct Warp Pad to Homeworld would be too dangerous for everyone. I know that may be sad to note, but I've managed to hear this from Blue Diamond, and in the end, I had to agree. If there was another way, I would've done so. I wish the best in your future endeavors, and my best regards to the Crystal Gems.

Yours truly: Princess Celestia

Twilight felt a tear come down her face as she read this, but in the end, she knew down in her heart that it would've been the only option, especially with White Diamond lurking who knows where.

"Well ... It looks like we really are back to square one again," Twilight sighed.

"Square zero point five: we don't even have our keys now," Spike said. As if they needed a reminder. Twilight held the letter in her hooves for a bit, holding it to her chest as a sigh escaped her muzzle. Spike sat down next to her and looked up to the tree. Twilight needed to keep a more level-head though.

"Don't worry, Spike. We'll figure it out, we always do," Twilight promised. Spike hoped they would.

"Well, hey, like Applejack said, it could be worse. I mean, we could've ended up like that other timeline Starlight dumped us into," Spike pointed out. What a time to say it though, Starlight was coming up not too far away.

"Oops."

"Don't worry. I know," Starlight said, as she walked over to them. Twilight and Spike both turned to her.

"Twilight, I'm ... I'm very sorry about all of this. If I just knew this was going to happen, I -"

"No, Starlight. It isn't your fault. I'm more wondering how White Diamond made the library back into a normal tree," Twilight wondered. There was some silence, but when they looked back, Starlight was looking down at her own front hooves, her ears turned back, and her eyes tearing up. Twilight didn't need any words to figure out what happened to her home, but she was less upset and more humble. All Twilight needed to do was lift up Starlight's chin, and give her a gentle hug. It'll be a while before it's all sorted out appropriately.

One step at a time.

.......

Back with Steven, the walk through Beach City after his talk with Greg was, for a lack of a better word, relaxing. After their big trip, it oughta be, and something Steven had hoped for as he went on through Beach City with Blue. It was a nice sight, and a good day to go out too with clearer skies. He took a scenic route through his hometown, and on the way got the main idea of what was what. On his walk, he saw everyone else going about their day in some sort of way:
The first one he saw was Lars Barriga. Even with his pink body, he actually found him hanging out with Sour Cream, Jenny Pizza, and Buck Dewey. And what was he doing: break dancing! With a radio playing nearby for some beats, Lars was dancing to the beat with full confidence in himself, and a big smile on his face. Lars had a pair of earrings in his ear loops, each with a heart in it, and Steven even saw him doing the arm wave at a point. With how much had happened to him, clearly he's taking his own steps to being confident. Then again, he did survive what could've been his death sentence, so he oughta be a bit more open now.
Steven and Blue went on down the road and saw Jamie next, him hanging out with Lapis Lazuli as the two were simply chatting with eachother. Sure, there was a paper route they were doing, but seeing both of them happy together sure made Steven feel pretty good. Lapis got one of the boxes, and flew it up to another door. Another package happily delivered.
Next stop was down by the boardwalk, where the most activity was taking place at. And as they went along, there was a bit of commotion as the Onion Gang were showing off their boxcar around. This one was a bit new and improved though, as they got themselves a thruster from the Barn House, as they zoomed along up and down the boardwalk, having a blast with it all. Good ol' Onion.
Steven took the time to head on to the carwash next, taking time to check in on his dad. He may have gotten freaked out as it was already when the news had hit him, but he was pretty good now that Steven and everyone else were safe and sound and that he had time to gather himself. So long as his son was alright in the end, that was fine by him, and the details were a bit unimportant here. Steven took some time to help him out with a few cars while he was at it, who which was a bit of a surprise: the Maheswarans. They were just as happy, if not happier, that their daughter was back home, and it appeared that they were glad to see everyone else alright too. Of course Connie and Steven were glad to see eachother, no doubt.
And from there, Steven went off along the road, seeing other people who remember him and were glad to see things were okay. If White Diamond's involvement was true, then Steven was more than glad that everything was back to normal as it could be. Of course with all of this, Steven knew that it wasn't over: White was still out there, several Crystal Gems were out in space, he still didn't have much of a home now, and with Pink Diamond alive again, who knows where it'll go? There were still many more battles ahead.

And he knew they will work through it. They always have, after all.

Message Recieved

View Online

Hello there, how's it where you are? You don't have to reply right away - it's a letter. This is Steven Universe, though guess you all already knew that, huh? Things had been a bit crazy lately for me and my friends here, and I hope it's doing alright back there too. I would come and visit myself, but White Diamond took my key and somehow it didn't come back yet. Discord wouldn't give me another one, something about windows and price tags. But anyway, it's only been two days, and I'm staying with my dad at the Carwash now. Not sure when, or if, I'll ever get a beach house built back at the Temple. Honestly, after seeing the Crystal Heart, I don't know if it's going to be somewhere we're all going to stay in. Garnet assured me it's going to be fine though, so we'll see. Anyway, let me know how everything's going over there, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Your pal; Steven Universe.

"Up and awake, buddy?" Greg asked. Steven looked out from the van's backseat. The day was pretty good, albeit summer was a bit closer to ending and as such it was getting a little bit colder, but no skin off his nose. Lion and Blue were still snoozing just outside, Lion chilling out on his back and Blue sleeping just inside the van, laying nearby Steven during the night. He was a little less used to sleeping in the van, but it was better than on a cave floor. Steven hopped out to meet with Greg, letter in hand.

"What'chu got there?"

"I was just getting my letter ready. It's a bit harder to keep in touch with Ponyville, so I've been sending letters to them," Steven explained, Greg looking over to the letter in question, finding that Steven even added a cute little picture of his smiling face alongside Twilight's smiling face. Not too bad of design either.

"Glad you're keeping touch with em', pal."

"Yeah. Better go find Peridot and get this through," Steven said, but before he could go, they began to hear a notable stomach rumbling. Living in a van didn't include a fridge, so that was a little issue for him when it came to breakfast.

"Hey, mind doing your old man a favor first? Why don't you hop by the store and get us some morning bites?" Greg asked. Steven wanted to get his letter through, but he wanted to eat too, and admittedly he waited FAR too long for a good meal from his home town.

"Oh, sure thing," Steven replied. Maybe it was the mention of food or coincidence, but just after that it got Blue perked up, his ears shooting up and he turned from lazy Larry to bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Yeah, you can come along too. Come on, boy," Steven said, as he went off on his way. Blue hopped out of the van and joined Steven like a good dog would. Lion did wake up as well, but only kept his one eye open as he watched Steven and Blue go. Oh well, he did plenty already, he can spent a morning sleeping in. Well, guess it was breakfast grabbing this morning, yet if he could find Peridot on the way, then great.

.......

"Acceptance, mm-hmm. Altruism, definitely."

Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle was pretty busy herself in her own little bit of pass time. It was surely something she should've considered a long time ago, but as not only the princess of friendship, but a very experienced individual in the field, she got busy going over various friendship lesson options. And this process wasn't actually doing this off back in Ponyville (having no library had its troubles), but instead took this lot in a ... well, a more nostalgic place. An ivory tower in Canterlot, and Twilight's old stomping grounds from the VERY early days of her friendship lessons. The library she was in was still pretty old, if not a bit dusty from lack of maintenance. The room in particular entered in from spiral stairs, and the very center had a Starswirl the Beaded brand hourglass. It was not a choice she preferred, since she had to live off away from her Ponyville friends this way, but without a home to call her own in town, what was she to do? And just as well, she had a new responsibility now, one that began to head off up the stairs nearby to see her. ...

"Starlight, good morning, come in!" Twilight said.

"Sorry I'm late. I got a little turned around. I still can't believe you're letting me stay here... as your pupil... after everything I did," Starlight said, still finding this concept a little bit fast. Twilight looked to her with some concern, but the alicorn knew what she meant and instead gave her a smile.

"Well, I'm not one to dwell on the past, and neither should you. The tower is your home now, and as far as being my pupil goes, I was just trying to figure out what your first friendship lesson should be!" Twilight said, going back to the list she was going through. When it came tot he size, it was at a decent one admittedly as Starlight looked at it.

"Oh, well, it looks like you're really narrowing it down," Starlight noted.

"Oh, these are just the A's. After this, I move on to the others," Twilight pointed out, her wing aiming to the rest. ... And what Starlight saw was stacks upon stacks of papers of all sorts of friendship lessons all over the place! There was enough here to give a expert reader a good week to go through, and if this was just the start, good Celestia knows how much the other lessons would even be at all. Starlight tried to keep a smile on her and go over to said lessons to see what was up.

"Well, I know I'm just learning about friendship, but I've never seen so many lessons in anything. I mean, where do we even start?" Starlight asked, levitating a few various papers and going through the lessons that she had for her. If this was really off of lessons Twilight had done, then goodness Starlight had a lot of catching up to do here, one way or another.

"Maybe I should pare things down a bit before we go through them," Twilight admitted, levitating a few papers herself and seeing these lessons. Not a good idea to just throw so much at a student at one time. All the same, she needed to pick out which one of these will work, if any at all at this point. Twilight had been going over these all morning, and she hadn't gotten much of them down just yet. Twilight skimmed along through these for a bit more, and Starlight began to just go off and check out some of the books on the library shelf. It's one thing to be a student to somepony you were trying to kill, but something else when you're not just a student to somepony you tried to kill, but living somewhere where this somepony also lived for her life as a student herself. Starlight felt like this was a historical landmark in that regard itself. ...

"Aha!"

Starlight jumped when Twilight managed to figure it all out.

"What is it?"

"Ok, Starlight, as this is your first friendship lesson, I've narrowed it down to three notable options for us to do," Twilight said, presenting a few options from the piles she went through. Starlight began to levitate one of the three options for her to look over.

"For one option I've been studying a bit, and I figured out where the first ever pony you ever cared about actually lives," Twilight revealed, smiling wide, and nudging Starlight. The unicorn needed little time to even figure that out.

"S-Sunburst?"

"Of course, that's just one idea. We could also go to Griffonstone. Making friends with a griffon is a challenge all by itself!" Twilight then suggested. Starlight could feel herself crumbling on these options, looking scared as it began to look dark around her as Twilight added "Or we could go to Beach City and tag along with Steven the next time he's helping out people in town."
That option made her feel even more troubled ...

"Starlight? You okay?" and just like that everything quickly got back to normal as normal could be for Starlight, shaking back to her senses.

"What? O-Oh, no, heh, those all sound great!" Starlight insisted, trying to keep a smile on her face. Well it was enough to make Twilight happy.

"I know! I guess you were right – it is gonna be hard to choose one!" Twilight said, her trotting away to narrow it down to one option for the first shot.

"Hehehe ...Yeah. ..."
However, before this conversation could go any further, there was some noise over along the wall next to them, making Starlight jump a little bit. Turned out it was only the signature warp door from Steven's world, and sure enough, in came Peridot with a letter. As she was the only one with a working key, not to mention the main connection as of now, Peridot's job as a messenger going back and forth was her main task as it had been since they got back. And today, it was no different as she had Steven's letter to deliver to her. Think of it like Spike and his letter sending but on a more universal scale.

"Oh! Morning Peridot. Another letter?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, another letter. Hey, can't you tell Celestia to fix that Warp Pad already? I'm a Peridot, I wasn't made for being a messenger," Peridot griped. Clearly being the only connection between the two had its flaws, and Peridot was stuck with them.

"Sorry about this Peridot, but Celestia said that we can't risk White Diamond using those Warp Pads to jump back here again. Besides, she removed the one from the Castle of the Two Sisters completely."

"Don't remind me. Now can I just go or do you have yet another letter for me?" Peridot asked, at this point expecting it, hand extended. Twilight actually then got an idea in her mind after looking off back to Starlight and re-looking at the lessons they were just looking over. Didn't one of them mention Beach City already? ...

"Starlight, I think we had just found our first friendship lesson."

"Oh. Well, great."

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in Beach City in question, Steven and Blue were just arriving off from the van to the market, and Steven was going off about and getting the goodies together. nothing too bad here, and nothing out of place as he arrived to the local market. He would hop over to the Big Donut, and maybe he would stop by there later on, but for the time being it was groceries for the van. Blue had to wait outside though, which was enough of a bother in of itself, but he was as giddy as ever when Steven had just finished up his stuff, a bag of groceries up in his arms with all sorts of goodies in it for some good food. Blue hopped up on seeing him.

"Ok, I didn't forget you boy. Here you are," Steven said, placing the bag down and fishing out a little something for him: a good ol' doggy biscuit. Good treat for any pooch, and Blue was more than eager to have his own breakfast, Steven tossing the treat and Blue catching it mid-air. Blue gnawed on it for a bit, and Steven couldn't help but chuckle.

"Morning, Universe."

"Oh, morning mayor de - ooohhh."
Now, typically seeing Mayor Dewey would be a rather nice event, and typically he would be going around in his van, big head and all. But not only was Mayor Dewey on his feet this time, but he didn't look ... well, official. He looked fairly casual for being the mayor of Beach city, no fancy suit, not much confidence, just him in a white button t-shirt, and what actually looked like some sort of injury on his arm. It didn't look too bad, but in a cast none the less. Blue saw the cast and stopped his gnawing, his ears folded back and the biscuit falling out of his opened maw. Neither had seen Dewey in quite some time, so seeing him in a cast was a little bit troubling all the same.

"Eh, just Bill. See you got back alright," Bill said.

"Yeah! We were all captured by White Diamond and taken WAY off to her space station, but Lars, Connie, and our human friends from town got us out, turned off the power, and we got ourselves out of there! I mean yeah we got stranded on a planet for a day or two, but other than that it's all good." Steven summed up. Bill Dewey tugged on his collar a bit on what Steven was telling him.

"Eh, yeah. You all got back. Right? No one, left behind or anything like that?" Bill asked nervously. Steven cheery mood got just a little bit down again.

"Eh, well ... only one, Pearl, but the Gems are trying to get her back right now," Steven replied. Bill Dewey looked shell-shocked, groaning as he leaning on the wall of the market. Blue and Steven had never seen him like this before. Something happen or what?
Before they could continue on this, Steven, Blue, and Bill Dewey heard the store doors open, but the light show from them suggested a portal key bring used instead. Bill Dewey kinda jumped when seeing that, but Steven and Blue knew what this was as Twilight, Peridot, and Starlight ventured on into Beach City. Seeing them calmed Bill down, but it didn't make him feel much better.

"Morning Steven, Blue, Mayor Dewey," Twilight said. Starlight kept some distance from the situation, namely behind Twilight. Sure she had become Twilight's pupil, but past experiences she wasn't sure would be as glossed over here as they would be back home.

"Just Bill Dewey now."

"Oh. Well, how modest of you. Isn't that your title or something?" Peridot asked. Bill wasn't too thrilled about telling them, but just as he opened his mouth to speak -

"An excellent suggestion."

"Huh?" said Steven. It was faint, but the group followed the bit of a speech from the store, and found that someone else was over not too far away. The market wasn't too far from Fish Stew Pizza (two stores down), and it came from said pizzeria. Twilight, Peridot, and Steven went over to investigate, taking a look in through the window, just to find that the pizzeria was in the middle of a meeting of sorts. A number of familiar faces were in there: Kiki, Jenny, Greg, Lapis, Jasper, Peedee, Emerald, and a short elderly woman with wafer-gray hair done up in a large bun. She was making all the calls here, and dressed up oddly like what Bill would normally wear, if not a green color instead of typical grey. Steven knew this person, and Twilight and Peridot was a bit vague but they both remembered her as Nanefua Pizza.

"So we are all in agreement, yes? In the case of a Gem-related emergency, everyone is to go to the newly-designated shelters," Nanefua said.

"We could provide rations. Anyone know of a good, non-perishable fry bit recipe?" Peedee asked.

"Or maybe we can put some ingredients on ice, just in case. I read some foods are fresher longer if they're frozen," Lapis added.

"Just don't put them in a block of ice, Lazuli," Jasper suggested.

"Great idea, Lapis. We can ask all the local restaurants to pitch in, in case we have to hide for a while." Nanefua said. Sounded pretty good, and Peedee got it down on a clipboard.

"That's all fun and good, but any idea on contact? Not being species-ist or anything, but your kind doesn't learn danger THAT fast," Jasper asked. Not the nicest way to put it, but still a point, and Jenny already one.

"Oh! Mayor Gunga, I can drive you around while you use the loudspeakers to spread the word through town."

"Cheese on bread! That's a good idea," Nanefua stated.

"And while Jenny does that, I'll go around the boardwalk on foot, and let all the businesses know what's up."

"AND," added Emerald, "Soon as we get the full know-how, I'll give a call out to everyone on my cellphone." Emerald finished his statement by levitating his IPhone in his hand.

"It'll probably be easier if you send a mass text," Kiki replied.

"Oh yeah, forgot you can do that. Noice," Emerald replied, smirking.

"Is there anyway else we can boost the town's security?" Nanefua asked. This question rubbed Jasper the wrong way a little bit.

"Aren't we enough security for this place? We've been defending this town for years."

"I know, but who's to say where you'll be, and where danger will be at one time?" Nanefua pointed out.

"She's got a point there. And did you forget we were all captured already? Who's to say if it'll happen again?" added Lapis.

"It will not happen ... I was caught off guard, that's all," Jasper grumbled. She still found it hard to swallow she, a veteran of the Gem War and the perfect Quartz, would end up caught so quickly and easily. Not a good hit to her pride.

"Come on, Jay, it's alright. You weren't the only one who got caught off-guard by White Diamond, you know," Greg said. Jasper just sighed, as Greg started to think.

"Anyway, it'll probably help if we have some sort of look out. Maybe we can get one of those high-tech telescopes for the Lighthouse or something."

"This is beautiful!" Nanefua said in glee.

This whole conversation did catch those outside a bit off-guard themselves, the three walking away from the window and leaving them to their own meeting.

"Mayor Gunga ... wasn't this place owned by Mayor Dewey before?" Peridot wondered, pondering. They eventually took a look over to Bill, who at this point had his back to the wall, groaning miserably, eventually sliding down onto the ground.

"Mayor Dewey?" Steven asked.

"No, no. Nanefua's the mayor now. I'm just ... Dewey," Bill sighed. Now THIS was some change on their track!

"WHAA?! But how, what happened?!" Steven gasped. Bill Dewey? NOT mayor? This was so out of nowhere for him, but Bill Dewey got the answer for him. Or rather, Bill's phone did, as he pulled it out. He fiddled it for a little bit before giving it to them, Starlight, Peridot, Steven, and Twilight looking at what video Bill had brought up. It took a minute before it started loading, though the title of the video didn't help all too much:

first ever Election of Beach City - Dewey chickens out.

What a start. The video went onto to play what looked like some election, between Mayor Dewey and Nanefua. Someone had gotten a IPhone to the event, seemingly how this even got recorded at all. Nanefua looked serious about it up on her podium, her standing on a footstool, but Dewey looked rather nervous about it, not looking like he got much sleep either. The crowd readied for a speech, and despite his tired expression, Bill went up first.

"People of Beach City. You might think that being a mayor is a fine and glamorous sort of thing. I can understand why my opponent would want the position. But I've been mayor of this city for a decade, and I know some things that Ms. Nanefua does not. You see, when you're the mayor, you get blamed for everything. When the boardwalk has termites, it's the mayor's fault. When aliens steal people, it's the mayor's fault. When the mayor crashes the mayor mobile into the only cell tower in town, it's the mayor's fault. Most people can't handle that kind of pressure, but I can. So, I say to you, Beach City citizens, just enjoy our wonderful ocean breeze and don't worry about a thing. Just let Dewey "do" it for you!"

Hmm, ok, ok, a rather decent speech. But then it's Nanefua's turn.

"You know, Mayor Dewey, you are right. I have blamed you for too many things, and that is not helping. Blaming our problems completely on the mayor is not getting us anywhere. When one of us suffers, the town suffers. When you suffer, Mayor Billiam, the town suffers. So, no longer will I point my fingers at you. I will extend all my fingers on both my hands to everyone here today and ask that we share responsibility for the welfare and safety of Beach City, together! Thank you."

And the crowd went crazy for that, applauding and cheering for her, chanting her name. Clearly more admiration for one side over another. Mayor Dewey tried in vain to gather himself.

"Uh, did you ever notice how people from Ocean Town uh ... Oh, who am I kidding? Beach City deserves a real mayor. Someone wise and collected like Ms. Nanefua. ... I withdraw from the race. You can find the key to the city under the city welcome mat." The video ends shortly afterwards with Bill Dewey simply leaving. Bill just felt awful with himself, being replaced, now without much to do.

"I'm so sorry, Dewey, this is our fault," Steven said, feeling guilty about all of this.

"Come on, Universe. You know she's gonna be a better mayor than me. It was the right thing to do. Now, I've got to find a new job." Bill sighed, started to walk away from them. It took them a little bit, but it took even less time for them to decide what to actually do. At least for Twilight and Steven. Both of them went right over to Bill, Starlight, Blue, and Peridot standing off aside.

"Then why don't we find you one?"

"You'll do that for me?"

"Of course! Come on, let's see what we got," Steven insisted, even taking him by the hand and pulling him along. Bill Dewey wasn't sure how good of an idea this was, but he hadn't found much over the last few days, so he might as well try. Guess Starlight too had found her lesson starter: basic compassion ... or something. Maybe? Ah well, let's see where this goes.

~~~~~~

So, after dropping off the food from the market to the van, it was off to the newspapers and soon, they went off to the Boardwalk for a bit, more focused on finding something Bill Dewey could do. They took a seat off at one of the outside tables, and Steven went on over what sort of something they could do. Starlight sat down not too far away next to Twilight, taking note of whatever was going on here. Bill Dewey was not too thrilled though.

"I don't know, Universe. Being Mayor has been my passion for a long time, I never even had a competitor before. Even when I ran for mayor of high school, I ran unopposed. Probably because I made up the position," Bill noted, thinking back on it himself.

"Don't worry, Dewey, we can fix this. Um ... there's an opening for a chef at the Crab Shack," Steven suggested.

"I have an allergy to Crabs," Bill sighed. Well that wasn't gonna work.

"Okay uh ... there's an ad for a theater bouncer," Twilight pointed out with her hoof.

"A bouncer? The town doesn't like me enough as it is. ... Plus, it's been a while since I've pumped any iron," Bill said, flexing an arm to prove his own point. A weak bouncer would not work at all so that didn't work either. Starlight no longer really saw what kind of lesson she was trying to get from this. So far, all she was seeing was some sad man and little job qualification.

"Uh, Twilight? What lesson is this supposed to be? Exactly?" Starlight whispered.

"You'll find out as you go. I can't tell you up front, otherwise it wouldn't work as well. Here, try and help Bill out," Twilight suggested. Starlight found that a bit annoying, but then again, they do say experience is a stronger teacher. Well then again, it's at least something other than that ... other idea. Starlight went over and sat over by Steven, looking over what they had in mind, or what they couldn't pick. Steven had marked a few off the list with a pencil he had on hand. Starlight glanced over to Twilight, who sat further away with a smile to urge her on. Starlight sighed and decided to give it a go.

"Hey. You uh ... need a hoof there?" Starlight asked.

"Oh, hey Starlight. Got any idea on what we can do for Bill?" Steven asked. Well, Starlight was put on the spot right away on the question. Starlight glanced to what options remained. Starlight didn't feel too comfy, considering she had tried to capture one of them before while with White Diamond during their earlier encounters. Seeing him more open about it was a bit ... weird. Anyway, Starlight looked through what was what like she would read a spell or a test.

"Okay, um, well what uh ... qualities do you have?" Starlight asked, a little bit awkwardly. The question got Bill trying to think a little bit, hand to chin.

"Hmm ... well I did get some posters made during my earlier years with help from my son, but my skills in that are a little rusty."

"So, I guess being a part-time artist is out of the question?" Starlight added. Bill just groaned, and ... Starlight began to go.

"Wait, where're you going?" Twilight asked, standing in her way, a bit confused. Starlight shuttered.

"S-sorry, it's just I feel ... uncomfortable," Starlight murmured, just loud enough for Twilight to hear.

"Everything will be fine, Starlight, just give it a chance."

"But I captured him, remember? I put you all in that zoo, how's he so open so quickly?" Starlight reminded, feeling guilty.

"That was almost two years ago. That, and it was you who helped us escape the Space Station in the first place. I wouldn't bring you here if I didn't think it'll help," Twilight reassured her. Starlight still felt a little uneasy but she could see the logic in it all the same. Starlight just sighed.

"Well, if you say so."

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but I think I should get back. We'll try again later when I'm not so much of a laughing stock," Bill said, getting up and starting to go off his own way back to his house. Well, this was really getting much of them down, and Steven and Starlight went over to him as he kept walking.

"Now wait a minute, Dewey, can't we try one of these out?"

"Don't know why? I can't even know when my own residents are kidnapped and taken into space! And now your hot sister's stuck up there and it's the former mayor's fault," retorted Bill.

"... My sister?" asked Steven, confused.

"Is this a common thing?" Starlight added, also confused. Sure, alien abductions did happen, but he made it sound like it was as common as a car crash, and something quickly known by everyone.

"Oh nevermind. If you need me, I'll just be at home, moping over some donuts and reading what Nanefua's up to in the papers," Bill sighed. Guess it was gonna be a while until Bill Dewey would get back on his feet, and apparently Starlight's attempt at her lesson was going south here. However, with that final statement, Steven actually started to ponder slightly about that very thing.

"Donuts, donuts ... oh! Lars! I haven't checked on him yet since dropping him off at home," Steven realized. Sure he saw him with the Cool Kids but not too much aside from that. He didn't see to the Big Donut just yet so it couldn't hurt to check it. Then again, he wasn't the type to just leave someone hanging like this.

"Hey, Dewey! Wanna come with us to the Big Donut?!" Steven then called. Bill turned back and stopped himself, simply sighing.

"Oh, why not? Don't know if I even got any donuts anyway."

~~~~~~

"Thank you, come again."

The Big Donut was pretty busy by the time the group arrived up to the doors, several people up and ready to get their donuts. Or most of them were anyway, some were just there to check out Lars more or less. How often does one get to see someone be brought back to life anyway? If what the rumors said were true anyway, and probably they were as Lars was head to toe in pink now. Speaking of, when Steven and Twilight came on in, they found that Lars ... well, wasn't there. Sadie was up front and handling things for him, which was a bit odd.

"Oh, hey Steven, Twilight. Just a second," Sadie said, getting out another order for another customer before they could talk to her.

"Hi Sadie. Sure busy, huh?" Steven said.

"Yeah, me and Lars had been up in arms since we got back from our space trip, especially during the re-opening," Sadie said.

"Speaking of which, where is Lars?" Twilight asked. Sadie got in another order before she could answer.

"He's not here guys: still trying to get himself together after ... you-know-what," Sadie answered. Of course Steven of all people would know what she meant by that.

"Oh. Right. Uh, anyway, can we have four orders to go, please?" Steven asked.

"Oh, sure, what'll it be?" Sadie asked. As Twilight and Steven got the orders in, Bill Dewey and Starlight Glimmer went on inside, passing by some of the customers. Starlight didn't see it at first, but she did see Bill kinda slump down, as if feeling the anger come at him. Starlight looked concerned for him, going through the similar vibe right now, and Bill went up to them as she simply stayed off outside. When Sadie saw them go though, it was just the four in the room, five including her, and all somewhat familiar with the subject matter.

*Phew* Sadie then went over to the back door, and then knocked on the wall three times.

"They gone?" asked a muffled voice from the other room.

"Yeah it's just Steven and his friends. And Dewey. You're fine," Sadie answered. Turned out Lars was still there, coming out only after the crowds left, relieved to have some quiet time. Or at least in company more used to him like this.

"Thank goodness," Lars sighed.

"Lars! But Sadie just said you weren't here," Twilight said.

"I'm here, I just can't handle all those people. Twenty come in today, and none of them even want their donut and trying to get the full story out of me over ... well, this," Lars explained, hands presenting himself.

"I'm sorry, Lars."

"Sorry? Steven you saved my life, you're fine. I just needed some quiet time, that's all," Lars figured. Why would he get mad at Steven for that? Like he was supposed to know he would turn pink anyway. Soon, the phone began to ring up nearby, Sadie taking time to answer it. The phone call wasn't too long though.

"We got another delivery Lars. You wanna take or, or me?" Sadie asked.

"Eh, maybe you better do it," Lars replied.

"You do deliveries now?" Twilight asked, as Sadie got herself ready with the order.

"It's been going on lately, but we've been getting a bit of trouble trying to do these deliveries AND track the big donut. You know, me being pink and all," Lars explained. Going back to old habits wasn't what Lars had in mind, but it didn't bother it as much as it should. Not that it didn't bug him at all, but still.
This whole thing was viewed off by Starlight just outside, managing to hear the conversation. What was she supposed to do here? Sure, they were just getting their donuts, but seeing Bill in such a similar slump made her feel even more so. After all, making amends was never easy, be it losing your spot as mayor or for kidnapping your new friends in the past for some Diamond overlord. Starlight was just about to go on in when -

"UNICORN!"

Starlight almost shot a magic beam out of defense when spinning around, but she did calm down just to see that it was one of the humans standing there. Ronaldo in particular. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"W-what was that for, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Starlight shouted, though suddenly realizing that she was shouting and covered her muzzle. Friendship never got started with yelling.

"You tell me; everyone's suddenly talking about some crazy space junk and I didn't get a chance to study any of it. You got anything for me?" Ronaldo questioned.

"Wait, don't you remember? White Diamond coming in, capturing all of us? I thought Dewey mentioned something about that already, that was how he lost."

"Do you believe everything the Government tells you?" Ronaldo questioned.

"Steven's the one that told the government," Starlight replied matter-of-factly, looking inside towards Steven inside the Big donut. She got word of what that was about during their walk here.

"Wait, what? So you mean ..." Starlight just nodded.

"So you all were really ..." and Starlight nodded again. Ronaldo getting knocked out must've messed up his memory about the subject if he didn't recall that.

"... WHY WASN'T I UP THERE?!"

... huh?

"Why does Lars get to go off into the galactic cosmos, on an adventure of a lifetime?! It's so ironic it hurts my soul!" Ronaldo fell to the ground in a crying heap nearby the door. ... Well, that was something.

"I ... don't know where to start here," Starlight said.
And here she thought everyone was glad to see them back. Before she could go much further on it, she then began to hear the sound of a van being parked not too far away. sure she may be at the Big Donut, but she could see sight of the number of other eateries down the boardwalk, and what caught her attention was over at Citywalk Fries. Namely to get away from mourning Ronaldo (is mourning the right word?), Starlight took one look over inside to the others and decided to trot on over to see what was going on. It could give her some time to think anyway.
Funny thing though, as Starlight moved over to investigate, the van looked ... oddly familiar. It wasn't Greg's van, by any means, but it did have something about it that almost felt nagging, like she should know what this is. When she got close, she found another surprise: Peedee was there and working within this vehicle. Turned out this van was actually a food truck: a large smiling potato on top of it, an open stand window on the side, and an advertising sign labeled "Hot 2 Tot". Peedee was working off inside, wiping down things, making it look good, when Starlight took a look inside, her front hooves on the frontal stand.

"Oh, hey. That was quick. What can I get ya?" Peedee asked, going over to Starlight. Well, at least one person didn't recognize her right away, but Starlight wasn't interested in the food aspect right away.

"Eh, I'm not hungry. Actually I was wondering about this uh ... stand?" Starlight inquired. Though it sure looked odd for a stand, and she didn't spend enough time in Beach City to fully get things like this down pact.

"Oh, the food truck. Yeah, dad said it's time for me to go out on my own from the business. I sell exclusively in Tater Tots now," Peedee answered, feeling pretty good about it himself.

"Tater tot. Never heard of that one."

"Eh, here, I can give you a sample if you want," Peedee offered. Well generosity was fairly decent anyway, so Starlight simply nodded, and Peedee began work on getting the sample together. Starlight backed up and took a look up at the smiling potato.

"Do all food trucks look like parade floats?" Starlight asked, referring to the potato.

"Well, it's not required, but it does catch customers' attention."

"I can see that with that ... potato," Starlight said. Peedee peeked back outside.

"Oh, that? Actually this used to be the mayor's van. I just painted over Dewey's head. The town just gave the van to me too, it was like they wanted nothing to do with Dewey anymore," Peedee explained, though he didn't sound too bothered by it. Hearing this though, Starlight felt a bit mixed. sure it was nice for someone to lend you a free van, but hearing how much the town wanted nothing to do with former Mayor Dewey seemingly hammered in the problem further. And honestly, Starlight was getting tired of it, remembering that this was a friendship lesson when all was said and done.

"Look uh ..."

"Peedee," Peedee answered.

"Eh right, uh Peedee. Don't you think you're all being a bit ... too hard on Dewey?" Starlight asked.

"Look, I know you ponies are all about friendship and harmony and all that, but seriously, what kind of mayor doesn't know when his own people are kidnapped in space?" Peedee asked.

"Every mayor ever," Starlight dryly replied.

"Well one time's enough. Besides, not that he even knew who they were."

"Excuse me?" This was a bit new. Peedee finished up her sample of tater tots and placed them over on the counter before continuing.

"Just before the big election, he tried giving some big speech about it, and you know what he said?" Peedee paused to clear his throat. "Do not worry. I will do everything in my power to hire a new donut boy."

"Donut boy? ... You mean Lars?" Starlight asked, scratching her head with her hoof.

"Yeah I mean Lars. I mean come on, you don't see someone's missing, and just replace someone else's kid like that, you just don't!" Peedee answered.

"Sounds like a Diamond decision to me," Starlight murmured. With her working under White Diamond for a short time, something like that actually sounded more akin to White Diamond than most; if someone's gone, just put someone else. Not that it was a good thing, but Bill wasn't alone in that regard. The town really was blaming him though, clearly, and if what the video said was true then they knew why. Starlight glanced off back towards the Big Donut, and she could actually see Bill Dewey looking on sadly, before he started to go off away.
Twilight told her to help Bill out, and she had to try something a bit more effort-filled.

.......

"Dewey, wait a minute!"
Next thing she knew, Starlight was galloping off to catch up with him down the road behind the Citywalk Fries building. And clearly, poor Bill Dewey just wasn't all up for it much anymore. He got his donut, and he just wanted to go home.

"Oh, it's you is it? One of Steven's pony friends?"

"Eh, yeah, listen. I just want you to know, that alien abduction thing? It wasn't your fault." Starlight made clear.

"Easy for you to say. You're the first person, er pony, in town to say that."

"Now come on. ... If anything, it's my fault."

"Why?" Bill asked, turning back to her. Starlight went for broke.

"Because I'm the one who told White Diamond about Steven. Hay, I tried capturing those ponies a few times myself! And, let's be real, how often does this happen anyway? Five times a year? three?"

"That's true. But like I said, when you're the mayor, everything is your fault. And looks like they've forgiven you," Bill pointed out, which was more than could be said for him.

"Eh ... well, I'm still surprised they did that. But, guess that's the princess of Friendship, right?" Starlight shrugged. Bill sighed and turned away. It would be easier if humans were as forgiving to others as the Ponies of Equestria, wouldn't it?

"... You know. Seeing my Mayor-mobile turned into a giant potato. Made me realize that nothing's like it used to be. My old life, my old town, my own citizens. They've all changed, they - ... all out-grown me, I suppose." NOW Starlight was feeling very sorry for him. And you know what, she was seeing the same problems herself one way or another, memories of her own life back in her own town with her own pony citizens. In one moment, she was in charge of everything, and the next, she lost it all in one night. Sure, it was a more forceful approach, but the concept was the same.

"Well, nothing's going to stay forever," Starlight said, remembering her own experiences. Bill just sighed before he started walking on again, Starlight walking beside him.

"You know what I miss most about being mayor?" he began. "The little things: getting dressed and ready for work, going down the boardwalk, seeing everyone's smiling faces yes. Knowing I have a place in this town. I used to look forward to it everyday." Bill Dewey thought back on this with a soft smile on his face, but it went away when he looked to the Big donut just down the road from the crossway.

"Just like how everyone looks forward to their morning donut ... I guess these days no one gets what they want." There was a bit of a pause here, Starlight beginning to ponder a little bit. Then something came to mind.

"Well, how can you be so sure?"

"What do you mean? Everyone in town doesn't like me for being mayor."

"Then you know what? Try again. Make new friends, get something new started. And if you find something out of your control, work through it together. I'm sure nopony in this town hates you that much, right?"

"How do you know?"

"Well ... I don't, but, I guess that's up to you to be sure," Starlight answered. This may be a recite of Twilight's lesson to her during the time-travel incident, but that same thing can be applied here, albeit different context. A lesson can be expanded upon, and Bill Dewey sure could use someone to help him right about now. Bill Dewey started to take these words to heart a little bit, seeing where Starlight was coming from.

"Thanks. ... Still don't know what to do for my job, though," Bill stated. Starlight tried to think, but then began to remember something they were told of earlier. Or what the others were told of anyway.

"You know ... I think I got an idea for you."

~~~(few days later)~~~

The days were looking a bit brighter for Bill Dewey now. Took quite a bit of talk and consideration on Sadie and Lars's part, but Bill Dewey was then seen going around town, doing some donut deliveries for the Big Donut. It wasn't a town-changing decision, but when Starlight later saw him, he sure looked a lot happier than he was before. Starlight had took time to visit Beach City again, and while in one of those visits, Starlight caught sight of Bill Dewey going on by with a delivery donut box, looking very pleased. So, as she was looking, Starlight took time to write out a little something.

Dear Princess Celestia:

Ever since becoming your formal pupil's student, I've been having some doubts in myself on this whole friendship thing. With how much I've done in the past, I was worried that it would be very hard to truly make amends, if at all. Turned out, I ran into someone going through that exact same problem: Bill Dewey, the former mayor of Beach City. As I've told him, while some situations may seem like it's out of your control, if you take a chance and try again, you can work through it together.

signed: Starlight Glimmer

P.S.: Twilight suggested me to give these letters to you specifically. She told me she used to do this with you a lot before becoming an Alicorn herself, and since I can just tell her up front myself, you might be getting a lot of these in the future. Just a heads up.

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"Slow down, Lapis!"

Enjoying a good little race, Jamie and Lapis got themselves up along Brooding Hill. I was a pretty nice day, chilly but pretty clear as both Gem and human raced eachother to the top. Jamie ran, but Lapis kept ahead with some water wing flying, and in no time at all she had got herself at the top, enjoying the victory with her fist in the air and a smile on her face. Jamie caught up, a bit winded and needing to get his breath together.

"No fare, you flew up here," Jamie said. Lapis still felt pretty good with herself.

"I know," Lapis simply said. Jamie smirked and pushed at Lapis, both of them eventually going into a playful scuffle with eachother until they both ended up on the ground side by side, all smiles. Boy they needed this after their adventure beforehand. They had a good view of Beach city they got their breath, and Lapis Lazuli took a moment to see it herself. Pretty good and all, but being up here also got her thinking a little bit.

"Good ol' Beach City. Nice to be back to our home, but so much has changed lately. Nanefua becoming mayor of Beach City, the Crystal Temple being empty. It's quite a bit to take in," Lapis admitted.

"I know it is. I mean, we're at White Diamond's Space Station one moment, flying off to the Jungle Moon next, and suddenly come back home and find Barbara Miller working my routes for me," Jamie explained. It was pretty quick how someone would work your job after just a few days of space exploration.

"Sure's nice of her to do that for you," Lapis said, as she laid back down and took a look up at the clouds. Pretty soon their game turned into a simple time for cloud-watching, seeing the clouds go by and working out what they can see. At first many of the clouds didn't look like much, but eventually Jamie started to see something begin to appear within the mess of white.

"Hey look, I think I see your diamond up there." Jamie pointed out. Looking to where Jamie had said, the clouds surely did look a lot like Blue Diamond.

"Oh yeah. ... And hey, look at that, it's Daring Do," Lapis said, pointing off to a particular cloud that looked like that particular Pegasus.

"Daring Do?"

"Oh, she's a pony from Equestria we've met some time ago. We helped her in handling a creature called Ahuizotl from turning the world into a thousand years of blistering heat."

"Wow, cool! When'd this happen? Last week? a month or two ago?" Jamie asked. Lapis sat up and started to count it out on her fingers. One ... two ... three. How long had it been?

"What's the date?"

"September 6th. Why, counting weeks?" Jamie asked. Lapis started to ponder on it a little bit.

"No. Let's see ... it was a few days after I was released from the mirror, and that was on the first day of summer. And it's a few days after autumn, so ... it was three years, and uh ... twelve weeks I think?"

Jamie thought his eyes would pop out on that answer.

"WHOA, that far back? You're talking about it like it just happened! I can only remember at least three months ago before it starts to get testy. That Elephant-levels of memory," Jamie said in amazement. Lapis rubbed the back of her head, smiling sheepishly.

"Well when your the messenger AND terraformer to Blue Diamond, a very good memory helps."

"Very good? Lapis, that's beyond just good, that's Exceptional memory! Hyperthymesia!"

"Hyper-what?"

"Oh nevermind. How far back can you remember?" Jamie asked. Lapis paused and began to recall back the farthest she could properly get.

"Eh well I dunno, it starts getting a bit vague after about seven thousand years. There was Pink Diamond that happened about 5,000 years or so ago, but that's only because White Diamond messed with my memory so I thought differently. Oh, and then there's my time as Malachite for a few months, and after that when I stayed inside the barn, and that's because my gemstone was damaged and I kept away from everyone afterwards. Sorry again that you had to wait for our get-together at the Crab Shack that following Friday."

She even remembered the date for the Crab Shack?! Jamie thought his jaw would smash through the ground at that point. Seven thousand years of that kind of memory? He didn't remember what place it was until after Lapis brought it up on her return, and even then it was just good enough.

"I wanna test this: what exactly was the package I delivered when we first met?"

"That's easy: it was Emerald's collector's edition set of Sinful Servant he ordered from Japan. Volumes three through seven."

"... That's scary ... but intriguing," Jamie said, very humbled by this kind of memory. When was that package delivered? Jamie couldn't remember that well but Lapis got it down pact no problem.

"How can I not remember? It's the first time you and I ever met," Lapis said, playfully fluffing Jamie's hair. Jamie chuckled.

"Yeah. If only humans can have that kind of memory like you do, then we can stop making the same mistakes," Jamie sighed.

"Why would you make the same mistake twice?" Lapis questioned, laying down next to him as Jamie looked to the sky.

"Because we forget to remember, it happens to the best of us. Sometimes I go to the library and I think there's some details missing from whoever wrote them. We even have a saying about it: those who don't remember their history are doomed to repeat it ... and I don't want a repeat of what just happened, don't know about you."

"Yeah. Me too. If only we can get everyone to remember what happened over the years. ..."

There was some silence, the little space adventure clear in both of their minds. This was something neither of them will forget anytime soon, and something neither of them really wanted to happen either. ... All of a sudden, Jamie sat up fast.

"A stage show."

"Huh?" Lapis looked to him and she could see that he had the similar starry-eyed expression someone with a struck of inspiration would get. He got up to his feet, feeling very inspired as he pictured it out in his own head.

"A stage show: a play recalling the adventures we all had on the Space Station - no. ALL of our adventures since the very start. The day Equestria and Earth first connected, and every adventure that followed! The chronicles of Earth and Equus!" Looked like Jamie's drama zone had come up again, but Lapis was starting to get intrigued herself.

"What's a chronicle?"

"It's a factual detailed documentation of all the big events that happened over the years. Only here, we're performing it in front of an audience on stage. Actors, inspirers, narrators, musicians, it's the dramatization of the duel-world chronicle!" Jamie explained, still psyched on the idea. Lapis Lazuli was sold, and she too got to her feet.

"That's a great idea! And I've heard humans and ponies alike always enjoyed a play more than reading a documentation. This is perfect!" Lapis said, starting to get excited about the whole thing.

"It's settled then! Come on Lapis, let's spread the word and get this started!" Jamie said. Lapis didn't need to be told twice, and getting out her water wings, she picked up Jamie and went straight off towards Beach City.

.......

"A play, Lapis?" asked Jasper. It didn't take much time until Jamie and Lapis got to the other Gems and told them what the deal even was. While a bit odd to not have the Beach House present, they met them up over by the temple anyway, which was where much of the Crystal Gems would be at. The only one not there was Garnet, but they're sure they can tell her when they get to her, that and Steven and Connie were present too.

"Yeah! A full chronicle of all of our adventures together! We've gone through so much, why not show it on stage for everyone to see and learn from? You know, like that Heart's Warming Eve play we saw," Lapis figured.

"Oh, yeah. But this is years worth of stuff here, sure we can get it all in?" Steven asked.

"I think we got everything we need: Lapis Lazuli has the most developed memory of anyone I've ever met. Just today she recalled the exact date of my Crab Shack invitation from last year!" Jamie insisted.

"You can remember that, Lapis?" Steven asked, a bit surprised.

"Clear as day."

"That's just one thing though. Here try this: you were with me on a lunch get-together just three days ago, what did I eat?" Amethyst said, seeing how good this actually was. Lapis decided to play around with her memory, and brought her hands up to her head in a manor Garnet would do.

"We went to the Crab Shack and you stuffed yourself silly on approximately ten fried lobsters, fifteen crab legs and topped it off with a frosted crab cake with extra lemon." Lapis paused and shivered on that sort of memory, but Amethyst was a bit impressed.

"Not bad, Lazuli," Peridot said.

"I don't think I can forget such carnage even if I tried," Lapis shuttered. The images of ravenous Amethyst just going all out on those poor crustaceans like some beast. Amethyst simply smirked, still tasting the crab and lobsters.

"Well, that actually sounds kinda fun. I mean, it's years of work we did here, the least we can do is commemorate it," Connie figured.

"And you ALL can be apart of the play," revealed Jamie.

"Can we, Jasper, please?" Steven asked, hands clasped together and starry eyed. Jasper tried to keep herself out of such influences, but even such a strong Gem like her found it somewhat difficult. Jasper groaned, and kept her gaze away. Jamie tried to work his dramatic charm.

"You know, if one doesn't learn from their history, they're doomed to repeat it. Soooo ..."

"Talk to Garnet first, ok?" Jasper decided. Best answer, but that statement did get them thinking.

"Speaking of which, where is Garnet? Did anyone see her?" asked Connie.

"We can tell her when we find her. For now, let's find ourselves a stage to get this play off the ground. Somewhere wide open, like a cinema. Plenty of space to reenact and become apart of the moment. A play has to have the room and life to breathe," Jamie explained, hands up in front like a camera lens, and going around the room from character to character. This stopped when he got to Steven, his smiling face filling up his screen.

"Steven has an idea."

~~~~~~

With Peridot's key, one warp jump later and it was from the Temple, and back into Ponyville. Peridot needed some aid in figuring out where to go for this one. As for where they ended up, they were in front of a pretty large building, much materials similar to the other cottages around Ponyville. The difference here though is that not only was it much bigger, but a welcoming arch stood before the door, presenting what looked like two opera masks, one smiling, one frowning, both ponified.

"The Ponyville Theatre?" Peridot questioned.

"Yeah! This has just what we need! That, and it'll be much easier getting the Mane Six together because, well, they're right here!" Steven explained. Well that was true. That, and they don't remember exactly that many shows going on as of late, but as the group were heading closer to the front door, there actually was a sign up at front: "stage currently setting up"
And they sure can hear it going on from outside, Jamie pressing his ear onto the door to hear a number of stuff being moved and put in place. Despite that though, the doors weren't really locked, and when Jamie took a look inside ...

*GASP!*

"Alright, everypony, good work. Be sure all the lights are checked before we begin figuring out what we'll be performing."

GARNET?! Standing over by the stage with a megaphone in hand, and dressed up as a vintage Hollywood movie director, Garnet was actually calling the shots to make sure everything was in tip-top shape for the theatre.

"Garnet?! Is that you?" gasped Steven.

"Just a minute, Steven," Garnet said before bringing up her megaphone again. "Watch where those clouds go Night Glider, Derpy. We don't want a thunderstorm to go off pre-maturely," Garnet instructed. The two Pegasus started moving the clouds, just for Derpy to bump it a bit hardly, making a lightning bolt shoot out. Derpy simply blushed as she and Night Glider flew the cloud out of the way, Jasper feeling a shiver run through her in seeing that.

"So, Garnet. Care to tell the class what you're doing here?" Connie asked, intrigued as everyone else

"Setting things up for the next play," Garnet replied with a smile. Lapis and Jamie both were VERY impressed.

"WHOOOOA. Your future vision's right on point today! We were just ready to get a play going ourselves - this is magnificent!" Jamie beamed. Garnet paused for a moment, but then she smiled.

"Good thing I got everything set then."

"I know right?! OH we're gonna make this happen!" Lapis said, she, Jamie, and the others going off to the stage to get this show on the road. Steven stuck on behind for a moment though.

"I didn't expect you to be working here. Have we fallen on hard times? Because I can be just fine with my dad in the van."

"Oh Steven. This isn't about making men's meat. This is about being random."

"... Are you serious?"

"Oh YES," Garnet stated with enthusiasm. Steven still found this a little bit odd, but before they could continue, a whistle from Lapis caught his attention.

"Come on Steven, we need your muscle with Jasper's to get the stage set!"

Well that was something he can get some other time. for now, it's time to get this play off the ground, and into the sky.

~~~~~~

"Ok, now what we'd like is a word from the audience," Jamie said.

"Steven!" shouted Rarity.

"We did one about Steven ten times already," Peridot griped.

"But I thought those scenes were good."

With the decision made for the theme of the theater, much of the group had been busy bees in trying to make this work. Jamie of course was the grand actor for the play (He'd be director, but acting was more his passion than directing), and he was joined by Amethyst, Peridot, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. They were more of a prop group, which made sense for what they needed, and they all had their brown sweaters on as a main theme of clothes. Not too bad. In the seating arrangements, Rarity, Steven, Twilight and Lapis were present in watch. Learning who'd be doing what was one thing, but knowing where the play would actually go was something else. As they were handling that, Emerald and Fulgurite arrived to check up on things.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey Emerald, Fulgurite. We're just trying to work out our play," Steven answered. Emerald looked over to the crowd on the stage.

"Oh, an improv group. Always like spontanious entertainment."

"We have a planned play, Emerald. Good thing you arrived too, dearie, we need your involvment too," Rarity said, going over to him.

"Someone needs me? Pull the other leg, it's got bells on it," Emerald joked. Emerald suddenly felt himself lifted from Twilight's magic, and placed down in a seat.

"Emerald, this play's going to be about all our adventures together, and you've been involved in them too," Twilight explained, Lapis showing Emerald a written script she and Twilight had done for it. The script looked ... well, big. Big enough to fill an encyclopedia.

"Geesh, look at you guys. And you got all of it in here?"

"Impressive, huh? Lapis helped with most of it," Amethyst said, coming over to him. Lapis smiled humbly, but Emerald went through page by page and after a bit, he began to see a problem.

"WHOA, wait a minute. It's all fun and good, but no one's going to sit through a day-long play. You gotta cut some of this out, don't you? I mean really, you can't have "Rainbow tryouts for Equestrian Games" and make that last for five scenes," Emerald said. Talk about a buzzkill.

"We're not, but it helps to have a play-by-play. If we're working off memory, we need details so everypony can get it. Still trying to work it out though: we already did the Plunder Vines starting point, then work over to Steven's corruption by Sombra, and then Jasper and Tirek arrival for the first end scene."

"Sure you wanna include all of it? I mean, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Jasper AND Sombra? That's a lot to juggle for the first end scene, ain't it?" Fulgurite pointed out. Well she had a point - four villains for the end scene was a lot to fit in, even if it did happen. Heck, that was enough for one play right there.

"Eh ... maybe we can just go with Jasper and Sombra then, how's that?" Twilight figured. Amethyst took a skim through the pages after that.

"Ok, ok. Let's see: go to Prime Kindergarten blah blah blah start Galactic Ray blah blah meet Kyra. Eh, no offense, but maybe skip the prime kindergarten and get to the Galactic Ray part," Amethyst suggested.

"There, now we're getting somewhere. Maybe have Kyra tag along for the trip instead of leaving him behind and THEN him showing up?"

"But he didn't come up with us, he was left down on Earth until Discord showed up and made a portal for him," Lapis answered, mainly working off her memory off what she was told.

"We don't have to make it point by point. That and it doesn't flow as good. For a play to do something like this it needs to flow scene by scene, otherwise you're gonna leave your audience in the dark."

"How the hay do you know that? Worked on a play before?" asked Twilight.

"No, but I've seen plenty of movies, and it's the same concept."

"He's got a point," Fulgurite said.

"Darn right I do." Jamie took a look through the script himself next, thinking it over. If anyone would know about playwight it would be him.

"You know ... you're right. Yeah, we'll do that, and then it can add more suspense for the upcoming battle with the Osicone for the second end scene. A ally turned opponent just before the grand fight, torn between right and wrong in the face of doom," Jamie said. It sure sounded like a good roll, and last thing they wanted were to add bumps in this ride.

"It sure does. But the third, hmm ... there's not much we got there. Any ideas?" Lapis asked. That was probably the shortest one they got so far, and much of it was just casual scenes after looking it over. Pinkie Pie hopped up to them, as excited as always.

"Oh! OH! ME ME!"

"Yes uh ... Pinkie," Jamie said, acting like he was picking out of the crowd, just to point to the pink mare.

"We can show us returning to planet earth, and with Celestia and Blue Diamond presenting those warp pads for us! They did make it as a sweet gift."

"That's perfect! After our grand fight with the Osicone, the play will end on us building our friendship between Homeworld, Equus, and Earth! That's a perfect ending right there," Twilight concluded. Three main events didn't sound too bad at all, and the third one was a good sum-up to wrap up the play in.

"So we're leaving out all those other scenes then? I mean, a LOT more happened afterwards: Stevonnie, the Ruby Squad arriving, Steven's first solo mission, and do I even need to mention White Diamond? We're just skimming over that?"

"Ok, ok, we get it. Hmm ..." Well, they found another dilemma here, but Amethyst got an idea with a snap of her fingers.

"Who says we have to do one?"

"Huh?"

"It's easy: first play's going to be about these three scenes up to us getting the Warp Pad, and the second one will catch everyone up from there. You know, White Diamond, the Cluster, G Slang, all that jazz."

"Oh yeah, and we can have an intermission like they do in the theaters," Steven realized. They thought it over, and turned out that was a very easy fix to make. No one's made to stay the entire time, yet there's time for people to stretch their legs during both plays too. Jamie and Lapis both nodded to eachother.

"Excellent suggestion. Now we won't have to skip all the bigger details," Lapis realized. Good as that was, there was one more tiny thing left here ...

"And ... wait. What about the others? Flint, Bismuth, Diopside, Pearl, none of them are here, how're we gonna do that?" Emerald wondered, scratching his head. Soon they began to hear someone start to transform herself, and next thing they knew they found Amethyst standing confidently as a purple Bismuth. Not an exact copy, but a pretty good second.

"Eh ... just get some body paint, and you'll be fine."

.......

"So where're the other actors, Ms. Sparkle?"
As they were handling that, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer were going along backstage to check in on the other actors. Took some time to get them all together to actually get this right. Bill Dewey and Tiger's Eye also tagged along, one wanting to see how one of the actors in particular was doing, and the other out of plain curiosity over all of this.

"They're just down here, Dewey. So, this is your first time in Equestria, how does it feel?" Starlight asked.

"Well it's more uh ... colorful. Colorful and small. Eh, n-no offense by any means, it's a big. Small. Town."

"Comparatively speaking. I mean, your town's a bit bigger and not made out of straw ... yeah," Starlight simply said. It wasn't the best conversation, but Twilight could see that it was a step in the right direction for both of them.

"Anyway, my son has a strong role in this movie of yours, right?" Bill asked.

"He's playing "Flint" in the play, so I'd say so," Twilight answered. "He should be practicing with Jamie now."

It took little time until they did find them off by their respected areas, off by the clothes rack and practicing their lines. Flint was basically painted grey, had some Canterlot armor on, and had his shades removed while Jamie had a full wardrobe change, even including a party hat for the pointed nose. When they found them though, well ...

"F-Flint, please. I-I know it looks rather bad, but if you let me explain -"

"There's no time for explanations," Buck said.

...

"He sounds like a robot," the others thought, and indeed he did. Jamie seemed to get the lines down pact, but there was a difference between reading lines and acting out lines. And Buck seemed less thrilled about it more than anything, even by Flint's standards.

"Ok, even as his father, I have to say he needs to put more into it than that!" Bill said.

"Someone please make him stop," groaned Tiger's Eye, covering her ears. Rarity was a bit more subtle, and walked in to see the actors in question.

"Well done, everypony, well done. You captured the mood nicely, Jamie, and Buck, you did pretty well. Though it was uh ..."

"Deadpan?" Spike and Tiger's Eye stated. Rarity whacked them both with her tail.

"Now, there's no need to be blunt ... but perhaps some more flair in your performance would be appreciated, Buck. No offense to your current performance, of course," Rarity said, trying to not sound so mean about it. Buck simply shrugged.

"Sure."

"Oh. ... Well, very good," Rarity said, going back to her list of characters for the secondary play. Seemed they got the Cluster Arc down pact so far, but that was just one side-plot performance as Rarity read over the upcoming Cluster scene itself.

"Thank you. So, know where we'll come in?" Tiger's Eye asked, looking down into the actual list itself.

"Oh ... uh, actually uh ..."

"Wait. Where're we?!"

"Well, we had to try and cut down a few scenes or two to actually get the play to work properly, so ..."

"So you cut us out?! Give me that," Tiger's Eye suddenly snatched the script from the unicorn, and quickly rushed through the script to see where the Off-Colors would actually fit in here. Tiger's Eye barely found anything, if at all.

"Now, alright, alright, maybe we can add something in here. ... What would you like?"

~~~~~~

"NO! WAY!"

Too bad Rhodonite was NOT willing to do this at all. Rarity and Tiger's Eye presented this to the other Off-Colors outside of town (Peridot getting them there of course), and they were a bit more humbled about this more than anything, Rhodonite caught off guard almost completely. Who could blame her though, being jumped at for a play she didn't even know about, let alone be apart of.

"Come on, Rhodonite."

"Why in the stars would I be apart of some ... human presentation?"

"First off, this is in Pony world, not Human world, and two; we need the whole group for this part. We're the Off-Colors, we can get this right, can't we? I mean here, look at this," Tiger's Eye showed the script to Rhodonite, the fusion looking a little bit preplexed.

"What's this? Us controling a galactic ship? A group of renegade Gems fighting Homeworld? Tiger's Eye, over half of this we didn't even do!" Rhodonite pointed out.

"I tried to give us something cool," Tiger's Eye said, just for Rhodonite to toss the script back at her, it landing on her head.

"No thanks, I'm staying right here. I'm not going anywhere after what happened!" Rhodonite proclaimed, even hugging one of the barn support beams as she said so. Rarity sighed.

"Alright, understood. I'm sure we can get some actors for these parts ... you think Garnet can fill in for Rhodonite?"

"Wait, actors?"

"We don't have all of the Crystal Gems here, somepony has to. And if we are including the Off-Colors, and they don't want to do it, then we need somepony else to fill in," Rarity explained, which explained Priyanka and Buck in the first place.

"Ok, Flint's party I get, but why replace us when we're right here?"

"Because not everyone actually wants to be in this," Rhodonite answered. The others were a little humbled themselves, Padparadscha staying by Fluorite, but eventually the Rutile Twins looked to eachother and went over to Rarity.

"Can we see the script?" right Rutile asked. Rarity levitated it to show her what they were going to do for this play, and both Rutiles did agree that much of it wasn't too accurate if that was what they were trying to do. Tiger's Eye waited for their response, but eventually they skimmed through to the more later pages where things began to look more recognizable. In particular with their involvment with White Diamond.

"... You're not planning to crack our gemstone again, are you?" left Rutile asked.

"Not planning to try and ... break us?" asked right Rutile.

"Oh, of course not! It's all just acting, honestly," Rarity insisted.

"... can we change a little bit of this?" the twins asked.

~~~~~~

Time ticked by as sunset started to draw near. The play took a while to work out naturally: getting the lines planned, the scripts written and memorized, the stages and scenes set up, all that jazz, and eventually the townsfolk of Ponyville began to gather up. Peridot got the word on out to the people of Beach City as well and some of them did take the time to come to Ponyville and get their own seats, and their own view on the show. As the crowds were gathering up, Twilight took a peak on out from the backstage curtains, seeing quite a crowd. A mixture of ponies and humans in this crowd, and all chatting amongst themselves as they waited for the show to start. Even the rest of the Off-colors were present in the crowd. The least they could do was watch this.

"Sure is packed out there. Alright, everyone ready?" Twilight asked, going over to the others.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Jasper replied. Jamie peeked out there himself, and then started to see that some more ... well, more important people were amongst this crowd: Bill Dewey, Nanefua Pizza, Mayor Mare. He didn't realize that this kind of crowd would be up this high.

"Are you nervous?" Lapis asked.

"Of course. This could either make or break my career..."

"You could lose your job at the post office?"

"This could either make or break my ... hobby." Jamie laughed a little nervously after that. Sure he expected a crowd, no denying that, but who's to say how they'll react with such big faces amongst the group too? The pressure was a little bit higher than he anticipated, but Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling to him. Guess some reassurance was probably the best thing they could give him this close to show time. Speaking of, one check on the clock and they could see just how close to showtime it was.

"Oh! just a minute to, ok chop-chop people!" Jamie said, hands clapping and everyone getting to position.

~~~~~~

The Chronicles of Earth and Equus.
Pt1: Mirror's First Connection

As the lights started to dim, the spotlight was up onto Spike, having his script in front of him for what he was supposed to say, much like how he did back in the Hearth's Warming Eve play. He even had on the same outfit.

"There's always something going on wherever you are: On one hand, the everyday life of a young Gem boy Steven Q. Universe, and on the other, the everyday life of a young Alicorn Twilight Sparkle. Neither side is aware though that this will set in motion an adventure even grander than any of them would've suspected."

The lights then were more focused up onto the stage, Spike stepping off aside so the focus was on the stage. The dragon pointed off to the chorus section, lead by Octavia, and after getting the right starting music going, then came the scene: the spotlight focused on Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Jamie. Using some well-worked effects she looked very much like how she did when her gemstone was cracked. The background showed Rose's Fountain on full display.

In the early life of a young Gem, one of his "moms" had gotten a terrible injury. So he and his guardians went to the sacred Gem areas in hopes to heal her.

"Oh, dearest Amethyst. What fate had befell upon you! Don't you worry about a thing: we, the Crystal Gems, will bring you back to your glory," Garnet stated, holding Amethyst gently. Even Amethyst herself was impressed how deep she was into that. Jamie hoped up to life next, pointing off forward.

"Ah yes the task at hand. Once we reach the sacred Rose Fountain, it will all be well again. And in the center of the garden- - the fountain itself, overflowing with your mother's healing, lacrimal essence!" the end of the line had Jamie a bit more dreamy in it, which was surprisingly accurate.

Meanwhile, in another world, Princess Twilight Sparkle was trying to solve the problem of Plunder Vines. A problem seeping from one world into another.

The scenes then shifted the spotlight away from them, and suddenly another scene started to show itself. This one showed Twilight Sparkle flying in as a number of tentacle-like vines came out. Lapis helped in this department with some water skills with water-proof puppets, making it almost seem like the Plunder Vines were alive again, trying to grab the young Alicorn for a bit. These same vines began to seep to the other side of the stage, beginning to surround the entire group. Steven was on display here, holding Amethyst as he backed up into Twilight, Steven and Twilight spinning around and acting surprised. This was supposed to be their first meeting after all. Both of them turned back to the vines, closing in on them from seemingly all sides. The audience gasped, worried what'll happen to them, but before any vine could get them, backstage Lapis got some more water out, and began to flow them through two slots in the back wall, flowing out of Rose's closed eyes. The vines, wet from the healing water, quickly began to retreat, and were replaced with tossed out pink roses. These were blown out to the audience to catch, several of them getting at least one of the roses. Some of the flowing water landed down on Amethyst, and while wet, "reformed" back to normal in a surprisingly graceful way. But something else ... also fell out.

A hand mirror. Released out in a bed of pink roses.

"Look at you two, saving my life and junk!" Amethyst said with a smile.

With a hug to Twilight and Steven, the scene ended there with a curtain cover. Just one scene so far and the crowd was getting pretty anticipated for what could be happening next.

.......

"Oh, dearie me, young Steven. You sure had gotten yourself in quite a situation, have you?"

The play continued on for a while, and with Lapis's return being firmly established, they've went on ahead a bit, already finishing the Daring Do and Ahuizotl plot in summery, and skipping the Equestria Games sub-plot altogether, they were now at the more suspenseful bit with Sombra's major return to the play's plot. Steven had himself in a similar pit with crystals surrounding him, "Sombra" up on a higher platform and looking down at him with a wicked grin. The part though was acted out instead by, in an ironic way, Rainbow Dash. She was in a robe, painted black and grey, and even had a fake horn on her for some sort of legitimacy.

"How could you? You lied to me!" Steven yelled. Rainbow laughed manically, like a crazed lunatic.

"Of course I did! And now, you will be all mine. You and ALL of the Gems and Ponies of the worlds!" Rainbow roared, laughing up a storm again as her front hooves raised up, a signal for the crystals to activate for her.

"A pony in control of crystals? O-Oh dear, I hope they did keep him locked up," Rhodonite shuttered, just imagining the very idea of somepony controlling gemstones.

"Good luck sleeping tonight," Tiger's Eye whispered. Then came the next scene: the lights started to dim, and the crystals started to flash and freak out, mist coming up from the side as Steven began to groan and growl a little bit. and then out came a mighty roar, Steven being replaced by a mighty beast in the form of Lion. his costume was simply him with roses in his mane, but the huge roar did its job, and made Rhodonite jump out of her boots, hiding behind Fluorite.

"S-Steven?! What did they do to him?!" Rhodonite gasped, freaking out.

"Chill, chill, it's just a play remember. none of this is real ... physically speaking," Tiger's Eye said, trying to chill Rhodonite out and keep her from running onto stage to save him, even grabbing her by the waist. Rainbow could actually see Rhodonite freaking out from the stage.

"Yeah, I gotta tone down on the evil," Rainbow Dash thought.

Lion's roar did a bit more too, and the crystals actually ended up bursting into a flash of glass, making the entire audience jump! Now, they did want to give the audience some worry, but they didn't intend that. The whole place was dark for a moment.

"Lion," groaned Rainbow. Lion simply huffed and moved off stage left. It was time for the next scene anyway, might as well leave em wanting more right?

.......

"You need to leave immediately, this is not a Gem-controlled planet!" Jamie demanded.

Onto the next scene, and it had shifted to Jasper's introduction. As Lapis was apart of this moment herself, this was a bit more spot on than the other scenes shown so far, even if Jasper was played less brutal and more devilish. Here though, Sombra and Jasper were working together, which while it didn't happen did make things a bit more intriguing when fully comparing. Much of the Gems, including Lapis, were on the ground at Jasper's feet, who here looked more like the tyrannical ruler than Sombra did. Even if reformed, Jasper still had her more devilish smile, and was used to deadly effect. She also seemingly had a "Gem Destabilizer" in hand, and Garnet was present this time.

"So this is all that's left, eh? Why don't you tell me before I shatter your sorry butts, why'd you kidnapped one of our Homeworld Gems?" Jasper asked in a growl, ready to beat them up.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Amethyst asked, her whip ready to whack her.

"Don't try to fool me, I got the message already; I know she's here with you, now hand her over!"

"We don't know who you're talking about, you orange gorilla!" Amethyst insulted.

"Get off of Earth, we don't have any of your Gems!" Fulgurite added.

"Ugh, you're so difficult you clods," the Gem growled, getting out a message disk (for the play it was Twilight's projection), which made a hologram of the message Homeworld had gotten. The other Gems from Earth weren't too sure yet, but readied for any attack on her.

"I've tried my best to get back to you, but there had been some complications. I've been ambushed by these clods called the Crystal Gems. These traitors are still alive on Earth after all this time. still forbidding us from recolonizing Earth, still despising Homeworld the same as before, if not more so," she explained, swatting away the message as soon as it was done.

"We don't know what your talking about." insisted Sapphire. The Homeworld Gem was not convinced, cracking her knuckles before her Gem spawned up her helmet.

"What a waste of my time. Let's see how long you'll last now." The destabilizer was deployed, and that was when Garnet took action and rushed forward, only to have the villain rush at her, and stab her right through! The whole audience gasped on sight of this, and Garnet fell over, pretending to be defeated, or at least paralyzed in place. This similar trick was done on the other Gems, and Lion ended up trapped in Jasper's headlock during this fray.

"I don't know what your planning, but it won't work. That's your last stronghold. This is an example of what's left of your army. You had failed."

Now what would happen was that Jasper would tale them to her warship, and they would come back later on, but for the play's sake (and the fact they had no gem warship), Rainbow gave his ally a kick to the head, sending her toppling over her own feet. She grabbed the Gem Destabilizer and used it against Jasper. Not fully accurate, but accurate enough to be passible.

"Correction: You had failed. ALL OF YOU," Rainbow hissed, giving her sort of "Grinch" evil grin.

"What the?!" thought Jasper. The spotlights began to turn red at this point, and Rainbow jumped up to a higher platform, looking up to the sky.

"And this is just the beginning my dearies: After all, why conquer a kingdom when you can get a whole planet? Yellow, Blue, White, you all will be in my control! MUAHAHAHAHA!"

"You clod."

In entered Peridot. As Peridot didn't have her limb enhancers though, the parts she had on instead were a bit more carbon-copy: a few metallic arms and megs only to resemble Limb Enhancers. They didn't function as advanced as her original ... but heck it made her taller. The spotlight focused on her, and she was actually in a sort of gunner's pose: one arm looking like a laser pistol and aimed out in front of her. Gonna present yourself, might as well make it epic.

"And who do you think you are?" Rainbow yelled. Peridot smirked.

"I am the Great and Lovable Peridot: space traveler extraordinaire of countless worlds. And I can't help but notice you got my fellow Gems trapped in your questionable spells."

"Questionable?!"

Rainbow and Peridot then proceeded to go into a fight with eachother. Rainbow made sure to hold her own in a ground fight, not opening her wings as Peridot rushed about her for a bit. The shots Peridot made were actually paintballs, but still were effective when they got to the following moment when Peridot shot "Sombra" in the horn, knocking it off. Rainbow paused for a moment as the horn spun in the air before she froze up, falling over like a fainting goat. The light turned from red to blue, as if it was to heal, and much of the group on stage began to get to their feet. Lion was also replaced with Steven on stage in a quick teleportation trick. Peridot sure felt empowered and actually got into some action poses.

"Shing! Shing! Gwaaaaaaa! SHING, SHING!"

"That's not in the script," Buck whispered.

"She's just having fun," Lapis quietly replied.

With that part, so it ended the first part of this three-part play. The spotlight focused on Spike again for the tenth time now, as he walked outy onto stage as the curtains closed.

The Crystal Gems and Mane Six had defeated the evil unicorn Sombra AND war veteran Jasper. But were they all done? NOT by a long shot! With the combination of Garnet's Future Vision, and Jasper's pure determination to complete her mission, soon began the work on ...

Spike paused and gave a good whistle. That signal got not the curtains open, but a banner to roll down from the ceiling, presenting the plans for the Galactic Ray.

Pt2: Welcome Back Home

"This place is so colorful! did Earth evolve from last time?"

"It has, but this isn't Earth, it's Equus. Now, I want you to be on your best behavior. It might help you out a bit, if you'll watch this custom."

"But I want to explore some more!"

"Sshh. They're in the middle of their performance."

And what a good time for them both to look in too, as now they were going over what looked like Connie's training. Or at least what best they could do without Pearl present there. It appeared like the early days as well, as Connie acted like she first held a sword, standing in place with what looked like another actor to represent Pearl's holograms, though it actually was from Starlight and Twilight's focused magic to make a proper hologram.

"Alright. Now everything begins with your stance. Remember ..."

You do it for him
And you would do it again
You do it for her, that is to say
You'll do it for him.

At this point, the hologram was ready for the fight, and Jamie continued his training lessons as if it was the true deal: Connie following instructions as he continued singing. This sword fight felt more like a dance, sword clashing together with each end of the lyric, no lights on except for Connie and her practicing hologram in this sword dance.

Keep your stance wide,
Keep your body lowered,
As you're moving forward
Balance is the key

Right foot; left foot,
Now go even faster
And as you're moving backwards
Keep your eyes on me.

As the song continued, Connie started to grow a bit better with the practice, reenacting the lessons taught to her. It was just like the early days of her training at the very start all over again, and as before, she was working better into it as the song continued.

Keep my stance wide, (Good)
Keep my body lowered, (Right)
As I'm moving forward -

During the fight, the hologram suddenly jumped her, knocking her back.

Jamie; Concentrate! Don't you want him to live!?

Connie jumped to her feet and got back to the fight at hand.

Connie; Right foot; left foot
Jamie; Yes, but put your whole body into it!
Everything you have, everything you are
You've got to give–

Suddenly the once dark theater sprung back into light, with the background suddenly changing to that of a war zone: the sky red, weapons in the ground, mainly like the war within the Strawberry Battlefield. Connie and the hologram continued to fight, becoming more voracious in their approach.

On the battlefield
When everything is chaos,
And you have nothing but the way you feel, your strategy and a sword;
You just think about the life you'll have together after the war!

And then you do it for her,
That's how you know you can win,
You do it for her, that is to say
You'll do it for him.

By the end of the verse, Connie had bested the hologram, and it disappeared after a flash. The scary appearing background disappeared, and changed back into the training grounds like earlier. Jamie came back out and went towards Connie, Connie the one continuing the song herself as four other holograms were created and ready to fight her.

Deep down I know
I'm not built for fighting,
But that doesn't mean
I'm not prepared to try.

All four holograms came towards her, and Connie began her own fight against them, holding up surprisingly well with four swordsman after her. She dodged slices, ducked under jabs, and her own sword did more damage than the holograms did.

What they don't know
Is my true advantage,
When you live for someone
You're prepared to die.

It didn't take her much time until only one hologram remained, the other three taken down during that verse of the song. Both sides squared eachother up.

Deep down I know
That I'm just a human (True)
But I know that I can draw my sword and fight (But you know that you can draw your sword and fight)

Connie and the final hologram rushed at eachother one on one, and it was very quick that Connie was overpowering this hologram in short time at all.

With my short existence, (Good)
I can make a difference, (Yes, excellent!)
I can be there for him
I can be his knight

Once the final hologram was defeated, both she and Jamie came out for the final verse of the song.

I can do it for him,
[Both] You'd do it for her
Okay, now do that again (Yes, ma'am.)
You do it for her, and now you say:
Connie; I'll do it for him.

.......

It took a while to get through, but eventually came to the main event of this play. They've befriended Kyra already, they've gone to Homeworld, and gone through those motions up to the final hit of the play: the Osicone. Much of this part was altered a bit: Kyra going with them on the Galactic Ray for a start, and it was a pony in costume instead of the real person. The actor was Big Macintosh, with plenty of paint job, a large tail prop, and his hair styled much like the Draconian. As for big Mac himself, he stood in firmness against the group he was facing.

"Kyra, please, don't do this! We know you're upset at the Diamonds, but please reconsider!"

"Hmm ... Nnope." Big Mac said, before raising his hoof and slamming it down onto the ground. This was the signal for Emerald hidden off just behind the curtains to the right of the stage, and using some well placed telekinesis, and some good lighting effects on the set, some metal plates started to be levitated out onto stage, forming a large, humanoid-like shape. For someone who vaguely even remembered what the Osicone looked like, it was surprisingly accurate.

"You traitor!" shouted Rainbow, ready to rush in, but big Mac, playing the role, aimed his hoof towards them and the so-called Osicone raised a mighty arm and slammed it down, blocking Rainbow's way. Whether this happened this way or not, if Kyra would do this he wouldn't let them off so easily. The Gems and Ponies together started to fight against this creature, but so far the Osicone wasn't letting up, much to Big Macintosh's glee. However, it didn't take long for him to realize that this Osicone had no leader, and the creature turned to him, knocking him to the otherside of the stage. Much of the crowd gasped on seeing this.

"I can't watch!" Rhodonite said in a shiver.

"I can. I'll let you know what happens," Tiger's Eye replied.

"Look out, Kyra!" shouted Padparadscha in worry. Big Macintosh was alright, the stallion was a bit tough you know. But now with Big Mac knocked away, the Osicone focused it's energy on the group in front of it. No ruler to hold it back, and nothing to keep it down.

"Gems! Together!" Garnet instructed.

This part was gonna be a little bit hard to do, but they've done pretty good so far in this play of theirs, let's see. The Gems of the group came together. The Mane Six then started to come together, and Twilight started using her own magic to create a glowing spell. It was really more of a light show, and a larger figure began to be created, mirroring the mega-fusion they've became when fighting the real Osicone. Twilight's spell also made it look very magical with the Mane Six seemingly presenting their Elements of Harmony during this situation, the Osicone becoming humbled by the sight of it. The "Mega-Fusion met with the Osicone head on and at first both sides were at a stand still, but with the Elements of Harmony aiding her, the Osicone quickly began to succumb to her power.

*POOF*

And soon, there ended the Osicone, and all that remained down below was a heap of metal. Big Mac got himself back up, and looked over to this Mega-Fusion. Big Mac closed his eyes, ready for what he thought was his final breath, but instead the Mega-Fusion gently lifted his chin and gave him a gentle smile.

Kyra may have had the wrong approach in his "best intentions", but they knew as well that the threat was no more. And so, in their honor, the legends that were, and still are, were rewarded as the heroes of their world. The heroes of Homeworld, Equestria, and Earth.

And as such signaled the end of their performance. The crowd gave them all their applause for the ending. A pretty good spot to end this play in particular, and after the curtains closed and re-opened, the whole cast for the play did the mass bow to the crowds as any play would do. It was as successful as some would figure.

And they've only done one of two plays so far!

Author's Notes:

This chapter actually was more of a suggestion, but it still played out well for what I wanted to do. I mean, for a series that has gone on for over a year in real time now, there's always going to need an episode to help newcomers catch up on things. And for me, it's my take from ATLA's The Ember Island Players ... only better performance than what they did.

Well anyway, see just how many call-backs you can point out in this chapter. Hope I provided enough info without making it too obvious. I mean, this is a play, things are gonna be changed slightly, but not enough to make it completely unreal. As it is such, expect it to be a bit jumpy from scene to scene.

....... - these dots are gonna be exploited for all their worth. And yes, I only stopped after 3 seasons, because if we're gonna be doing the whole series we'd be here all day. So sue me

Sweets of Snake Oil

View Online

"Almost ... got it ..."

Off within the Everfree Forest, in particular by some greenery swamp, Steven, Peridot, Zecora and Fluttershy were off at work getting their hands and hooves dirty. It was a main favor to ask for Fluttershy's sake, and not too bad for them either. Zecora kept Steven steady by her tail holding onto one branch, and Steven reaching out to the shallows of the bog to get what looked like some floating green plants. In one more stretch, Steven just managed to grab the clump and tossed it over to Peridot and Fluttershy, whom were holding open a sack for the stuff to be thrown into.

"Thank you so much. I never would've found the crisscross moss without you," Fluttershy said.

"Of course. I know where it grows, so it's not much to ask. Though retrieving it has been a difficult task," Zecora admitted, letting go of Steven for just a moment and trying to reach some herself with her own hooves.

"Oh, but the oxen visiting Sweet Feather Sanctuary next week will surely appreciate it," Fluttershy answered. Peridot looked into the bag and cringed slightly.

"You sure they'll actually eat that stuff? Looks like that substance Amethyst releases after eating that garbage," Peridot asked, her hand holding the clump of moss. The moss itself was wet, cold, and heavy like goo. And to her, it was just as appetizing as such.

"It really adds a shine to their coat," Fluttershy stated, as Peridot dropped the clump back in there, shaking her hand of any excess goop. Zecora meanwhile just got her hoof around another good batch of moss.

"There we go. Now, that wasn't so tough. Fluttershy, tell me, will this be enough?" Zecora asked with a smile. She and Steven had been getting quite a bit of the moss from the half an hour they've been doing this, but Fluttershy wasn't sure.

"Gee, I don't know. It's a pretty big pack. So maybe enough to fill up this sack?" Fluttershy giggled after hearing what she just said. "Oh, my! You're rubbing off on me, Zecora!"

And so Zecora went on back to getting some more of the moss from the swamp. Such a place like this sure had a whole lot to ick out of, much to Peridot's disgust. To think that any creature would eat this stuff was enough to make her non-existent stomach churn. She saw a good sized clump further out as Steven brought over a good-sized pile of the stuff and got it into the sack. In the zebra's attempt though, one slip of the hoof on the branch, and a snap of the twig her tail was on, and into the water she went.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" gasped Fluttershy, galloping right over to the bank. Zecora quickly got to the surface, her mane dripping wet.

"You okay, Zecora!" Steven called.

"No need to fret. I only got wet. At least now I can easily grab all the crisscross moss there is to be had," Zecora stated, gathering up a very nice-sized clump of moss from further away. But as she was swimming on back towards the bank -

*POOF!*

"... Z-Zecora? What's happened to you?" gasped Fluttershy.

"Honestly, it's hard to tell. But suddenly I don't ... feel so well ..."

~~~~~~

Next stop was straight to the doctor's office, and indeed Zecora was looking worse for ware. Steven, Fluttershy, and Peridot got to the office in no time at all with the sick-stricken zebra, but this wasn't exactly what one would call a simple bug. Her whole body, from mane to tail, was covered in orange spots. Her hooves, mane, tail, every spots of her was completely covered in those spots. Even her tongue was spot-covered as the doctor looked her over.

"Alright Zecora, let's listen to the ol' ticker," the doc said, bringing out his stethoscope and placing it onto her chest. It took the doctor a minute before he removed it, looking a bit troubled and confused.

"Is it functioning properly?" Peridot asked.

"Well, it wasn't a good sign," the doctor answered. Curious, Steven actually took the stethoscope himself to listen in. Basically, when somepony's heart sounded more like a drum solo, that wasn't normal.

"Whoa," Steven gasped. The doctor yanked the stethoscope off of Steven as he went at it again.

"I can't believe a flower did this. I take it back, thinking it was pretty," Fluttershy commented. While the orange spots were weird to be sure, then came another, even odder sign: Zecora began to cough a little bit, and some bubbles started to come out. Steven's eyes followed a singular bubble, as the doctor got it into a water tube, shaking it up like one would shake a soda can.

"We're looking for any color other than red," the doctor stated, as he finished shaking. At first, it didn't look too bad as the water inside didn't change at all. ... Until it did end up turning red, making them gulp. The doctor looked even more troubled, but it did seem to confirm something as he turned to the sick-stricken zebra.

"Just as I feared. Zecora, I'm afraid you got a very rare disease called ... Swamp Fever."
The way the doctor said it made it sound like it was from a horror movie, lightning strikes, thunder and all.

"Swamp Fever? How did it even happen, we were just going around collecting that greenish substance from that bog," Peridot pondered.

"Swamp Fever is contracted through the pollen of the same swamp flower with those orange spots," the doctor explained. Just before they could continue though, another more odd sign: Zecora began to feel a sneeze coming on, but soon after she did, a electric lightning bolt suddenly shot out! It narrowly missed everyone else in there, but it did strike the sink next to them, which made the faucet spin for a bit.

"Tell me doctor, what should I do? I've never heard of Swamp Fever, mind you," Zecora asked, feeling a bit worried. The doctor went over to his book.

"Unfortunately very little is known about the disease. Except, of course, its symptoms: change of coat, coughing bubbles, shot sneezing, confusion, and the last stage: the afflicted turn into the very same trees that drop the disease-spreading flower."
Now the LAST part was scary. Sure the other symptoms sounded a bit bad, if not random, but turning into a tree?! A TREE?!

"I-Is there anything that can be done, for such a terrible conundrum?" Zecora asked. The doctor folded his ears back in dismay.

"A cure has yet to be discovered. I'm sorry, Zecora. ..." the doctor closed his book, everyone looking to Zecora. Out of anything that could be said, this shocked Zecora down to her core. What were they supposed to do?

"It's a lot to take in ... I'll leave you all to discuss," and with that the doctor left them to their thoughts on the situation.

"Zecora, this is all my fault! If you hadn't been helping me get the crisscross moss, you wouldn't have gotten Swamp Fever. I'm so sorry," Fluttershy admitted, feeling very guilty about this. Zecora though looked to her with a gentle smile, though she still coughed a few bubbles.

"Fluttershy, you are not to blame. These things happen all the same."

"I refuse to accept that! There has to be somepony who can help you!" Fluttershy retorted.

"It's not that bad. You've cured Poison Joke before have you? We'll just go back to your hut and get that uh ... thing, together for you. Right?" Peridot questioned.

"Yes Peridot, it did help your Gem folk, but this isn't the same case as Poison Joke. A plant of similar race isn't always the same face," Zecora reminded.

"She's right. Not all Peridots are the same, but they do look a lot alike," Fluttershy said, saying an example. Peridot saw the point, though it didn't help out exactly on what to do. It was then that Steven realized something, snapping his fingers.

"I got it! Here Zecora, hold still," Steven said, as he began to lick his hand. It wasn't his first case of curing ponies before, so maybe this wouldn't be no different. Before he could even try though, Fluttershy suddenly got in his way, spreading her wings. With no cure known, it might work. Fluttershy waited nearby, chewing her hoof nail as Steven placed his spit onto her. Zecora waited a minute or two, feeling that spit try to work its own brand of magic to fight the flower's own.

"Well? Anything?" Peridot asked. Zecora began to look to her snout. Zecora started to feel a sneeze coming on, but when it came out this time, no lightning bolts shot out. Well that seemed pretty good.

"Well, A good job human colt. It seems you've stop the lightning bolt," Zecora stated ... just to go into another coughing fit with more bubbles. So close.

"Looks like it's prolonging the effects to me," Peridot admitted, one of the bubbles popping on Steven's nose. He quickly rubbed it off to be sure. Zecora started to think a little bit, but eventually there was an answer that came to her mind.

"There's a healer of legend who never would fail. But I only know her from ancient folktales. Mystical and masked, she came in the night and cured everything from hoof cough to fur blight. What became of the healer, nopony knows, for she disappeared ages and ages ago."

"The Mystical Mask! Of course!" gasped Fluttershy, "My parents would tell me about her whenever I was sick in bed."

"Hows that supposed to help? If she's just a legend," Peridot pointed out.

"There's so many accounts of her power to heal. She can't just be a legend. I think she's real."

"If that's who we need to cure you, then we're going to find her! And I know just the pony who can help!"

~~~~~~

"Hey Starlight, glad you could make it," Twilight said. It had been a bit of a time for Starlight to. Since her friendship with Bill seemed to be going well, the alicorn was busily going through the various assortment of friendship lessons. Starlight was a bit humbled though.

"Hey Twilight, what's up?"

"I just want to say how happy I am to see you with Bill Dewey. By the sound if it you two are doing pretty well. Heard Bill Dewey's been doing well in the Big donut lately too."

"Yeah, he is. He kept wanting to rename some of the products though: Dewey rolls, Dewey buns, Dewey cakes, Dewey this Dewey that. If I heard one more Dewey I think I'd forget my own name," Starlight admitted, as Twilight was going through some more of the lessons. Starlight felt a bit worried though on what options she had in mind. If Starburst was brought up again -

"AHA, here it is. I'd really appreciate it if you'll try this one."

The Crystal Empire. Starlight gulped.

"I know you might be nervous to meet your old friend again, but I'm sure that if you can just give it a chance."

"Eh, w-well -"

"TWILIGHT!"

With the sudden bang of the door, Fluttershy, Peridot, and Steven were suddenly there, enough to make both Alicorn and Unicorn jump. Starlight spun around, almost losing her footing, but calmed down when she saw them.

"Oh, uh sorry to bother you two. Uh, you in the middle of something?"

"No, no, it's fine, what's wrong?" Starlight quickly asked. Twilight knew this was gonna be an issue, but one problem at a time. And by the sound of it, this had to come first. Fluttershy had no time to waste.

"Zecora'ssickandit'sallmyfaultandweneedtofindthemysticalmask-"

"Hey, slow down! Now try again," Twilight insisted.

"It's Zecora: she's caught a disease called Swamp Fever, and now -"

"Wait a minute. Swamp Fever? B-But that doesn't have a cure," Starlight pointed out, making Fluttershy even more worried.

"No time to explain, I need your help to find her before Zecora turns into a tree!" Fluttershy insisted, rushing up to the nearest shelves and starting to pull out some books. Well, it looked like they were gonna be doing some reading to figure this out.

.......

"Oh, another dead end," sighed Fluttershy.

By this point, the library in Twilight's tower looked completely run through. Every single book from top to bottom was scanned through time and again, and apparently there was still nothing to speak of. Steve, Starlight, and Twilight were all a bit tired at this point, and Peridot was more bored than anything by now. Twilight even made out a bed on one of the book piles.

"Twilight!"

"AH!" Twilight gasped, stumbling into the pile herself. Her head popped out from it with a book on her head.

"Oh, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Twilight yawned, "But I think we'd be better off if we got some sleep. I mean, we've been at this for hours, look outside," Twilight pointed a hoof to the window, and sure enough, Celestia sun was already setting! Starlight felt slightly relieved for no trip could be done this late, but that was besides the point here.

"Oh my. I'm sorry, I didn't realize how late it had gotten," Fluttershy said. Twilight slid down from her pile. She'd go and put them back if it was at an earlier time, but now it was too late for it.

"Ok then, I'll get you all a pillow and -"

"No! You should rest. I'm not stopping til' Zecora is cured," Fluttershy declared, reaching for another book. That was a little concerning. Starlight and Steven glanced to eachother as Twilight went to her.

"I understand how you feel, but I still think we'd have more luck if we tried again in the morning. Just promise me you'll take a break soon."

Fluttershy simply nodded as she was looking, though it didn't sound like she was paying much attention to her. Well, either way, the others began to go off on their own way, Peridot readying the portal with her key so Steven can go home for bed. Or at least home to his dad's van.

"Goodnight, Twilight," Steven yawned. Twilight waved goodbye as he and Peridot went off back home. As for Starlight and Twilight, the two then went off to their own rooms, Twilight stopping at the door.

"Goodnight Fluttershy."

~~~~~~

The night itself went on mainly without much trouble. Twilight, Starlight, and Steven were off sleeping, but the only one who wasn't was Fluttershy herself. As she said, she wasn't wasting any time in getting any of this worked out. It was indeed a long night for the Pegasus. Twilight though went on through the night with a full sleep.

"Uh ... 9- by 13 in pan ..."

"TWILIGHT!"

And a wake-up call that knocked her out of bed.

"NONSTICK PANS!" Twilight screeched, now fully awake.

"Oh, sorry, but I figured out who the mystical mask is!" Fluttershy revealed. Twilight wasn't sleepy anymore.

"You have?!"

"All I had to do was cross-reference a book about masks with another book on ancient Equestrian healers, then use a third book to translate it all from Olde Ponish, and there it was! Zecora was right! The Mystical Mask wasn't just a legend. The Mystical Mask was Mage Meadowbrook!" Fluttershy revealed. This news was a lot to take, and Twilight fell onto her back in a gasp.

"The ancient sorceress from Hayseed Swamp? We studied her at Celestia's school! Are you sure?"

"Absolutely! Mage Meadowbrook wasn't just a sorceress. She was also a healer, and back then, healers wore masks so they wouldn't get sick themselves!" Fluttershy was very excited about this news, even if she was feeling exhausted for the whole all-nighter.

"Fluttershy, I am so incredibly proud of you for using your research skills to figure this out! But Meadowbrook lived ages ago, and didn't she disappear?" Twilight questioned as Fluttershy got her to her hooves.

"Yes, but if we go to Hayseed Swamp, maybe we can find something she left behind! Something that could lead to a cure!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"It seems like a long shot, but I guess it's possible."

"We gotta get going then! Come on, if we hurry, we can catch the next train," Fluttershy insisted, galloping to the door before the alciron could do anything for her. However, the door was already opening again, but this time with a more brighter light as a frantic Peridot, the Gem running into her and both Gem and pony knocked to the ground.

"Oh. Morning, Peridot -"

"Twilight, Fluttershy, problem, affliction, now, in here!" Peridot said in a panic.

*ACHOO!*

Oh no. Suddenly a lightning bolt shot out from the portal Peridot had created. Peridot quickly covered her head, as the shot struck Twilight's wall. Fluttershy gasped on horror on that, and without a second thought, she bolted straight into the portal.
Twilight and Peridot followed her inside, and the portal it turned out lead straight back into Steven's world, and to the carwash. Some of the other Gems were present too, namely Garnet and Jasper, along with Steven's dad, all of which were right by the van, and just inside was Steven himself. Only this Steven was completely covered in the same orange spots, and a few stray bubbles had come out of his coughing mouth. Steven had contracted Swamp Fever!

"Oh no, oh no, Steven!" gasped Fluttershy, rushing over to him. Steven looked tired as he sniffed from his earlier sneeze.

"You know what happened to him, Fluttershy?" asked Greg. Fluttershy gulped as she hopped out of the van.

"It's Swamp Fever. And by the looks of it, he's got a bad case of it," Fluttershy admitted.

"No, no, I'm just peachy. Come on, let's be ... off ..." Steven did get up, but he was a little too dizzy when he got up to get out of the van, Garnet catching him.

"You're staying here, Steven," Garnet stated. Steven would respond but another electrified sneeze blasted right onto Garnet. The fusion stood stiff for a moment and gave a shutter before steam blew out of her mouth.

"But how'd it even happen? He was just fine yesterday," Jasper pointed out.

"That's because he didn't contract it yesterday until he tried healing Zecora," Peridot shrugged.

"Well, it's not that bad of a disease. ... Is it?" Greg asked.

"Eh ... well, there's coughing bubbles, sneezing lightning, confusion. ... the afflicted turn into the very same trees that drop the disease-spreading flower."

"... MY SON'S TURN INTO A TREE?!" Greg gasped, on the verge of panic.

"Why'd you say that, you could've kept out that part," Twilight whispered.

"What, he asked - OW!" A sneeze from Steven, albeit by accident, got Peridot dead center, and she ended up electrocuted for a good three seconds before going limp on the ground. Steven sniffed.

"Ow."

"Sorry," Steven simply said. What else could he say? However, Fluttershy was a bit more in a rush than they thought, getting both Peridot and Twilight and pushing them back towards the portal.

"We got to try! I've got a route all planned out, and on the way, we can check up on Zecora, and then -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're leaving now?" Twilight questioned.

"Of course! Every second we spend waiting is a second Zecora and Steven are coughing bubbles!" Fluttershy replied.

"But Fluttershy, you haven't slept! And that's a long journey!" Twilight retorted, but Fluttershy didn't listen.

"There's no use trying to talk me out of this, Twilight! We've got no time to waste!" Fluttershy insisted, pushing them along closer. Fluttershy did pause for a moment to check on Steven one more time.

"I promise we'll be back with a cure soon, Steven. Just hang tight, and don't think about any tree thoughts," Fluttershy advised in haste. Steven coughed some bubbles before nodding his head, and soon the trio were rushing through the portal. In such a hurry the portal was left open for them, and they all could sense that they really weren't at their best. At least Fluttershy wasn't.

"Don't say it, I'll go with her. Poor Pony's gonna fall over at this rate," Jasper said, starting to go to the portal herself, and only then did the portal close. Now they got two sides to the coin, and both need the same remedy. Hopefully they could get it soon.

.......

"And that's when I realized the Mystical Mask was actually Mage Meadowbrook!"

amazing how quick that portal worked, and their next stop was right by Zecora's house. Poor Zecora did not look well at all, and she simply laid there in bed, orange spots all over her body all the same. Jasper waited outside as the others were in the home to check on her. Zecora meanwhile coughed up some more bubbles. Joined with them this time though was Starlight, who kept her distance from the sick zebra.

"That's marvelous, Fluttershy. I am quite impressed. While you are gone on your journey, I'll try not to be... worried."

Uh oh.

"Oh, no. Zecora, you didn't rhyme! You must be getting worse," Fluttershy gasped. Last thing Zecora wanted was to freak out her friend any further.

"Oh. No, no, no, not at all. Something... something... ball?" Not too convincing. Even if it was, the following electrified sneeze just added to the issue, so close to Twilight it ended up singing her mane! Seemed that Steven's healing magic had worn off if she was sneezing lightning bolts again.

"That's it! We have to go now!" Fluttershy stated, and she made a trot to the door. However, she was so tired she didn't even realize that the door was already shut, and she walked right into it. Starlight Glimmer opened up the door for her and she went right out. Twilight and Starlight shared some worrying expressions over this Pegasus.

"Starlight, try and keep an eye on Zecora while we're away -"

"Eh, actually Twilight. Maybe ... I can do this one?" Starlight asked, front hooves tapping together, and she smiled a bit nervously. What said friendship like helping those sickly in need?

"Starlight, I -"

"Come on, we have to go now before they take root!" Fluttershy called, galloping off ahead. The circumstance was becoming critical for the Pegasus, and they all can see that. Jasper and Peridot went off ahead, and eventually Twilight decided with the idea.

"Alright, you can go. But please do me a big favor and try to make sure Fluttershy doesn't push it too far. She didn't sleep at all last night because of this," Twilight said. Starlight gave a salute to the Unicorn, and went off on her way

"Lead the way, Fluttershy," Starlight called. Twilight watched them all go, and she admittedly was now concerned over two ponies. All she could do was sigh.

"I'll talk with her later."

~~~~~~

From their stop at Everfree, it was off on their way to Hayseed Swamp. Having Starlight Glimmer come along with them was a bit of a switch, but no one was really complaining. They didn't had time for it anyway, considering Zecora and now Steven had a chance of becoming a pair of trees. With much of the group earth bound however, it was a bit of a longer go than they would've done in the air, even with Starlight's magic letting her levitate to join Fluttershy in the sky. Two Gems, two Ponies, one goal.
And soon, they were at their destination. Jasper, Peridot, Starlight, and Fluttershy had all arrived at the frontal steps of Hayseed Swamp. The town itself was no more populated than areas such as Hollow Shades had been. Much of the paths through this bayou were wooden plants and walkways, much of which looked rather old and worn out. Same thing could be said for the number of houses around Hayseed Swamp, about six to seven houses all up on wooden beams in the water, each one covered up dark green moss and algae. Much of the swamp water had all sorts of water bushes and cattails growing along the wood, along with the similar green moss that they had to collect earlier. Sure there were some buckets, a few rocking chairs, and even some rope around one of the beams, but apart of that no sign of anyone really was ... well there. An abandoned town in the middle of Hayseed Swamp, the swamp itself seemingly taking what they can get from the place.
The swamp trees surrounding the bayou all stood with limbs dangling down, all old and as withered as everything else around here. Starlight Glimmer took a moment to check the area.

"So ... Where do you think Meadowbrook would live?" Starlight asked. Fluttershy yawned before she answered.

"I'm not sure. Maybe there's somepony we can ask," Fluttershy insisted.

"Ask who? No offense, but I think we're the only ones here."
And indeed it seemed so. No pony of any sort seemed to be present in any of these buildings, and the only true residents were the local bugs, some of which kept buzzing around their heads. Since she was taller than the others, Jasper was the first to notice something further off in the distance. Jasper went on to pick up Fluttershy, lifting her up over her head.

"That look like it?" Jasper asked. Fluttershy took a minute before realizing what she was seeing.

"Wait! I recognize that tree!" Fluttershy gasped, starting to fly straight for it. Finally some good news. The group followed her off from there and straight for said tree, which in essence looked much like Zecora's home, or what Twilight's home was like. A old bayou tree, large and hollowed out with a wooden door beckoning them to come on inside.

"Yes! This has to be it! It's just like the illustrations of her home!" Fluttershy said in praise, flying around the tree to be sure that it was the case.

"You ponies have a odd habit of making homes out of trees," Peridot noted. Fluttershy paid her no mind and tried to open it up, mainly by pushing with all her might. However, the door was not budging an inch.

"Phew. Well, if the doorway is sealed up, we'll just have to dig our way in. Back up, Starlight! I don't want you to get hurt!" Fluttershy stated, as she began to dig. Starlight had never seen somepony so determined like this, but she knew she shouldn't let her keep going, so she had to set it straight.

"Or we could try the handle," Starlight stated, presenting the handle on the door.

"... It really blends in with the bark."

Starlight didn't answer, and she went on to open the door. The interior of this home looked about as abandoned as one would imagine. It had the main outlook similar to that of Zecora's home, with plenty of masks hanged on the walls, shelves full of varying medicines and artifacts of healing, and a caldron at the center of it all. Since it was abandoned, the interior was covered in dust and cobwebs. Clearly it was somewhere no one ever touched in a long time.

"Oh boy. Ok, uh, so ... where to start?" Starlight asked. It was a little bit difficult to really say, but Fluttershy wasn't leaving anything much to chance here, looking around frantically for any sign of any cure, some way, shape, or form. So far though not much of the objects really were giving it much justice, the Pegasus accidentally flying up into one of the shelves in her search.

"Uh, Fluttershy. Ok, maybe if I could just give you a little something for -"

"Look!" Fluttershy suddenly gasped. Before Starlight could do anything, the Pegasus rushed passed her, making her and Peridot spun for a minute until they found Fluttershy at a familiar-looking flower inside a glass case. "It's the same kind of lilypad that gave Zecora Swamp Fever! Hmm. I wonder if Meadowbrook was looking for a cure for Swamp Fever, too. Do you think she found it?!"

"I'm sure if she did, we wouldn't really be looking through here right now," Starlight admitted, though not realizing how nonchalantly she was acting in tone of voice.

"There HAS to be something in here! Starlight, don't you want to help Zecora and Steven?" Fluttershy snapped.

"Hey, I'm here aren't I? Don't jump to any conclusions, alright?" Starlight ordered. She didn't realize how harsh she was until after Fluttershy backed up, making her snap out of it.

"Eh. Sorry. Still trying to figure out this "friendship" thing properly," Starlight admitted, a bit embarrassed.

*creak*

Then came that ominous creaking. Neither of them really knew where that noise was even coming from, but soon they began to see something off in the shadows of the tree. Fluttershy screamed, and Peridot and Starlight Glimmer stepped back -

"Y'all can stop screamin' now. Didn't mean to scare ya. I do that a lot."

The voice, Cajun in accent, didn't sound threatening after they calmed down. Soon, out came a new pony. A bigger Earth Pony, fairly hefty in appearance, with a large yellow, curly beard and mustache, the beard tied with a dark red ribbon similar to his similarly colored tail. He had on a green vest, both a golden and leather necklace, He also had on a red bandana on his head, accompanied by a brown hat.
Seeing this pony did calm them down, but it was still a bit freaky.

"Scare people, or rock creepily in the dark?!" snapped Peridot.

"Both I 'spose. Name's Cattail. Please to meet ya," Cattail introduced, taking his hat off in greeting, just to reveal his mane was styled in the same way to the beard and tail, colors and all. Well, at least this pony wasn't ready to attack them or enchant them or anything.

"Eh ... sure. But what're you doing here? This belonged to Meadowbrook, right?" Starlight questioned, as Cattail was looking to the caldron.

"Oh, I take care of the place. I ain't much of a cleaner, but from what I hear, my kin wasn't neither. So I doubt they'd mind a few cobwebs in our ancestral home."

"Wait. Our ancestral home?" Starlight asked in surprise. Fluttershy was especially excited, for something like that could only mean one thing.

"Oh, my goodness, we did it! Not only did we find Mage Meadowbrook's old house – we actually found one of her descendants!" Fluttershy revealed. Cattail nodded to confirm this statement.

"So, are you the only one here, Cattail?"

"Nah, ponies come by time to time. Not many usually stick 'round though - not much fer bog life," Cattail said, just as a dragonfly flew in from outside and buzzed around Peridot's head.

"I can see why," Peridot commented.

"Honestly, I never would've guessed," Starlight said.

"So you're lookin' for some kind o' cure, huh? Well, now, I know Meadowbrook was known to always be writin' in her journals. If she had the cure you want, I reckon that's where it'd be. Come on. I'll show ya the library."

Library? If it could lead them to something for Swamp Fever, then perhaps some reading would do them some good. However, when shown the library, they only found a book shelf only about couch height, with only about ten to twenty books in all.

"Well, not the most elaborate history keepsake," Peridot said.

"Good. This will mean less time to go through everything," Fluttershy replied. So, after brushing some stuff off the nearby table, Starlight levitated a few of the books over, and soon they were getting through what Meadowbrook could've found in her time. Cattail sat aside and allowed them to go through everything.

"Hmm ... "Today, my mom made me eat peas. Peas are yucky." And we can probably skip this one, unless she found a cure when she was a foal," Fluttershy said.

"Ok, uh ... "I met a colt today. He pulled my mane, so I put a frog on his head." Also not helpful," Starlight sighed, placing another book aside. Peridot went through one of these books, and when they checked, she actually had those starry eyes again.

"Did you find something? Oh, please be a cure, please, please," Fluttershy said, hooves crossed. Starlight levitated the book out of Peridot's hands, wanting to see herself. Peridot was annoyed, but Starlight just gave it a lookover anyway.

""This morning I met some funny-looking things outside of the bayou." uh ..."

"Wait, listen to this!" Fluttershy said, catching their attention away from the book for a moment. Fluttershy may have found something.

"Today, I tried again to brew and unsniffle elixir ..."

---(start Flashback)---

"And I finally got it right!"

Sitting off nearby on the table was a small chipmunk. The poor little animal was having some bit of trouble with herself, her nose swollen and red and the Chipmunk sneezing up a storm thanks to it. A gentle pony hoof brought over a ladle over to the animal, and the Chipmunk took a sip of the elixir. Sure enough, the swelling gone down, redness gone, and she could breathe properly again, much to the joy of the gentle mare aiding the animal.

For the mare, much like Cattail, her mane and tail were curly and tied back into a beehive ponytail, wrapped with light blue ribbon. The mare's coat shown a light cerulean, mane and tail both pinkish-scarlet, and her eyes bright with a brilliant turquoise. The mare's outfit matched her occupation as a healing sorceress: a green leaf dress with a tannish head bandana and a tan and brown scarf around her neck.

Madam Mage Meadowbrook had saved this Chipmunk a time of sneezes and sniffles. And this day, she had a bit more given to her than just some satisfaction from a little cutie chipmunk, as her mother stood alongside her with a little package for her.

"I think it's time you have this," she said. Meadowbrook opened up the box her mother made, and found a particularly great surprise inside.

"My very own healer's mask! You think I'm ready mother?" Meadowbrook asked. Her mother simply nodded, and the young sorceress hugged her mom for the nice gift. Nothing says success like being given an official artifact.
And it would seem fate was going to test this little filly. Not a moment after she had been given her mask, they both began to hear knocking on the door. Meadowbrook's mother went over to see what was wrong, and it revealed a pony was there. Only this pony was not looking too good, showing the orange spots located just under her mane by the neck. Her mother looked shocked.

"What caused this?" she asked, appalled by what she saw. All the sick pony had to do was lift up a particularly familiar flower to the mages.

Mama calls it "Swamp Fever". We've been tryin' to find a cure, but it hasn't been easy.

Meadowbrook and her mother tried another remedy after a while, dripping it down onto the petals of the flower. However, the plant didn't end up doing much of anything. Or at leastm, nothing good, as a orange blast of the flower's pollen suddenly got into her mother's face! A few coughs from the bast got Meadowbrook's attention, but before she could try to do much, another knock came up from the door. Meadowbrook went onto to answer it, and found a more horrifying sight: ponies all lined up. All orange spotted. All coughing bubbles. All sick, and looking to her. It didn't help her any that her mother suddenly started coughing bubbles too!

The fever spread like wildfire. I fear if we don't find a cure soon, everypony will be in grave danger! With mother sick, I didn't think I'd ever find a cure. But starin' at those cursed flowers today, I saw somethin'.

Meadowbrook sat down just outside of her bayou village, pretty much as lost in her mind as much as any filly would be in such a crisis. Her mother had this same disease, and everypony she knew had the exact same problem, all looking for an answer poor Meadowbrook just couldn't seem to figure out.

That was, until she noticed a particular insect. These tiny things looked a lot like bees, but unlike the typical bees, these bees had blue and yellow stripes instead of the common black and yellow, and their stingers were shaped like lightning bolts. Just as it did to her mother, the swamp flower blasted its pollen at the bee, and Meadowbrook waited to see if this insect would end up orange-spotted. However, the little animal wasn't affected in the slightest, and even proceeded to land on the flower to get at the plant's nectar. Mage Meadowbrook looked off to the bog and saw this same scenario with a number of other bees, all ending the same way. And that was when it struck her.

"Flash Bees!"

The pollen didn't affect the Flash Bees! I reckoned that if Flash Bees were immune to Swamp Fever, their honey could be the cure!

Meadowbrook went for broke, and galloped off after a group of Flash Bees straight to their hive off in a waterside tree. The groups of bees got to their hive in little time at all, and in hoof, so did Mage Meadowbrook. It took the Earth Pony some athletic effort to get up the tree, jumping from branch to branch and getting some leverage from the vines in said tree, but next thing she knew, she was right by the Flash Bee hive. None of the Flash Bees really took notice of her yet, some resting by the queen bee while others brought the nectar to their combs. The queen bee looked similar to the drones, but with a fluff resembling a lion mane and even what looked like a crown on the head. Meadowbrook peered into the bee hive, a hoof balancing herself on another branch for a few moments before it snapped underhoof.

And that was when the swarm came out.

In a bolt, the drones jumped out in a bright flash of blue with a yellow hue, Meadowbrook having to duck down to avoid getting slammed in the face. Still, these bees were not going to give up their honey that fast, and starting stinging her flank, her hooves, and her face. Each one was as painful as the lightning bolts they were mimicking, and strong enough to knock the mare out of the tree! She was fine, but the stinging told her that she wouldn't last a minute through force with those bees.

But they were so aggressive defendin' their hive, I didn't know how I was gonna get it!

But like any creature with those counting on them, she wasn't going to give up. She climbed right back up that tree, and the Flash Bees, in clouds of electrical charge, took quick sight of her in a nearby branch, the mare having her healers' mask in hoof and ready to confront the bees.

"Here goes nothin'."

---(End Flashback)---

"Today, I cured mother and the rest of the bayou! It was the greatest feeling I've ever experienced, and I promise to dedicate my life to curing ponies all over Equestria!" Fluttershy finished. Starlight and Peridot were right by the Pegasus at this point, and Fluttershy felt like they finally got it.

"And she did just that. Right up 'til she disappeared without a trace," Cattail added.

"So all we have to do is find those aggressive flash bees and get them to give us their honey! ... Of course, it doesn't say how she did that..."

"Seems basic enough. Got and entail on the Flash Bees' location, Cattail?" Peridot inquired.

"There's a Flash Bee hive just east yonder. Follow the crossway and you'll find it," Cattail answered.

"Well it can't be too hard if an Earth Pony got it. Look, just wait here and we'll fetch the honey -" Peridot was cut off when Fluttershy trotted to the door and blocked her way, almost tripping over her own hooves doing so.

"NO! Please, I already got two friends hurt, I won't let it happen to another," Fluttershy insisted. Fluttershy readied to go off from there, but Starlight, still keeping her promise to Twilight, got her magic to work and pulled the Pegasus back.

"Fluttershy, hold it! Seriously, I didn't want to be blunt, but you're looking awful," Starlight admitted. Fluttershy was looking a bit more irritable with that said, glaring at the unicorn with her ear flicking as if knocking away some unforeseen fly.

"I. Look. Awesome."

"You really should rest up before going up against those flash bees. They are nasty critters," Cattail advised.

"Um, you don't know this about me, but I'm pretty good with animals. And besides, Dogtail -"

"Cattail."

"Um, Zecora is counting on me. I have to help her, just like Meadowbrook helped her mother and all those bayou ponies long ago!" Fluttershy knew she had to do this, and by the sound of it she wasn't taking no for an answer, though she ended up running right at the door again. She shook it off though and started to gallop off. Or at least she would've kept going if Jasper didn't grab her by the tail first. Fluttershy kept galloping until she realized she wasn't going anywhere.

"You quite finished?"

"You're not gonna change my mind, Jasper!" Fluttershy grunted, but her strength was not enough to get out of Jasper's grip. Jasper overheard everything that had been said, and like them, she was getting troubled by Fluttershy's determination of this.

"Ok, look, Meadowbrook may have helped all those ponies, but I'm pretty sure she would help herself," Starlight pointed out.

"Why don't you just let Jasper and me go get it?" Peridot questioned.

"B-But the Flash Bees -"

"We're Gems, Fluttershy remember? We can handle these Flash Bees, whatever they are. You forgotten how much we survived already?" Jasper pointed out, as the large Gem carried Fluttershy inside, and placed her down on Meadowbrook's bed. Fluttershy was tired, but this Pegasus was determined to get out there and get that honey. However, Starlight Glimmer got her magic to work and actually pinned Fluttershy down to keep her in bed. Fluttershy couldn't get herself up, and in the end just gave a long breath, worn out and exhausted.

"Thanks, Star. We'll be back soon," Jasper said. Fluttershy tried one more time to get herself out of bed to follow the Gems, but ended up tumbling out of bed instead. On sight of this, both Cattail and Starlight looked in ... shock.

"What? I know my mane's messy, but I haven't slept in -" Fluttershy stopped herself when Cattail grabbed a full-sized (albeit dusty) mirror, and Fluttershy quickly saw what they were talking about when she moved her mane to see her neck.

Orange spots. And then another appeared. And then another. And another.

"Oh no! I've caught Swamp Fever!" Fluttershy gasped. Without hesitation, the Pegasus quickly rushed for some of the masks on the walls, and got them on both Starlight and Cattail.

"This really necessary?" Starlight asked.

"Yes! I won't risk infecting you or Cattail!"

And then another thought suddenly struck the scared Pegasus.

"GAH! Jasper! Peridot! The flowers!!"

And suddenly she was rushing off again. She WON'T have them sick either!

~~~~~~

"Well, there it is. Got any idea on this "Flash Bee" hive?" Jasper asked.

She and Peridot both went along their way from the village and off down one of the many crossways of Hayseed Swamp. Even with autumn being elsewhere, Hayseed Swamp and it's humid environment had a feeling of summer in full swing still, much of the local bugs buzzing about in the swampy water, with much of the water plants mixing up land and water. The two found themselves down the bank and nearby a group of similar flowers along the bank, and just as well, following what Cattail said, they did eventually find what looked like a beehive up in a tree. The bees were buzzing around it, but both Gems didn't feel fazed as someone would be.

"Well, in theory: Bees are small insects with black and yellow stripes and commonly are found around flowering flora," Peridot figured.

"Doesn't sound that bad," Jasper replied, stretching her arms for what they both figured would be an easy fix.

"Heh, yeah, even a pebble can handle that. Boost up, Jasper," Peridot instructed, she and Jasper now just under the tree. They weren't sure exactly what this honey stuff even was, but if Flash Bees were involved, odds are they would have it. Jasper lifted Peridot up the tree single-handedly, her palm like a platform for Peridot to stand on, and soon the green Gem found the hive in no time at all.

"AHA! Too easy! K, Jasper, get ready to get the ... honey," Peridot instructed, jumping up into one of the branches. Jasper simply stood there and waited as the green Gem got right up to the hive. Jasper may be stronger, but her size wouldn't allow her up there like it can for Peridot, so all she could do was simply stay there and wait.
Peridot peeked into the hive opening, and she soon took sight of the drones and queen inside, and like with Meadowbrook, they didn't seem to notice the Gem outside the hive yet.

"K ... where is honey?" Peridot wondered. She saw the combs, the drones, and the queen, but nothing she could see that would resemble honey. not that she knew anyway. Well, when in doubt: Peridot went for broke and reached her arm inside the hive. You can figure what happened next.

*BZZZZ!*

"Ow, ow hey hey! YOW!" It didn't take long until Peridot started to get swarmed by the Flash Bees, the entire hive jumping at her and stinging like crazy. Hands, legs, face, even her hair was stung by these furious insects. It was like getting a shock with live wire with each sting, and in Peridot's attempts to get them to go away, she stumbled out of the tree, and fell off down to the ground right by Jasper. Peridot was dizzy, stung, and coughed up a bee from her mouth, one even stinging her tongue. Peridot shook off the fall and sprung up to her feet, as she and Jasper saw the bees starting to close in on them.

"Get em, Jasper!" Peridot ordered, rushing over behind Jasper and waited for the Gem to fight them.

However, Jasper was staring at these creatures with a different kind of expression. The moment she saw that swarm start to come out and loom overhead, it wasn't the threatening buzzing sound that made Jasper stay still, but more of the brightness and flashing the swarm made. These were electrified insects, and seeing them like this left Jasper with wide eyes and frozen still. It was as if that thunderstorm had followed her to here ...

"Jasper?" Peridot asked. No response. The swarm only saw them as a threat, and to Peridot's surprise, the orange fighter was backing up as they got closer. The swarm flew fast at them, and while Jasper did try to swat them away, her hand didn't hit much of anything. Just as bad as the storm before, and just as painful as both Jasper and Peridot started getting stung again. Unable to fight thousands of bees, Jasper grabbed Peridot and ran away from the hive, angry bees buzzing at them for a good thirty feet before starting to go back. Jasper jumped behind one of the larger trees, only then releasing Peridot, and looking to the orange Gem, Peridot could see someone that looked terrified. she looked like a mouse in a snake's den, and just as horrified.

"Jasper! snap out of it!" Peridot yelled, but Jasper wasn't listening. Peridot wasn't going to wait on this, so she went right up to her, jumped up, and slapped her square in the face. The dazed and scared looked ended up gone in an instant, almost as if snapped out of a trance, and Jasper quickly calmed down. Jasper fell down to her rear, trying to comprehend what just happened.

"Oh ... come on," she groaned.

"What just happened back there? You could've handled those things, they're the size of my touch stubs," Peridot retorted, shaking her fingers in front of Jasper's face.

"Will you be quiet? And let me think," Jasper stated, hand on her head as she tried to gather herself.

"Think? Jasper, you're the ultimate quartz! The perfect cut out of the Beta Kindergarten, and those things are -"

"Those things can't be touched and nearly shattered us!" Jasper shouted.

"... Shatter us? Isn't that a bit uh ... much?" Peridot asked. Jasper just realized what she said and slumped by the trunk of the tree.

"... I don't like lightning. Ok?" Jasper admitted.

"Yeah so? It's not like you really were shattered by something like that before, right?" Peridot joked. Jasper didn't answer, and the humor was gone.

"Wait. ..."

"Mind over matter."

"Huh?" Peridot and Jasper had another problem to them now. In this little distraction, neither had noticed until that moment that Fluttershy had found the tree! The weak Pegasus now was completely covered in orange spots, and although weak, she was trying to get up the tree. One look and they both knew she was struggling just to fly up to the branches. Starlight Glimmer had galloped up by the time Fluttershy made it up there herself, but not quick enough to stop her.

"Fluttershy, come back down from there!" Starlight called.

"Starlight, what happened? ... And what's with the masks?" Jasper asked, now a bit better.

"Jasper! Peridot! Please tell me you got that honey," Starlight said. Both Gems shook their heads, but after being chased off they weren't going up the tree again.

Fluttershy, after a lot of effort, slid down a branch and got herself right by the nest. With the hive now worked up from Jasper and Peridot's attempts at their honey, they were taking no prisoners, nor any chances with anymore intruders, and they quickly got out of the hive again.

"Oh, hello your majesty. I know you don't want ponies taking it, but we really need that honey. So, can I have some please? Pretty please?" Fluttershy asked kindly. all that got her was a sting to the nose, making Fluttershy cringe.

"I didn't want it to come to this. But I'll just have to use ... the stare!" Fluttershy decided. And with that, her eyes began to lock onto the swarm, all the bees focusing on her. This was a move rarely used by Fluttershy, mainly used on an animal that didn't behave or just wasn't cooperating how they were supposed to be. A discipline technique she learned to better focus on over time on many a pet, but will it worked on this bee swarm?

Not this time. The bees were going to fight til they drop, and Fluttershy found herself swarmed by the bees, getting stung all over. Flank, hooves, ears, everywhere, and all of them made her weaker and weaker, falling to her stomach on the branch she came up on as the swarm buzzed overhead. Fluttershy looked up to the swarm, coughing up bubbles in hacks. Her vision began to blur and everything looked like it was spinning.

"Oh dear."

And then she fell.

~~~~~~

This was just what they all were worried would happen. So much pressure Fluttershy had pushed herself through and not only did she crack under it all, but the Swamp Fever took its hold onto her as well. For the moment, Starlight and Jasper were just outside the tree, as Peridot and Cattail were keeping aid to Fluttershy. This wasn't a happy moment for any of them. Starlight just couldn't stay still and kept going back and forth in her movements.

"Can you stand still, you're not making this any easier," Jasper stated, not feeling comfortable. Starlight stopped.

"Well can you blame me? Fluttershy's sick in there! UGH, my first mission off with Twilight's friends, and this has to happen!" Starlight groaned, laying down in front of the door. With the time, Jasper might as well get to another problem with her that she had been noticing. Starlight was a bit more eager to go with them than expected, after all. ...

"Something else bothering you, Glimmer?" Jasper questioned.

"I don't know, Jasper. Fluttershy's sick with Swamp Fever, and Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and ... I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well... with one of them."

"Which one?" Jasper asked. She thought it would take a bit more effort, but at least she was getting somewhere.

"Reuniting me with my first friend," Starlight admitted. Well, she had to tell it to someone.

"What's so terrible about that?"

"... When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic. He always knew just what to do. And he was always there to help me. I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and... went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left -"

"You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria," Jasper cut in. Starlight was ... humbled, to say the least.

"Not really stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about. I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and... I can't even find my way around Twilight's tower."

"Well, if Sunburst is that good at magic, maybe he'd appreciate your, uh... exploits," Jasper said, trying to find the right words to cheer her up. However, Starlight wasn't doing much better. Jasper sat down next to the unicorn and looked off to Hayseed Swamp.

"That case, there's only one thing you can do. Go and tell Twilight," Jasper said, getting to the point.

"I know. But I don't want her to think I'm not ready to learn or that I'm not grateful for everything she's doing."

"Well let me ask you something: if you found out your friend has stripped a village of their Cutie Marks, been working for a member of the Diamond Authority, and had gotten enough magic to make him fly, then what would you think?"

"... That's oddly specific," Starlight admitted. Jasper shrugged.

"Just trying to make it relatable," Jasper stated. Starlight did not feel any better, and simply felt confused more than anything. Before they could continue this conversation though, the doors to the tree opened up.

"She's waking up!"

.......

"What happened? Where am I?" Fluttershy asked, looking around in a bit of a daze while in bed. She felt sick, but at least she wasn't really tired from it all herself.

"I'm so glad you're okay. You're still in Meadowbrook's tree," Starlight said. Last thing she wanted was one of Twilight's friends to end up beaten up as a report.

"You fainted, but Jasper got right under the tree and caught ya. It was crazy!" said Cattail.

"Goodness gracious!" gasped Fluttershy, a few coughs escaping her with bubbles before asking "Have you heard from Zecora and Steven? Are they okay?"

A bit of a rough question for them to be asked, as none of them were willing to answer at first. Eventually though, Peridot did clear her throat.

"W-Well, I checked on Steven while you were sleeping and ... he now seems to be wearing a flower bush on his head," Peridot said meekly.

"And we got word your zebra friend has started sproutin' leaves," added Cattail. This news was scary.

"They're already turning into trees?! I thought we had more time," gasped Fluttershy.

"Actually, you've been asleep for three days," Starlight said.

"Three days?!"

"You were asleep so long, we were afraid you wouldn't be able to move when you woke up. But thankfully, you just wore yourself down," Peridot explained.

"Oh, dear. We have to get back to the hive! I've wasted so much time, and -"

"Now hang on there, Fluttershy. Those flash bee critters are tricky. not even your rock friends could stand up against them," Cattail warned.

"Cattail's right," Starlight agreed, "I can't even use magic to calm them down. And I've tried about fifty different spells on them, and none of them worked. First time ever that didn't work." that was as shocking to Starlight as it was to Fluttershy.

"We've tried everything from disguises to things I won't even speak of," Cattail explained. He ended up shuttering on what sort of things they had to do.

"He's been through a lot these past three days," Jasper said.

"Wait... Disguises..."
That word began to get Fluttershy's mind going, but as she was thinking it over, they all began to hear the similar sound of a singular Flash Bee that managed to slip in from outside. Jasper kept her distance the most from this little guy as it buzzed around, not wanting to get involved in anything to do with them at this point. The Flash Bee went around the room for a bit more, and eventually found itself a small little perch on the wall. There was a mask hung up on that wall, one in particular the Flash Bee took a liking to. ...

~~~~~~

"I've figured out how she did it! This is how Meadowbrook got the honey from the Flash Bees!"

It was out in the field again, and the whole group, all of them having on masks to Fluttershy's insistence (as silly as it felt). Fluttershy also grabbed a mystical mask from the tree, and this one was especially unique in its own right.

"Throwing a mask at them? I don't recommend it."

"No, look: the male Flash Bees don't attack the queen, and Meadowbrook's mask has the same stripes she does," Fluttershy revealed. Peridot had seen the queen bee, and now that she pointed it out, it began to come to.

"OOOOOHHHH. Why didn't I think of that when working our disguises? We just went as a bunch of bushes," Peridot said in realization. Then came another problem: Fluttershy felt a sneeze come on, and Jasper had to jump back into some bushes to avoid getting zapped by her lightning bolts! It's now or never. Fluttershy armed herself up with the mask, and Jasper walked her over to the tree, lifting her up.

"Good luck," Jasper said, keeping her gaze down as Fluttershy got up to the branches. She could barely keep herself up there, falling to her stomach on the branch, and soon the bees were seeing her again. They waited for a storm of bugs to come out, but when Fluttershy simply started buzzing, and keeping the mask on, the Flash Bees actually started to calm down. Even the queen bee didn't see her as a threat, and one of the bees rubbed against the mask in affection. Perfect. With the swarm relaxed, Fluttershy got her hoof inside the hive. A few good scoops, and her hoof was covered in sticky, golden honey. Still, one can't be too sure, so Fluttershy lifted up the mask and took a sip of the honey right there, quickly putting it back on.

The spots started to disappear, and in no time at all, Swamp Fever was gone!

"Guys. It's working!"

~~~~~~

Back in Zecora's home. And after the three days of being in Hayseed Swamp, poor Zecora took a good sip of the honey they all had brought back. They made sure to get enough for everyone with the disease, and Steven was already there and feeling a lot better. No branches or bushes on his head. As for Zecora, the mare had already got some branches growing on her when they got back, but the minute she sipped that honey, those leaves and branches fell right off of her.

It's just what the Sorceress ordered.

"I think she's better now, Fluttershy," Twilight said with a smile.

"Ohhh, I do feel fine, and this honey is divine," Zecora stated. That was wonderful news to hear, and the best news they've heard in days.

"Oh, you're rhyming again! Welcome back, my friend!" Fluttershy said, smiling at her own little rhyme.

"Thank you, everypony, for all you endured. If not for you, I would not be cured," Zecora said.

"Oh, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been sick in the first place," Fluttershy admitted.

"Regret is not what you should feel, because on this journey, you've learned a great deal," Zecora stated. Fluttershy knew she was right and smiled to her zebra friend. Her and Steven both. Both of them probably wouldn't be alive if it weren't for what they did to get this here, and Fluttershy shared a good hug with them all. Mission accomplished.
Starlight Glimmer meanwhile watched from afar, and with all that happened, she went on with her latest letter.

Dear Princess Celestia:

Today I've gone off with your students' close friend Fluttershy in an effort to cure Zecora and Steven's Swamp Fever. We got them cured, and I can certainly say, along with Fluttershy, that we learned that if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of anypony else.

signed: Starlight Glimmer

Horse of a Different Color

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With a beep of the timer, Martha pulled out some of the delicious treats from the oven. Martha and Dante both were pretty happy for their son, and as some bit of commemoration (and possibly because Pinkie Pie insisted it), them, Steven, Sadie, Pinkie, Rarity, and even the Cool Kids decided to give Lars Barriga a little bit of a surprise. And since he wasn't home yet, they got more than enough time to get this all worked out.

"Oh, they smell simply divine, Mrs. Barriga. I know Lars would love these," Rarity said, sniffing the freshly baked pineapple upside-down cake.

"It's Lars's favorite. Oh, I can't wait to see his face when he sees his surprise," Martha said, very excited herself. Suddenly Pinkie Pie jumped into frame.

"Me neither! Oh, I feel so nervexcited! It's like you wanna jump up and down and yell "YAY ME!!" But you also wanna curl up in a teeny-tiny ball and hide at the same time!" Pinkie said, acting out the motions as she explained them. They weren't sure if that was the right word, but excitement surely was there.

"I know! I've heard he's been doing a lot better since we got back," Steven said.

"Yeah, it's like he's a completely new person. Well, technically he kinda is, but he showed me his report card just yesterday: all classes Bs and Cs," Sadie explained.

"And he's been killin' it with us too. Before he's been hiding in a shell all the time. But now here he is playing basketball with us," Sour Cream said, adding some icing on the cake for them.

"REALLY?! Pinkie Pie's psyched!" Pinkie beamed, hardly able to stay still.

"Buck is pleased," Buck simply smiled. And in a way, they all were with Lars. Hard to believe that weeks ago he wouldn't remotely bother with any of this. It really did sound like he had changed into someone completely new. Steven took a glance off outside the front window, and soon he too got a bit excited.

"He's coming!" Steven called.

What good timing to get this all planned. With the cake ready to go, everyone quickly hid off out of sight for Lars to come on inside. Everyone was quiet and waited for Lars to come in. Not a word was said, and the only sound was Pinkie Pie's hooves tapping the ground in anticipation. They waited for a bit, and they started to hear the door creaking open ...

"SURPRI - uhhh."

"Wooooow," said Buck.

"Oh my," added Rarity.

Off guard. Lars did get home, yes, but he looked worn out. His hair was messy, his backpack a bit heavy, and it looked like he ran a marathon or something. It was to the point where he wasn't even fazed by seeing everyone there, and he just walked into the kitchen, had a seat by the table, and slammed his head down, groaning.

... Well that happened.

"... Surprise?" Pinkie asked. Lars just groaned again. Rarity went over to him.

"Eh, Lars, darling. Hehehe ... is everything okay?" Rarity asked. Lars did speak, but with his head still on the counter, it just came out a grumbles and mumbles, something many of them couldn't get. Rarity used her magic to get Lars's head aimed up, his chin now resting on the table. He looked just tired, if anything.

"Uh, one more time?" Rarity asked.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Lars groaned again, not even looking up to the unicorn.

"You look a bit worn out, son. You sure everything okay?" Dante asked.

"It's just been a long day. ... Is that cake?" Lars asked after the smell caught up to him.

"It's Pineapple upside-down cake, you're super-duper-special favorite! We even added some super yummy strawberry icing on top," Pinkie Pie explained, cheery and happy as ever. The smell of it did perk him up a little bit, but even with his favorite cake now in front of him, it didn't really help his situation all much.

"What's the occasion? It's not my birthday," Lars questioned.

"We just wanted to congratulate you on how much you've out into everything lately. We were told you've done so much better at school, and been making new friends," Martha said. Lars just sighed.

"SO we decided - Well, I've decided - to throw you think super surprise party!" Pinkie added in.

"That's nice. Thanks," Lars sighed, taking his fork and starting to eat the cake given to him. Sadie and Steven glanced to eachother before they went over to him.

"Anything new at school?" Steven asked.

"Hmm ... well, not much. It's calmed down finally. I can go through the halls without feeling like a celebrity," Lars stated, taking bites out of his slice of cake. Sure it tasted great, but he was just a bit tired from today, and it clearly showed. This really wasn't what they've been seeing lately, and more closer to what they saw before his big adventure. What triggered this to come back? Lars stretched a little bit, almost like he was sore from something.

"Thanks for the cake. Now, I need to take a nap," Lars said, as he walked off with his half-eaten cake on the table, as he went on upstairs. Ok, NOW something was wrong.

Lars didn't really say much word when he got up to his room. He didn't want to bug anyone yet, but then again, he had gone through quite a day already. First thing he did was toss his backpack onto his bed and sit on his bed. Being pink was quite a change for him, sure, but all the same, as he looked to his arm, he knew it was a very big one. He pressed his fingers onto his arm, letting the pressure push into his skin, but as it faded, it just faded back to pink. He simply laid there on his bed for a bit, and by the time they got to him he was sprawled out, his pillow over his face as if trying to make the day pass by quicker. It was just Steven, Sadie, and Pinkie for the moment, and the three went on in, Sadie knocking on the door.

"What now?" Lars groaned from under the pillow.

"Lars, it's us, you can tell us what's wrong if there's something bothering you," Sadie reassured him. Steven nodded in agreement on the statement, but Lars didn't pull the pillow off his head. That privilege was done by Pinkie Pie, tossing it off towards his TV.

"Come on, Mr. grumpy! turn that frown upside-down, like this," Pinkie insisted, her frown being turned upside down by her hooves because Pinkie logic. Oh if only it were that simple. Lars simply sat up.

"You really want to know?" Lars asked. They all nodded and waited for him to speak. For Lars, he got up to his feet, took a deep breath, and ...

"Hey there Twinkle toes, nice statement your doing! Hey, the cotton candy machine's down the hall! I heard some clowns need a backup, why don't you go down and give em a laugh?!" Lars kept saying these things with a big smile on his face, pointing one way or acting like some surprised boy. Then the smile dropped. "... Getting it yet?"

"Eh, sorry, but there's no clowns around here. Maybe if you try -" Pinkie Pie stopped when Lars groaned again.

"I got mocked all day! There, you happy?" Lars snapped, before falling back onto his bed again.

"What?! Lars, that's awful!" Steven gasped.

"You're telling me. And the worst part of it: I can't change this."

"Your super pink skin? Being pink isn't that bad! Look at me! I'm pink as the pinkiest pink pale pink rose, and everypony loves me for it! ... Oh, that and my super party skills," Pinkie insisted. Lars then went on to take off his shirt to present his pink torso to them.

"Guys, look at me: my skin is pink from head to toe, my hair looks like cotton candy, and I got a cut over my eye since we last left that Space Station. Only one of those things no one can make fun of. How am I supposed to go through school everyday dealing with that?" Lars explained.

"It can't be that bad. Sure they've made some funny comments about you, but words can't hurt that much," Steven said.

"First of all, they weren't funny. And second," he said as he went into his backpack, "Look what I found in my locker after lunch!" And what Lars did pull out was actually a large pair of clown shoes. That, accompanied by a clown nose. Sure mockery was something that, let's be honest, was gonna happen, but this was stretching it. Pinkie though was fascinated by those shoes, and plucked them out of Lars's hand.

"OOOOOO! Clown shoes! I always wanted a pair of clown shoes!" Pinkie said, quickly getting them on, and doing a few tap-dance steps before getting into a pose with them. Well, it made one pony happy.

"Eh, you can keep them. I don't need anymore reminders sitting by my bed," Lars said.

"Don't worry Lars, we'll work this out. Now, who's bothering you?" Steven asked.

"Steven, Sadie, Pinkie. I know it matters to you, but really, I don't know how many of your friendship lectures and lessons are gonna get around this one. Human beings just aren't bred to be pink - I stand out too much. ... Unless ..." Lars paused and took a look to Steven, the gears working in his head. However, Steven knew where this was going and shook his head.

"Eh, I barely know how this "bringing you back to life" thing even works. Sorry," Steven said meekly. Lars snapped his finger at his idea being shot down.

"Dang it. But yeah, it would probably kill me anyway," Lars admitted, resting his chin on his hand as he tried to think.

"Lars, you can handle this. You just went through a Gem Space Station to save your friend for crying out loud!" Sadie said.

"AND I got killed by White Diamond. Remember?" Lars reminded dryly.

"Oh. Well besides that, you did great!" Sadie replied, two thumbs up for effort. Lars laid back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I know, but the rest of the world's not Beach city. Or Equestria. You all like it because you're fine with it. I mean, Steven, you've been jumping back and forth between us and Ponies for years now. I mean, come on!"

"Touché."

"I don't know guys. Maybe I just need a break from all this ... attention," Lars said, looking down to his feet.

Three. Two. One.

"GAAAAAAHHHHH?!"

"... Uh. Yes, Pinkie? What's up?" Steven asked. Pinkie gave a smug grin and nudged Steven.

"I think you know what's up," Pinkie said with a wink. Steven tried to think but when Pinkie stood up on her hind legs, front hooves wide open in presentation, Steven suddenly got it, fist landing in his palm on realization.

"Got it! Lars, you should take a vacation in Equestria!"

"Well, I was gonna say have us play apart of a circus group, but that's even better!" Pinkie said.

"WHAT?!" Lars gasped, stumbling off the bed. He popped back up, looking across the bed to them. "Equestria?! But that's a world away, I got school to do, I can't just jump out like that!"

"Really? Because I recall a Lars who'd be willing to take a break anytime," Sadie said with a smirk, thinking about it.

"Well that Lars didn't turn pink and actually had a second chance at life, Sadie!"

"It'll just be a few days, Lars. Come on, think about it. Equestria: A land of magic and wonder, magic as far as the eye could see. Nopony's gonna judge you for looking pink, far from it. I can't think of anywhere better!" Steven said. Well after that explanation, it sure sounded like a pretty snazzy idea at the end of the day.

"... Well, when you put it that way ... Ah, alright. I didn't plan anything for this weekend anyway."

"YES!" Pinkie and Steven said, both giving a high-five to eachother. Well, it was a plan: Lars getting a vacation in the land of ponies.

Course, they had to find Peridot first.

.......

"Ok, ok ... So uh Twilight. I know we've been working on this friendship thing for a long time. Er, well, ok, a little bit, but I don't think I should meet Sunburst ... at all? ... UGH, no, that's too blunt. Ahem ... Twilight, I don't know if
Sunburst will appreciate my wickedness ... NO, that's just stupid. True, but stupid."

"Uh, Starlight? You know you're talking to a mirror, right?"

Back at Twilight's tower, things had been a little bit edgy as of late. Since she had been told about Sunburst, and chat from Jasper, Starlight had been trying to figure out how to get this problem out properly. Spike had caught her in her room, basically talking to herself through a mirror.

"Oh, hi Spike."

"Still worried over Sunburst huh?" Spike assumed. The dragon was right on the nose with that one, Starlight recoiling a little.

"Well ... can you blame me? I mean, it's been so long, and we've both changed so much. ... Well, I've changed for the worse," Starlight admitted sadly, glancing back to her Cutie Mark.

"You don't know that really. I mean, for all we know, he could've turned evil and started turning Ponies into some Cutie-Markless horses too," Spike said. However, Starlight's shock and worry only grew on that.

"Eh ... Wrong thing?"

"Wrong thing."

"Oh, oops. Ok, look, you should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she'd want to hear what you have to say."

"I know, and I know she wants me to see him but, that's the problem: I don't feel like I should meet him again, but I don't want Twilight to think I'm ditching out on any of her lessons, or not appreciate what she's doing." Starlight turned back to the mirror. She wanted to figure this out, but she didn't want to say it like she was being selfish and only selfish ... though that was exactly how she was feeling right now.

"Spike! Spike, where're you?!"

"Oh, for Celestia's sake," Starlight groaned, and before she even knew it, Twilight found Spike in Starlight's room. The alicorn princess looked pretty excited about something, though neither of them knew exactly what.

"Oh, hi Twilight. What's up?" Starlight asked.

"Great Starlight, you're here too! Listen: I just got an invitation from the Crystal Empire this morning, and they want me to come by for a visit," Twilight explained, as she levitated the invitation for them both to see. Spike held the letter, which was shaped like a pink snowflake, with the written out message right on the item itself. Spike and Starlight knew this was purely Crystal Empire messaging with this sort of thing. After some thinking, this could only mean one thing ...

"Well, this settles it! Since we're going to the Crystal Empire, your next friendship lesson is going to be... reuniting with Sunburst!"

And he just so happened to be living at the Crystal Empire ...

"Great ..."

~~~~~~

Oh, what fate can do to get the group together, huh? As Twilight, Starlight, and spike were off on their own way towards to the Crystal Empire, one group had already arrived: Pinkie, Rarity, Sadie, Steven, and Lars (with Peridot's help), decided to check out the Crystal Empire too. Steven himself hadn't seen much of the place since he last visited it years ago, and as before, it was just as pretty and lively as ever.

"Wow, talk about a impression. Do the other Gems know about this?" Lars asked, looking around with amazement.

"They've took some time to stop by a long time ago. Oh, doesn't this place look beautiful?" Rarity said, sounding almost giddy. It'd been a while since the unicorn had stopped by herself. For Lars though, looking around, he did see plenty of the Crystal Ponies going about their day, though many of them in their own way didn't bother with Lars as much as the humans did back home. Sure some ponies did see him, but they mainly just did a hello with a smile, and nothing too extravagant beyond that. As they went along, Lars actually began to relax a bit.

"It kinda does actually. Didn't know ponies came in uh ... crystal," Lars stated, seeing a few fillies galloping by.

"It's only the Crystal Ponies, but this one time we became very sparkly after we defeated King Sombra and renewed the Crystal Heart. Everything looked so sparkly and pretty," Pinkie explained, hopping next to Lars.

"A part of me still wishes it wasn't temporary," Rarity added, remembering just how extravagant she looked with a crystalline shine to her mane, tail, and fur.

"Eh, I think I'm good the way I am thanks. I'm already pink, I don't think I need to turn into crystals," Lars commented, imagining a similar texture to his own skin. If being pink gave him a ton of attention, he could only wonder just how big he would be if his skin shined off the sun like the most expensive diamond.

"So, let's see where we can go first. Any suggestions?" Sadie asked. Steven thought it over a little bit, looking around the Crystal Empire. It was memory lane for him, but he wasn't too familiar with the place. As they kept going, then they began to take sight of a particular crystalline building off down the road. colored a lovely sapphire blue, the building was decorated with plenty of hearts on it to specify it from other buildings. Rarity perked up on seeing the building in question, and trotted on ahead to it.

"Oh, the Crystal Spa! It's been far too long."

"A spa, Rarity?" Steven asked. Rarity nodded.

"Absolutely. You want to feel relaxed, don't you? Nothing better than a spa treatment, if I do say so myself," Rarity said. she had a point. That, and Lars did want to try and relax a bit, so it was a trip into the spa for them. So, the group began to head on inside, and sure enough they got a good taste of this Crystal Spa just from view alone. The spa had its necessities much like the spa back in Ponyville, but everything had a sort of crystal flair to it. This included a skylight at the center, held by two crystalline arches, along with a few diamond lights hung from the ceiling. Rarity felt all giddy for being here.

"Just look at all of this: doesn't it just look as divine as ever?" Rarity gasped, eyes sparkling. One of the crystal ponies working there went over to them.

"We just got it shined up just yesterday. So, this is a five-pony party?" the pony asked.

"Two pony and three human please," Pinkie corrected. The crystal pony took a look to the trio of humans off nearby, a little perplexed but not too much.

"Humans, huh? I've heard rumors of such creatures from Princess Cadance during her monthly visits. Is it true you three are from another world?" the Crystal Pony asked. Lars began to feel that it might end up being a ton of questions again, but Steven and Sadie had it covered.

"Yeah, that's right, we're here on holiday," Sadie said. The Crystal Pony nodded.

"You've all came to the right place for relaxation. So what'll it be? Crystalline massage? Hot towel treatment? Our Crystal mud bath perhaps?" the third option actually had a presentation, the Crystal Pony raising a hoof to present one of the baths. The bath itself didn't look like mud, and more like green bubbling goo, a Crystal Pony already walking out with her coat glistening in the light. Lars and Sadie glanced to eachother and blushed slightly.

"Eh, maybe a crystalline massage," Sadie suggested. Pinkie though already had a option in mind.

"GERONIMO!" Pinkie shouted, finding a rope from ... well, nowhere, and doing a Tarzan swing right into the bubbling goo. It was surely not mud, the whole thing jiggling more like Jello as Pinkie sank into it, enjoying the comforting "mud" on her fur.

"Guess she found what she wanted," Steven said.

.......

"Oh, that's nice."

For the next few minutes, it was relaxation for all of them in their own way. Lars decided to try the Crystalline massage treatment, and he had to say, these Crystal Ponies knew what they were doing. Sure they were using hooves instead of fingers, but he had felt more relaxed than he had in a while. The others had a bit of a mix of mud path and hot towel treatment, which at the moment included a steam bath in the next room.

"Feeling better?"

"Oh yeah. You Ponies are top notch," Lars complimented, a thumbs up as they continued. Eventually, the massage ended and it was on to the next thing. Lars felt so relaxed in his muscles, and he took a moment and flipped over onto the table, fully relaxed. It wasn't exactly a seat for the heat lamps off nearby, but Lars needed a minute to fully appreciate this relaxation.

"Anything else you want to experience with, Barriga?" asked a Crystal Pony. Lars felt pretty good with it though, going to get his clothes and ready to change his attire.

"I'm all set, thanks. Oh, that's the best massage I got ever," Lars said, getting himself dressed.

"We appreciate your stay. Do come again," the Crystal Pony said. If they were this good, odds were he would come back if he needed to chillax. It'll still be a while for the others to get finished with their own little bit of relaxation, so he decided to take a step outside to cool off. The relaxation was nice and all, but it got hot in their after a while, and he wanted to take in the sights around them anyway. Lars rested his back against the spa wall, much of the crystalline beauty pretty captivating for him.

"Boy, and here I thought they did a lot back home. Did the Gems make this place? It would explain the "crystal" theme everywhere," Lars thought. With that in mind though, he started to see the various Crystal Ponies going around. Were they another type of pony? They sure looked like it, but still -

"EEEE! OH MY STARS!"

"What the - AH!"

It kinda happened out of nowhere, but all of a sudden Lars Barriga found himself in the grip of someone else. Lars needed a minute to contemplate what the heck happened to him, finding that he was actually being lifted off the ground, hands gripping him by the sides as the newcomer looked to him with a twinkle in her eye and a very eager grin on her face. Not exactly Pinkie Pie levels of excitement, but a pretty close second, and just like the pink mare, this girl caught Lars completely by surprise, as not only did he not meet her before, but she wasn't a pony either.

"Uh ..."

"A human? In PINK?! This is so sweet, I didn't know Humans came in pink! My very own pink human being!" she beamed, hugging him tightly. Lars cringed on the hug, feeling like he would pop if she hugged any tighter.

"Uh, yeah, who're you?"

"This is HUGE! ... I gotta show everybody," she said in a hushed yet excited voice. Excited, she suddenly lifted Lars over her head, Lars at first thinking she was gonna throw him, but instead she took off running with him, giggling all the while as Lars was powerless to stop her.

What a time for the rest to come back out.

"Okie-dokie-lokie Lars, where do you wanna go off to now? ... Lars? ..."

~~~~~~

While they were at the spa, Starlight and Spike had just got themselves around another street corner of the Crystal empire. them and Twilight had arrived not too long ago, literally a few minutes ago, and with Twilight already gone and flying off to the Crystal Empire for the main visit, Starlight and Spike were going along through the empire to find Sunburst. Spike had a full list at the ready for her, it so big it was dragging on the ground behind them, and Starlight was a bit more humbled than anything. Seeing her old friend again, after so long too.

"I know you're a little worried about this reunion, but I'm sure Twilight's got everything covered," Spike said, presenting the list.

"Everything except how I'd rather do absolutely anything else," Starlight sighed.

"Oh, I bet she's taken that into account too. It's all part of the lesson. Trust the lesson."

"Right ..."

"Besides, this isn't new for you that much. I mean, what about Bill Dewey? I heard you two hit it off."

"First off, he's a human from a completely different world, and two, he didn't know me from when he was a kid like ... well, you know."

"What's the difference? Everything will be fine, just give it a chance," Spike insisted. Oh, if only it were that simple. Starlight needed to think of something to do, something to get her mind off of one little thing and do something else. In their walk, she was so distracted by her thoughts, she ended up walking into one of the statues around the empire. THIS one in particular showed a specific dragon holding a Crystal Heart on one claw, in a hero's position as if presenting the heart in claw.

"Wait ... Is that ... you?" Starlight questioned, a little more than confused. Looking at this and comparing it though, the unicorn then got an idea.

"Oh yep, it sure is. now let's see, Sunburst's house is -"

"Why is there a statue of you in the Crystal Empire?"

"Because Spike the Brave and Glorious saved all of us from King Sombra!" a Crystal Pony suddenly said, overhearing the conversation. Starlight stepped back, but it was something that could help her out here. She trotted on over to the dragon in question.

"Um, when were you going to tell me about this?" Starlight questioned. Spike though was a little bit humble about this, brushing it off.

"Eh, it's no big deal."

"It certainly is!" a Crystal Pony said. Starlight reached her conclusion, her magic pulling in both a recliner chair and a bit of popcorn (from where, who knows?)

"That's it! We're not going anywhere until I get the whole story!"

.......

"And that's how we found the Crystal Heart, defeated King Sombra, and saved the Empire!"

At the end of Spike's story, the crowd of Crystal Ponies clapped and cheered for their hero, Starlight Glimmer pretty happy with the deal herself, mainly because it was keeping her away from the problem, and getting some information to both, either way, Spike knew his role today when he took another look at the list by his side.

"As much as I like reliving my heroic deeds, me and Starlight have a very important lesson to do, by orders of the Princess Twilight," Spike then said. This did bump out some of the more younger ponies of the crowd, but they knew when a hero was needed, so they didn't bug him further. Well, with the exception of an autograph-wanting young filly, with his picture.

"Come on, Spike, there's got to be more to that. Sure you got every detail?" Starlight asked. Spike was a bit smarter than that.

"I know you're nervous, and so does Twilight, but it says right in step 3, to, uh, "Deal with your fears by facing them, not by putting it off."

Spike was as ready as he'll ever be, and Starlight reluctantly had to agree. She tossed the popcorn aside and got off her chair.

"Let's get this over with," she sighed.

not the most enthusiastic agreement, but Starlight really couldn't get out of this one no matter how long she stalled it for. So, she and Spike started to go along their way to their destination, as much as Starlight didn't want to. It took a few minutes to figure out where the house was, but eventually they began to see a particular place of interest. A more sea green crystalline house, with an orange crystalline rooftop. Considering many of the houses were the same, this would be the place whether she missed it or not. Spike kept close behind, and Starlight began to go right up to the door. Starlight gulped, and took one more look back to Spike, who was giving her a double thumbs up and a smile.

"Here it goes," Starlight sighed. biting her lip and keeping quiet, Starlight went up and gave three small knocks to the door. ... and ... nothing. Starlight waited a few more seconds, but still no one answered.

"Whelp, guess that's that. Guess he's not home. Well, we can go and meet Twilight and -"

"Come on Starlight, At least see if he's home first," Spike said.

"W-Well I mean clearly he's not home, so let's see what the others are up to. I-I mean, maybe we can try some other day when he's us ... stopping ... by?" The statement followed by a nervous grin on her face.

"I don't know... I mean if we skip it, the whole lesson could go south! And then you might end up taking a giant step backwards instead of forwards! Maybe you'll never be able to learn anything about friendship at all! It's almost like your whole future depends on this moment," Spike explained, looking the unicorn eye to eye. For good measure he pushed the reluctant unicorn right back to the door, much to her dismay. Starlight really wasn't enjoying this at all, but for spike's sake (and the scary scenario he presented to her) she tried again, this time a bit more prominently, and five times instead of three.

And this time she got it, the door creaking open. Starlight swallowed her fear and tried to remain calm.

"Yes? ... What can I do for you?" he asked. It took him a bit to peer out the door himself, and there was Sunburst. He had orange fur and dark orange mane and tail, both actually looking a little but scruffy. He also had a sort of goat beard on his chin, matching the colors to the mane and tail. He wore a large cape with cyan blue stars, and meeting at a gemstone at the neck much like a wizard would, accompanied by a pair of glasses on is muzzle. While orange overall, his hooves and bridge of his muzzle were a sort of creamy-orange.

"Uh ... I-It's me. Starlight? W-We used to be friends," Starlight said. Sunburst took a bit before he started to come out himself, actually appearing as nervous as she was.

"Oh! S-Starlight! My goodness, I-it's been a long time. Soooo, what have you been up to?"

Oh Luna, what a question to start with.

"Oh, you know. A bit of this, a bit of that, other ... stuff. I-I'm sorta Twilight's new pupil."

"Twilight Sparkle? The princess of friendship?" Sunburst asked. The idea of Twilight being the princess of friendship wasn't exactly tossed around too much, but still was an idea being put around regardless. Seemingly Sunburst got that side of things.

"Eh y-yeah. ... That's kinda why I'm here. I-I mean, if you can't that's okay, I-I mean you're probably really busy."

"What do you mean?" Sunburst asked, not understanding. Starlight paused, but continued anyway.

"Well, I figured after magic school, you'd go on to do important wizard work, but...

"Oh. Uh, no - Y-Yes! Yes, that's me, Important wizard, hehehe. really busy with lots of uh ... wi-wizarding ... stuff."

...

"So ... uh ... Good to see you." and with that remark, Sunburst went right back into his house, leaving Starlight and Spike at the door. Spike took another look at the list in front of him.

"Huh. Maybe we should've skipped that part after all," Spike shrugged. Starlight began to go off away, but Spike wasn't ready to give up on this just yet, and neither would Twilight if she were here.

"Starlight, come on! We have to at least explain what Twilight wants!" Spike insisted.

"Oh fine ..."

~~~~~~

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Some traditions never cease, including Twilight and Cadance's own personal saying. With Starlight and Spike off and handling their friendship lesson, Twilight was right at the Crystal Castle, with Princess Cadance there at greeting with Shining Armor. It would be informal if in front of the royal guard, or in front of the crowds outside, but both Alicorns could be more like themselves when it's just them.

"Glad to see you've made it, Twilight. It's been such a long time," Cadance said.

"Yeah, I know. But you know how it is when there's so much going on, time flies by," Twilight joked.

"Know what you mean; especially with both Equestria and Earth to handle. Glad to see my sister-in-law's alright after everything," Cadance stated with a smile. Twilight could understand where she was coming from though, but she was just as glad to see her okay too.

"It's great to see you too, Twily," Shining said with a smile, playfully giving Twilight a noogie to the head. It had been a very long time, too much time since she saw either one of them.

"Thanks. So has anything new happened here?" Twilight asked.

"Well actually that's what we wanted to call you here for. We ... kinda need some help," Shining armor admitted.

"Sure, I can help you. What's the problem?"

"HEEEYYY!"

And their answer came in almost like a blur, charging right through the front doors of the palace, and skidding to a stop over right by Shining, Cadance, and Twilight. and she was still holding Lars above her head by the time she arrived.

"Look what I found!" she beamed.

...

"PINK DIAMOND?!"

They finally got a name for her. Pink diamond. Of course, she didn't look anything like the other diamonds Twilight had seen. She wasn't as tall as a diamond first of all, with her about as tall as Garnet. Her outfit looked less like a queen and more of a flair complexion: very big shoulder pads, a slightly flail around her hips, pants similar to a court jester, and white socks ending in ballerina shoes. The color pink was evident all over her body, with much of the outfit (with the exception of the socks, rims on her flails, and a spot on the shoulder pads) a shade of pink. Her hair was pale pink and poofed out like a pink cloud, ending in a point like Spinel or Lapis Lazuli. Her eyes were hot pink, and for the moment wide and full of excitement for what she had found. Lars of course was not as enthused for being carried all the way here.

"Look, it's a pink human! And here I thought Equus never had humans before," Pink Diamond said.

"Can you put me down? Please?" Lars asked meekly.

"You see Twilight, some of the Diamond Authority came by a few days ago. Yellow Diamond I think. And she wanted us to show Pink Diamond around Equestria to help catch her up on what she missed, and keep an eye on her. She'd do it herself but being a diamond meant she didn't had much time for it," Shining Armor explained, as Pink Diamond hugged Lars as if he was her own plush toy.

"Really? I'd thought Blue Diamond would've wanted to take care of her."

"They still do, but they thought it would be safer to keep her here. Something about another diamond trying to find her?" Cadance explained, working off memory. Twilight felt a shiver run through her on that kind of answer, knowing too well which Diamond that would be.

"While you're talking over there *ACK* maybe you can get her to drop me before I *URK!* crack in half?" Lars managed to say, being held tightly in Pink Diamond's grip again. Twilight got her magic around Lars, and yanked him out of her grip. Pink diamond of course tried to get her prize back, but Twilight wasn't having it.

"Hey!" Pink Diamond complained. Lars was placed down by Shining Armor, a bit weak but fine, before Twilight cleared her throat and confronted Pink Diamond.

"Sorry. Uh, welcome your clarity, to Equestria," Twilight said, trying to keep formal. Pink Diamond paused and took a closer look to the alicorn.

"... Do I know you from somewhere?" Pink diamond asked, scratching her head.

"W-Well me and my friends were close to your Diamonds, so I guess she told you about us. Uh, y-your clarity," Twilight explained, quickly correcting herself. Though admittedly she wasn't too sure about her. Sure, she was a member of the diamond Authority, but seeing her fly in like a giddy filly, and acting so young made that ideal a little blurry. At first, Pink diamond looked over Twilight with a rather judging expression, circling her for a minute. ... Then she snapped her fingers, the idea popping in her head.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle!" she exclaimed.

"That's right," Twilight said in a nod. Pink felt good in figuring it out, but suddenly she realized who she was standing in front of, and in a suddenly jump and flip, she was on the ground in a sort of bowing position.

"You're one of those ponies that saved Blue and Yellow. I'm so happy to see you," Pink Diamond said. To say Twilight was humbled was an understatement. A diamond bowing to her? She had enough trouble when normal ponies bow to her.

"I'm glad to see you're alright too, Pink Diamond. So, they said you're going to be staying around in Equestria?" Twilight asked. Pink Diamond perked up, sitting on her knees so she was more eye-to-eye with Alicorn Twilight, nodding her head.

"Of course I am! I've been gone for thousands of years, and so much has changed, no way am I going to pass up how much happened while I was away. I wanna see my own colony, but Blue won't let me go back there yet, so she had me stay here instead," Pink explained, sounding a bit more innocent than she Twilight honestly expected.

"And where have you been?" Twilight asked. she knew the answer, but she just wanted to test it.

"You tell me, one minute I was in my Palanquin back on my colony, the next minute I'm on a Gem Warship going to here. Blue already told me how long I've been out, so you don't have to worry about that. I know things changed a lot," Pink Diamond said. But Twilight felt a little bit concerned over something else. Apparently the details of White diamond weren't told to her, especially her shattering. Then again, no one wanted to be told how they died, so Twilight could see the logic of it.

"W-Well, you're not wrong. ... So, how's the Crystal Empire?" Twilight then asked.

"It's so pretty! A entire city made in our honor - how neighborly of them all," Pink Diamond said, hands clasped together and eyes sparkling (diamonds instead of stars). Clearly she still had a thing or two to learn, and if she was going to be sticking around.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Starlight was having her own little issues at the moment. Stuck with Sunburst in the same room, she and him were left pretty ... quiet. There was a cup of tea with a kettle off on said table, and the room itself was covered with varying books on both the shelves and some over in piles. Not much word spoke in between them at first, their eyes finding more interesting things away from them rather than face to face.

"... So ... The princess of friendship wants you and I to be ... friends again?"

"I-I know, weird right?" Starlight joked, though it wasn't really a funny one. Sunburst stroke his beard.

"Uh, I don't understand. Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?"

"Huh? N-NO!" Starlight shouted, front hooves slamming the table as her magic began to pour more tea. "No! I-I don't see what that has to do with anything. W-Why would you even ask that?" She was so distracted she didn't notice that the tea poured out of the cup, or at least didn't notice until too late. She quickly placed it down and then asked "I mean, what happened to you when you left for Magic school?"

"What? Um, no. L-Like you said, I'm a, *ahem* I-important wizard!"

Spike meanwhile looked in from the other room, seeing what he thought was gonna be a good friendship lesson, turned into a complete fest of awkwardness.

"This is painful to watch. Come on, there's gotta be something in this list that can help here," Spike quietly told himself, as he skimmed through the list. However, as Spike went through that, keen-eye Sunburst and Starlight overheard him doing that, and Sunburst rubbed the back of his head.

"I know Princess Twilight is keen on the two of us rekindling our friendship, but... it's been so long. I don't see how anything on that list is going to help," Sunburst admitted.

"I know, right? It's not like there's some spell that would magically compel us to pick up where we left off," Starlight agreed. That was probably the calmest she was throughout this whole visit so far. Sunburst thought it over a minute and actually ended up levitating a few of the books around the place.

"Actually there's several," he stated, presenting one book after another as he explained. "Mistmane's Material Amity, Rockhoof's Rapport, Flash Prance's Fellow... ship... *ahem* But I-I get the feeling the princess isn't looking for a spell."

"Definitely not," Starlight said. Well, good thing they cut corners on that before it could go down that road. Easy as it may seem, Starlight wasn't gonna cheat on this. Spike then began to figure out another little something in this list.

"Got it! "And if all else fails, ask them to share an embarrassing moment from their past, maybe even something they regret!""

WHY?! Starlight and Sunburst both felt even more uncomfortable now than they had already. It was hard enough just to talk to eachother, how could they share something like that? Stroking his beard, Sunburst came to the same conclusion as Starlight did.

"Uh, I don't see how that would help," Sunburst said.

"Uh, yeah! We should just get out of your mane. It's pretty obvious this isn't going how Twilight hoped, and I'm sure you have plenty of important work to do..."

"What? Oh! Right, yes, heh-heh! Uh, no rest for the wizardly," Sunburst insisted. Spike, who was entangled in his list, was being levitated out of the door.

"Come on, Spike."

Boy this wasn't going well for them. Starlight and Spike kept going along down the road, away from Sunburst's home. Sunburst himself simply looked out the window and watched them go, Spike the only one seeing him do so as Starlight kept walking, her head lowered and her ears back. Spike got himself out of his little bind, and he clearly could see that both sides were having a bit of trouble with all of this.

"Starlight, what're you doing?" Spike asked.

"I'm going back home. ... Or what home I can find now. Twilight'll probably give up on me entirely once she hears this," Starlight sighed. Spike rushed up in front of her to make her stop.

"Whoa, no she won't! Stop being so hard on yourself."

"Spike, be serious! It's been too long, I've changed, he changed. too much for him to want to be friends with me anymore."

"I am being serious! Starlight, didn't you become friends with Bill Dewey already? Why can't you do it here?"

"I told you, it's not the same thing! Yes, Bill Dewey and I are ... well, fine with eachother, but I helped him because he was going through the same problems I did. Sunburst clearly is far better off than I ever had. He didn't say it, but I know he doesn't want to be friends with me," Starlight admitted. Spike still had his view in sight of Sunburst's house, and then the baby dragon got a little idea of his own.

"Oh, you think you've got it bad? When I turned evil, it went WAY worse than you did!" Spike stated. That was something Starlight was confused on.

"Wait, what? You turned evil? When did that happen?" Starlight asked, legitimately dumbfounded.

"Well it was during my birthday WAY far back, long before I even seen the Crystal Empire. Everyone kept giving me all sorts of things: a sweet hat, some treats from Sugarcube Corner, you know. After a bit though, I began to feel more and more greedy. Next thing I knew, I ended up growing fifty-feet tall and was attacking everypony in Ponyville! My friends, the Wonderbolts, and I kidnapped Rarity the whole time. Well as you can see I'm back to normal now, but they had to do a LOT of clean-up for the next week to fix what I did." And none of this was really lies either. While Spike didn't have the memory Lapis Lazuli had, Spike still remembered vividly of the day Spikezilla rampaged through town.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, it's really happened, and -"

"NO, I mean are you kidding me? Spike, that's a cakewalk compared to what I've gone through, and by the sound of it you did only one day of damage!" Starlight retorted. Spike then got defensive.

"Hey, you didn't end up turning into a monster and tried to steal everything in your hometown."

"Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind! And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie marks from an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and her friends, so you join White Diamond to get even and then get beaten by both her AND Steven and his friend, and then you travel through time to get back at them, but they beat you again and teach you about friendship, but you're so terrified ponies will find out what you did that you can't make any friends!!!"

...

"Did you really travel through time?"

Starlight froze up, beginning to feel tears going down her face on what had just happened. She wasn't too far from Sunburst's home when she started yelling, and when she turned around to see her old friend standing there. By the looks of it, he was there long enough to hear everything. Starlight felt her heart stop when she realized what Sunburst had heard out of her, and all she could do was waited for the blow. Some insult, or something of the sort.

"... I'm sorry, Sunburst."

"S-Starlight, wait. I should be sorry," Sunburst insisted. Starlight though lowered her gaze, feeling the tears fall.

"I know it's hard for you to understand, but not all of us end up achieving greatness," Starlight sighed.

"What? Why wouldn't I understand that?" asked Sunburst.

"Really? You're an important wizard within the Crystal Empire! I'm lucky to find out where my teacher's room is at her own tower," Starlight retorted.

"Um ... about that. S-Starlight, I ... I'm not as great as you think I am.

"Of course you are! I thought you were an important wizard!"

"Well, you were wrong, okay?! I'm not an important wizard! I'm not even a wizard at all!" Sunburst yelled. Now Starlight stepped back on the response. Sunburst looked away, adjusting his glasses before they could fall off his muzzle.

"Starlight, if anything, you're the one achieving greatness. I mean, you're the protégé to Twilight Sparkle!"

"Eh, she's more of a student than a protégé," Spike corrected.

"Whatever. I'm sorry I'm not the big important wizard you were expecting," Sunburst said sadly, as he started to head back to his house. After a bit though, Starlight Glimmer trotted over to him.

"Sunburst, I don't care if you're a wizard or not. I'm just surprised. You always knew so much about magic. I mean, look at all the books you've got in there!" Starlight insisted.

"Yeah, well, reading about magic is one thing, but to know so much and not be able to do any of it, I just -" Sunburst stopped himself before he could lose it, and just sighed before turning back to his old friend.

"I'm sorry we lost touch. Maybe if I had reached out, you could have helped me at magic school, and I could have helped you to..."

"Not become totally evil?" Starlight finished. Sunburst just nodded as the two faced eachother. "Let's just say I know what it's like to have something you're not exactly proud of."

"When you showed up thinking I was some big wizard... I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth."

"It's fine. At least we worked it all out. I think Twilight would be proud of us," Starlight said. Both she and Sunburst shared a hug with eachother after that, Starlight cleaning up the rest of her tears. Spike felt pretty good about things, and looking at the list one more time, he went down to the last one.

"Starlight and Sunburst reunite as friends. Check."

~~~~~~

"LARS! Lars?!"

"Here Lars, come here boy!"

"Lars isn't a dog, Pinkie," Sadie stated. After not finding him at the spa, the group was kinda stuck going around looking for Lars for a pretty good while. Not really the best time to actually get a vacation going for their friend. They got to one part of the train station at this point, wondering if Lars would've ended up there.

"Well this is a fine kettle of fish: we try giving him a holiday, and he disappears on us," Rarity said, pacing back and forth.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be the first time," sighed Sadie, remembering her previous experiences way back when. It would be a bit difficult for some habits to die, though she did find it a bit surprising with how good he had been lately.
Lucky for them though, they soon started to hear something else going on, Pinkie Pie the first to hear it as someone began to head off towards the station. Not somepony, but somebody.

"Hey Lars, where have you been?!" Pinkie called, as Lars caught up with them. He actually wasn't alone this time, joined by Starlight Glimmer and Spike actually, the two heading over to the station themselves. He wasn't alone though; Twilight, Spike, and a now much better Starlight Glimmer had got to the train now.

"Yeah, sorry about that, got a bit caught up," Lars said, a bit embarrassed over what happened.

"What happened to you anyway?"

"Well, actually, that's something I wanna tell you about ... see -" before Lars could finish, his newcoming guest was right behind him, and looked over him to the other ponies and humans standing right in front of them.

"Whoa, so many colors! Are they the friends you keep telling me to bring you to?" asked Pink Diamond.

Everyone was kinda silent. Except for Twilight.

"Eh, the diamonds wanted her to stay in Equestria for a while. And I thought we can help her learn the world a bit better," Twilight admitted. They were still silent, especially Steven who looked up to Pink. He was as flabbergasted about this as Twilight was when she first saw her, and seeing her so happy, as if nothing happened at all.

"Hehehe ... oh boy. ..."

Beholder's Beauty

View Online

"Hurry up!"

"Diamond, you can't rush perfection," Rarity made clear. Pink diamond hadn't been in Ponyville for more than a few days, and as it stood, she was already getting a bit of mixed feelings about it. not that she didn't enjoy it, surely, but when Rarity got her stuck as her mannequin for her latest work, she would much rather do ... anything else. ANYTHING else other than standing still. And it was one of her complaints some could actually agree on, as she spent about an hour doing just this.

"But I don't want to just stand here! There's a million things I'd rather do than just stand still like a Pearl," Pink complained, but didn't budge much.

"Now, dear, don't be like that. I know it's a long process, but I swear, when Canterlot sees the latest Diamond fashion wear, they'll simply adore it!" Rarity said, feeling very excited to show off this product of hers as she continued to make measurements on Pink. She would handle the other diamonds, but Pink was the only one that can actually fit inside her boutique, so she was the only option as of now (much to Pink's annoyance).

"And I'm your model because ...?"

"Because it'll be in your name. I may be a fashion designer, but even I have to give credit where credit's due. Besides, don't you want to see Canterlot with me? I promise you, it's the perfect place for any diamond to be in," Rarity reassured. She did want to see Canterlot, amongst so many other places, but be that as it may, it just wasn't fun the method to get there first. Rarity continued her measurements, and adding cloth and sparkles, sewing them in with grace and ease.

"Fine ... but then we can see my colony, right?" Pink reminded.

"If we find Peridot, surely," Rarity promised.

"Again? Why do we need Peridot, just find that Warp Pad you were talking about. I'm not going on some wild search for her," Pink stated.

"I know," Rarity said through gritted teeth, before calming down a little. "But none of those Warp Pads are working, remember? Peridot's the only transit right now."

"But I don't wanna wait ... *poke* OW!" Pink's complaints and pouting stopped when Rarity accidentally poked her with her needle, making the diamond jump and tear her outfit by mistake.

"Sorry, Pink Diamond," Rarity quickly said, Pink rubbing her hip where she got poked. She would turn and gripe again, but ... as it was, something else caught the Diamond's attention, looking off towards the Unicorn. She may not be too familiar with the particular customs or working of ponies, but she looked to Rarity with a sort of confused expression. One of those "what-the-heck-are-you-doing?" looks.

"... What?" Rarity asked. Pink Diamond didn't really give her a response much, but the unicorn did end up following her eyes towards what she was looking at. Turned out her eyes were focused on her flank. A bit odd in a regular sense, but what Rarity saw left the unicorn kinda speechless to say the least.

Her Cutie Mark was flashing! And she had no idea why!

"W-Wha?! Oh my, uh, uh." Rarity's mind was a blank, staring in worry and shock as she tried to scramble her mind for some explanation. Did she get sick or something? did somepony cast a spell while she was sleeping as a joke?

"What's going on with your mark?" Pink wondered, going over to investigate, she got down in a squat, and got to eye-level with the Cutie Mark, poking it curiously. Rarity honestly had no idea on what was even going on with it, and didn't know how to answer. No pony she ever met, EVER had a Cutie Mark with a calling light on it. And for this unicorn, it wasn't the only little catch, as her horn began to glow ...

"Oh, not again," Rarity said. just as she suspected, suddenly her horn's magic aura began to pull her from her head, far too strong for the Unicorn to stop. She trued using her hooves for some sort of traction, but it clearly wasn't working. Pink diamond didn't know what was going on either, but it was FAR more interesting than some dress getup, so she tore off Rarity's dress and began to follow the Unicorn as the magical aura dragged the mare outside her own boutique. Here we go again.
Rarity tried time and time again to get this to stop, but no matter the struggle, it just wasn't going to happen. Many a pony in Ponyville simply watched in confusion as the Unicorn was dragged on through town with a diamond following her, trying to keep up. Rarity was not only annoyed and bemused with her horn doing this to her (again), but embarrassed that this was in front of everyone in town. Where was she going, who knows. Pink diamond even managed to grab her by her back hooves, and the pull was so strong it even dragged her along! Of course, Pink Diamond released her when she noticed a good twenty feet of a set of dirt streaks from her own feet. Whatever's got a hold on Rarity was stronger than she could handle, and all she could do was follow. and follow she did.
Eventually, Rarity flat out gave up, and simply stayed quiet with a ... very lack of amusement on her face, her hooves dragging in the dirt as she was dragged outside of Ponyville and into the Everfree Forest. Not exactly the first guess for anyone, but who knows at this point where Rarity was even going? At least her magic had the decency to avoid the flora and stuck to the path instead, so no risk of any Swamp Fever or Poison Joke on this trip. Rarity had only dealt with this once before when she was a filly, but the Unicorn knew that this wasn't without reason. But, what was the reason? For a moment, she felt a little curious on the subject, now that she thought of it ...

And then she fell.

"OOF! AH! OW! EEK! OW! ... mmm ..."

Not the most graceful tumble down stairs ever, and the Unicorn was left in a bit of a daze from that. Hurt, yeah, but at least the horn stopped glowing, so she had power to go somewhere now. That though didn't stop her Cutie Mark however, which was still flashing a bit after she checked. Pink Diamond hopped down the ravine to Rarity's level, seeing Rarity get to her hooves.

"Wow ... and you're still flashing," Pink Diamond said, looking to her Cutie Mark again.

"What in Celestia was that all about?" Rarity groaned, fixing up her mane from the tumble. Rarity and Pink Diamond took a look around the area. ...

~~~~~~

"Alright, hold on, hold on," Jasper stated, pinching the bridge of her gemstone. The orange Gem took a long, deep breath, both hands running through her hair as she did so. "Pink Diamond's In Equestria?!"

It took a while for the ponies to properly get this information out to the rest of the Crystal Gems, in some shape or form, but eventually Twilight sparkle got this information out to the group after Peridot got her back to Beach City. Much of the Gems were at the Temple, and while Steven still didn't have a house yet, he still considered the Crystal Temple a decent place to visit, at the least of it. Sure, it was dim, and not much of his stuff was around, but all the same he practically grew up there, and he wasn't gonna leave it permanently.

"Believe me, I was shocked when I found out," Twilight made clear.

"You were shocked? Who got carried half way through the Crystal Empire at light speed? Do Gems always move that fast? Because I'm never gonna get used to it," Lars said, who was also present for this little chat. In fact, the main group was made up of most of the Crystal Gems and Off-Colors, the exception being that of Garnet for the moment.

"No they don't," Peridot simply answered.

"I predict that our once-deceased Diamond has returned to life, and is residing in Equus," Padparadscha said.

"Already happened," Lars commented through gritted teeth.

"W-Wha? Pink Diamond? BACK? ALIVE?! O-Oh my stars, I-I-I need to sit down. S-Someone have a chair or something?" Rhodonite shuttered, on the verge of fainting. Amethyst got her covered and turned into a couch just before she fell onto her.

"How did she get to Equestria? We thought she was with the Diamonds," Fluorite said, pondering in her slow, usual way.

"Cadance told me that they dropped her off for her safety," Twilight replied.

"And if you ask me, it sounds like White's really out for Pink," added Steven.

"Why wouldn't she? I mean, wasn't Pink Diamond one of her "experiments"?" Fulgurite asked, quoting "Experiments" with her fingers.

"Everything's gonna be fine. White Diamond may have been to Earth, but she hasn't been in Equestria ... extensively, before. Maybe she doesn't even know she's there," Twilight figured. It was a rather vague idea for White Diamond, and with half of their group, or even more, gone in outer space they were not in full strength to be fighting against her again. Rhodonite though couldn't stand that answer.

"MAYBE? We all nearly got shattered by her, and you put all our fate on a "maybe"?! This isn't some random cut Gem we're talking about, this is WHITE DIAMOND: the strongest, and most powerful Gem in all of history! She's not going to just stop because her little Gem's flown her Space Station, she will not rest until she's got us all! Do you understand?! WILL, NOT, STOP!"

"Are you done?" Tiger's Eye asked, covering her ears at this point. Rhodonite's panic quickly turned to annoyance with Tiger's Eye and her comment.

"Eh, now that we're caught up with that bit of crazy news, where's Garnet?" asked Peridot, looking around for her, but not seeing her anywhere.

"Beats me. Last I heard she was working shifts at the Big Donut. Don't ask, I have no idea why," Tiger's Eye stated, scratching her ear. That was a bit ... odd.

"... O ... K ... Anyway, want a ticket back yet?" Peridot asked, pulling out her Portal Key from her hair. Her expression wasn't any excitement about this, and at this point, she wasn't gonna wait.

"Oh. Uh, sure, thanks," Twilight replied. Peridot grumbled under her breath as she walked to the Temple cave wall, the key going into it and opening up the portal doorway.

"Alright, your highness, here's another portal back through, you can pay on the way out," Peridot complained. It seemed like a good thing at the time, but this was just getting degrading for her, if anything. As she was going on with her monologue though, another figure stepped out from the portal, and Peridot ended up walking right into the figure's legs. Peridot looked up, and sure enough madam Pink Diamond was right in front of her. Talk about timing.

"EEP! D-Diamond!" gasped Peridot, jumping back from her as she and Rarity came in. Rarity's Cutie Mark still was going off, even after her horn stopped, so she had no clue what was going on. It quickly got the other's seeing it too.

"Rarity? Everything okay?"

"Oh, I'm alright, but I believe there's something you all need to see."

.......

Soon, it was from the Crystal Temple Cave, and off to the Everfree Cave. This wasn't no ordinary cave either, but actually a rather nostalgic area for many of the Mane Six. In particular, this cave held the Tree of Harmony. ... Or rather, it used to. The tree of harmony itself didn't seem to be anywhere in the cave, but that didn't mean this cave was completely empty. No, there was something else that Rarity wanted to show the others, and it wasn't just some tree. There was something far more intriguing than just some crystalline tree.
Within the clearing of the cave itself, something else crystalline was presented there. It was large, shaped much like one of those infinity symbols, with a flattened surface, smooth as the floors of the Temple cave, and rooted down into the earth underneath it. As for the top surface however, it presented a hologram. A hologram of a map. And this map had both Equestria, and Earth on with it, with Equus to one side, and Earth on the other. It was like a 3D model had been imprinted on this piece, and everyone there took the time to look it all over.

"W-What is that?" Rhodonite questioned nervously.

"Is this ... Earth?" wondered Steven. He took the time to study it a bit more closely, and finding that the details of Beach City, Bayburgh, Ocean Town, and many other places from his homeworld were down in pure detail. They may not be able to see much of his friends amongst the details, but it all sure looked very good for what it was. The same thing can be said for Equestria as well: Canterlot, Appleloosa, Ponyville, The Crystal empire, the Kirin Empire, all of these places and more were mapped out in detail just as well.

"Looks like an observation screen," Peridot wondered, poking at what would be the Moon Base, which itself was floating in the hologram. However, on touching it, it didn't fizzle or glitch, but instead simply fazed through Peridot's hand, as if it was just nothing but light. Pink Diamond was a bit curious, and began poking around the numerous areas of the Equestria side of the map. One that they caught attention of though was Rarity's Cutie Mark floating over one of the areas of Neippon.

"Neippon. The Kirin Empire?" Rarity wondered. A rather interesting spot to place her Cutie Mark, though it was still a bit questionable. Her magic brought her here, and it showed this. Either it wanted to show what her Cutie Mark was doing, or perhaps something more was involved. Whatever it was, it had to be for something. As they continued to examine it, they began to notice something else too: Twilight's Cutie Mark was glowing! In a visual demonstration, a hologram of her Cutie Mark moved from her flank, and moved over to the similar spot Rarity was at. Strange, but intriguing all the same.

"Wow. This has all of Equestria AND Earth," Steven said.

"But where's Homeworld? I don't see it, do you?" Pink Diamond asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Celestia and Luna would know what this is about," Twilight suggested. It was a bit of a stretch, but they weren't sure at all what this was even about. The others continued to look over this sort of map, but before any of them could go, the map began to turn a bit more active again. It was as if the map was telling them to stay, not leave, and try to pay attention to what it was trying to say. Soon, Rarity and Twilight's Cutie Marks started to change a little bit, as if merging together. After a quick spin, the Cutie Marks turned into what appeared to be a flower. A beautiful, yet small, pink flower presented in a sapphire pot. It might be a bit disturbing for a Gem, but to a pony, it was simply divine. Rarity studied on the flower a little more closely, but she began to recognize the flower, and when she looked down a little closer, her eyes grew wide.

"Oh my Celestia. It can't be ... I-I think it is!" Rarity said in excitement, leaning over the edge of the map in anticipation.

"What's it?" asked Fluorite.

"Yes, YES I'm sure of it! Everypony, that is the very same flower that belonged to the most beautiful unicorn in all the land! Mistmane!" Rarity said, a bit of flair in her voice on the name itself. Though she did forget for a moment that most of the others weren't even aware of this Mistmane of hers, whoever that was.

"... And, this is big because ..." said Jasper.

"Oh, I forgot, not everyone's from here. Mistmane is my most favorite legend!: A pony who saw the beauty in absolutely everything," Rarity explained.

"Everything? Eh, I don't know. I mean, this cave's not really uh ..."

"Oh, no no no no. Here, I'll prove it to you," Rarity said, as she trotted over to the rock walls of the cave. She took a moment to check them before she continued explaining.

"See, these blah rocks aren't really blah. If you just look into them -" she paused to scrap some bit off with her hoof, and actually revealed some shiny pieces that glistened from the light outside. "- you'll find that there's fragments of gold in them." Rarity walked on over to the front of the cave as Rhodonite and Pink checked out the gold she found. Rarity sat down by some good light and began to work her hooves.

"And the way the light dances on the cave wall, oh so gorgeous," Rarity said, as the shadows from her hooves actually began to form a Pearl doing a beauty dance, much like their Pearl.

"... How'd she do that with no fingers?" Amethyst quietly asked. No answer was given, but Rarity's point was made clear.

"Wow. Mistmane sounds a lot like ... my mom. She saw the beauty in everything too," Steven said, as Rarity walked over to him.

"Well if the two had met, I'm sure they both would be great friends," Rarity said.

"You said she was a legend. What's her story?" Fluorite asked, a bit intrigued by this Mistmane.

"Yeah! Anyone apart of pure legend had to have done something big. You know how it went, Rarity?" asked Steven. Rarity sat down over by the map, a smile on her face.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd ask. Well, Mistmane was a promising young sorceress ..."

---(Start flashback)---

Off in the mountains of Neippon, springtime in its prime, there was a small village that lived off in Neippon. Much of the village itself was quiet, but had it's nicer details from time of dedication of its locals, and time of warmth and natural beauty to blossom. The town was bordered by a stone wall, and many of the buildings were truly that of what you'd find in the Kirin Empire today: many buildings made up of stone and wood with arches and shrines abound. Plant life flourished here: bushes, small trees, patches of flowers too, many looking like the flower that Rarity recognized. Typically the ponies in town would either be off working on the plants, or relaxing in the spring air, but today there was something special going on as all of the villagers gathered at the front gate.
One pony was the center of the attention. A beautiful Unicorn stood at the edge of the town, right by the gate, as everypony was saying their goodbyes to her. She had a thin build with lavender fur, her horn and ears ending at a point. Her mane and tail, seagreens, turquoises and blues like the mist of the mountains, flowed on behind her in a river current, just like that of Celestia and Luna. Her hooves faded from lavender to a cream white, and on her flank, a Cutie Mark of a seagreen cloud. This creature was Mistmane. And today, it had made known that this Unicorn had places to go to. Everyone amongst her village, some pony, some Kirin, all made sure they were heard at least once before Mistmane began to go. Even the finest of sorceresses had magic school to go to, and she was sent off to the finest one. Everyone waved their goodbyes, and Mistmane, all smiles, went off on her way.

For Mistmane, she was doing fairly well during her time at the Magic School. While her own magic was pretty good, much of these were less involving Unicorn magic, and more focused on the remedies of the natural world. Berries, leaves, that sort of thing. And many of the students, including her, took the time to make sure they all got it right. Mistmane was doing one of these sessions with a mixture of grapes and red leaves, grounding them up in a pot, when another pony came up to her. This pony wasn't her teacher, but more of a guard, and he had a message for her rolled up in a scroll. The message she was given brightened up her day more than anything else.

While she was gone, she was delighted to find out that her best friend, Sable Spirit, was crowned empress. She couldn't wait to return home once she finished her studies. But once she arrived, she was devastated by what she saw.

And devastated she was. Her studies had ended, and she got to the frontal archway of her old home, but when she took a good look around, the town was a mere shell of its former self. It looked completely worn out to say the least. No flowers, no bushes, no trees, nothing that signified the beauty of spring was anywhere here. Any tree that did remain had no evidence of any life: not a single leaf stayed in their skeletal branches. The support beams on some of the buildings, due to lack of any care, now stood in risk as many had cracks in them. The few ponies that she did see were no better off. They were all tired, worn out, dirty and working. Mistmane didn't know what to say, other than ...

"What happened here?"

Her answer came from one of the locals whom was raking some leaves.

"The empress happened," he answered, a hoof pointing over to the archway on the otherside of the village, going to a palace of sorts. Mistmane could see trees a plenty and they all looked fine compared to the town. "She makes us work day and night on her palace. We don't have to take care of anything else."

"B-But that can't be, I know her! She would never do this ..."

But there was no denying what was in front of her.

Nearby, Mistmane and the pony then saw a very young Kirin start to gallop towards the front gate, his magic holding what appeared to be a young, healthy flower. compared to the town it was a beauty to behold. She looked very nervous as her magic held the flower in a warm yellow hue, the Kirin hoping in vain that nopony would take it away. However, the flower turned its aura from yellow to red, and in a small gasp the Kirin found her flower taken. Nearby, a carriage with the same guard ponies pulling stood side, the flower disappearing behind the curtains before they too began to go off, this time towards the palace. The Kirin galloped after them, but she knew she couldn't do much against the empress, and sadly walked away. Mistmane simply stood there in shock and dismay at what was being seen here. Sable Spirit was doing this? She had to see for herself.

In little time, she went out of the village, and towards the palace to see what the problem was. In comparison to the worn off village just outside, the palace was indeed the most beautiful display many a pony would ever see. By the throne itself was everything one would see as beautiful: sakura trees in bloom, finely crafted pots with all sorts of flowers and plants, artifacts everywhere. The throne itself was decorated with a set of peacock feathers, several bouquets of blue flowers, a green chandelier hanged above it, and many other objects that signified beauty. Two of those same guards stood at attention right by the empress, who had her face covered by a black flair. she wore a dress of black with red rimming, along with a crown of similar colors. It was painfully clear where all that beauty had gone to, and at first Mistmane couldn't believe it.

"Sable? Is that you?"

"It is. Don't tell me you don't recognize your old friend, Mistmane," Sable said. Mistmane though had her doubts on the situation altogether.

"I don't. My old friend would never work our friends and family to the bone for something as silly as a palace."

"Silly?" Sable questioned. "My palace is a beacon of beauty! Any creature that passes will be in awe of its majesty!"

"What's the point of beauty when it just hides the misery of it's villagers?" Mistmane asked. Sable moved her hoof gently by the same flower she took from the filly, admiring the flower's colors.

"Beauty is everything. ... You taught me that!"

"What?!" Mistmane gasped. Sable went off her throne and walked over towards her friend. Mistmane wasn't sure, but could start to make out something different in the way her old friend moved. As if she was being weighed down by something.

"You were always the pretty one, more beautiful than even those Kirins. You got to go to the best magic school. Everypony missed you. Everypony loved you! I admit I was jealous," Sable explained, as she started to circle her friend. "So I tried to perform a spell that would make me beautiful ... You can see how well that went!"
And then she pulled away the blind over her face, and Mistmane was shocked at her friend's state. Her memory remembered her as a pony, and one of a nice beauty, but now she saw someone not even close. Her face was very old and aged, and this spell apparently had a Kirin involvement into it because she now had scales on her face, and even then the scales looked old and shedding slightly under her eyes. Not only did she try to make herself beautiful, she tried to become a creature naturally more beautiful than her, and both backfired hard.

"I vowed that if I can't have beauty, I would take it. I wasn't chosen to be express you know. I took it! ... Just like how I'll take everything else," Sable said, proud in her accomplishment. The guards were unfazed by this news, as if they already knew about it, which made Mistmane even more troubled.

"I can't let you do that," Mistmane said, ready to fully confront her. Sable though didn't really feel too threatened.

"Let me?"

So it began: Sable laughed and made the first move onto Mistmane. Her magic casted a spiked vine right at Mistmane's hooves, which quickly grew into a cocoon around her. The thorns stung Mistmane, but this mare had been in practice, and with a flash, she was out of her prison. Sable Spirit wasn't gonna give up without a fight, and through her horn stem a magical line, sprouting upward into a magic dragon. The beast roared down at Mistmane, who in turn did the same thing and summoned a blue dragon to fight.
With magic in focus, both mares went at eachother, focus and strain as both dragons clashed. Sable Spirit was struggling to keep up this fight, but Mistmane stayed calm and collected. The red dragon didn't stand a chance, and like a coiling snake, the blue dragon wrapped around its foe, and the red dragon disappeared. Then it made a B-line towards Sable, who managed to dodge it as it struck a nearby pot. Sable moved in on Mistmane, but the same plants she had used now worked against her, and next thing she knew, Sable found herself concealed within the same plant cocoon. Mistmane paused, and she even heard the guards cheer her praises ... but, seeing her old friend now in the same prison Sable tried putting her into, it didn't feel right at all. Thinking back at what she said. In a way, this was her fault. Her influence anyway. Mistmane looked over to the throne and saw the flower again.

With some gentle lift of her magic, Mistmane went on outside of the palace. With some gentle digging with her hoof, she planted the flower right in the center of the village. It may be a nice spot, but Mistmane felt in her heart and soul, that there was more she could do. It was something she felt needed doing, something she wanted to do. Mistmane looked down to the plant, and her horn began to glow. The aura from her horn landed down onto the flower, helping it grow big and strong. Some smaller flowers bloomed around it, and with a flash of energy, the entire village was given anew. Springtime had returned to the village once again. Skeletal trees turned to blossoming beacons of life, and every bush bloomed the most beautiful flora one could ever see.
And as for Sable, the flash reopened her cocoon, and like a caterpillar to a butterfly, Sable was returned to her young, youthful, pony self. Sable was stunned by this transformation, but even more so was the pony who did this for her. After the spell, Mistmane returned to the palace to see her friend, only now she no longer had the physical beauty she once had. Almost like time caught up to the now elder-looking mare. Mistmane didn't feel bad for what happened to her though, and simply gave Sable a smile.

"Y-You did this for me? Even after I was so ... cruel?" Sable asked. Mistmane's answer came in a warm hug. It was all the answer that the empress needed to hear, and she went into tears of joy.

Sable Spirit was so touched, she vowed to be more like her friend in the ways that mattered. From then on, she ruled with kindness and compassion. Even though she gave away her physical beauty, she dedicated her life to spreading beauty all over Equestria. Any time you go out of your way to brighten somepony's day by doing something like giving them flowers, you're following in the hoofsteps of Mistmane.

---(End flashback)---

"I predict this story will have a happy ending," Padparadscha said.

"That does sound like one person we know of, doesn't it?" Amethyst said, fluffing Steven's hair. Rarity looked back to the flower.

"She was amazing, wasn't she? But now this map's showing us that spot. You think the flower's still there?!" Rarity wondered excitedly.

"I highly doubt it. The life expectancy for a average Earth flower is approximately from three to four days to about several weeks. ... But then again, we're technically not on Earth, so ..." Peridot pondered a little bit more, but then the map began to flash a little bit more. Twilight worked her mind together, and she did find one particular conclusion. It was a long shot, but it could explain this.

"I ... I think it wants us to go there," Twilight concluded.

"Can we?!" asked Steven.

"Well this cave was where the Tree of Harmony was. And this does look like it's connected to it in some way. I don't see why we shouldn't follow it," Twilight concluded. Pink Diamond all the while was simply staring at the flower in awe. A pure pink flower on display for Pink Diamond.

"It's settled then. We're going."

"Wait, we are?" Rhodonite questioned.

~~~~~~

"We are," sighed Rhodonite.

Well arriving there wasn't too much hassle for the group to get from the cave to the village in question. It wasn't exactly everyone. The group that went included: Rarity, Twilight, Steven, Pink Diamond, And the Off-colors respectively. Peridot went on with them as well, mainly as their quick line off back home whenever they would need it ... again. The path leading up to said village was a bit of a long one, but no big hills to climb as it was mainly a straight path after a while.

"Hey, Raroty, how'd you learn about Mistmane? Legends sounded more like Twilight's forte," Tiger's Eye asked.

"Well, we visited the old library once before, at the Castle of the Two sisters. They did mention a bit about Mistmane while we were looking, remember Twilight?" Rarity explained.

"Oh yeah, just before we left to see Starlight Glimmer. Didn't realize she was amongst those books," Twilight said, Rarity trotting ahead. Good time too, as the group all began to see sight of a village front gate not too far ahead. It did look a little old and rusty, but that's the price to pay for the test of time. Rarity was surely excited, giddy as a filly, as she went right to the front gate.

"This is it! Everyone, you're about to see the very same home where Mistmane grew up. Oh, this is so exciting," Rarity said, doing the honors of opening the front gate.

What they saw next though turned Rarity's excitement into shock, her smile gone in an instant. This was indeed Mistmane's old home, but the place was a mess! While Mistmane's village on her return had little to show, the village now looked overrun. Leaves, bushes, vines, weeds, all sorts of plants either looked unkept, overgrown, or spread all over the place. Even the Gems found it difficult to see passed some of these plants. All of it simply looked awful!

"Is this some joke? You said it was beautiful," Pink Diamond said, not believing it herself. Not the nicest way to say it, but it was as bad as it looked, maybe more so.

"... You sure we're in the right place? This surely doesn't look like somewhere Mistmane would live," Rhodonite questioned, trying to move passed the plants without any of them hitting her.

"W-Well, I'm sure of it, this was where the map said ... right?" Rarity said, though seeing all of this she really wasn't sure of it either. They kept going on through passed the bushes and shrubs growing around them, trying not to trip over stray vines and roots along the way. Eventually, Steven then saw something. Walking passed a bush, he looked on and saw a lone flower sitting in a pot on a small rock, on display. Unlike so many of the other plants, this small pink flower didn't look too bad at all. In fact, it looked very pretty, like a gem in a pile of rocks. Steven could recall the flower from the one shown on the map, so this had to be right.

"I think we're in the right place. Look!" Steven called, the others soon seeing the flower. Rarity gasped.

"Is that the ..."

"The very same flower Mistmane had. It looks in perfect health too," Twilight realized. Pink Diamond moved passed the others to see the flower a bit closer, impressed by the small beauty. It may not be very big, but it still beckoned her in some way, her finger reaching out and gently touching its petals -

*SLAP!*

"Ow!" Pink yelped, quickly moving her hand back.

"Keep your digits to yourself, dearie!" snapped a voice. The whole group looked over to one of the homes, and they saw that this town was not abandoned as it seemed to be. The old mare didn't look too pleased with them trying at the flower. She had a grey coat, pink mane and tail tied in a bun, and her cutie mark looking like a similar sort of pink flower. And this unicorn was not having it.

"This place has been in my family for generations, and I'm not about to let some whippersnapper take the last good piece of it!" she stated firmly, walking down to them while pointing her small garden spade at them.

"Whippersnapper?" Rhodonite asked.

"Time was, ponies came from far and wide to see these gardens. But that flower's the only worthwhile thing left!" The gardener snapped, her spade digging into the platform. She didn't really care much what the visitors were, she wasn't having anything take it away.

"Whoa, whoa, sorry, we're not here to take anything," Steven said, hands raised and backing up.

"Good!" the gardener made clear. she did calm down though, and sigh. "That flower is the very same one Mistmane herself used to purify this place. I don't think she would ever want it to just be taken away."

"So that IS the same flower!" gasped Rarity.

"That's right: the spell she left on that flower kept its beauty for years, even after she disappeared. Without that flower, nopony would even - ... HEY!" the gardener paused when Pink Diamond actually picked up the flower in the pot. The gardener pulled out her spade and whacked Pink Diamond in the head. Pink Diamond dropped the pot, but luckily Steven caught it just before it could hit the ground, saving both flower and pot.

"I was just holding it!" Pink diamond quickly insisted, acting like she wasn't going to go off with it. Steven gently placed the flower back on the platform.

"You were saying?" Twilight asked.

"I said, nopony would even bother to come by. And they surely ain't gonna come by if you take that away from here!" The gardener made clear.

"Lady, it's just a flower! A pink ... pretty, flower."

*smack!*

"Hooves off!" the gardener stated again. This clearly wasn't going anywhere, and Pink diamond was pulled away by Twilight.

"W-We're sorry, we'll be going. Right?" Rhodonite asked.

"We just got here. Look, are we allowed to hang around here if we don't take the flower?" Steven asked. The gardener took a look at everyone else.

"Just keep your digits to yourself, and you can stay long as you like," the gardener said. Though personally she didn't know why they would stay around if the flower truly was the only worthwhile thing left. The gardener went off to her own duties, as the others took their own time to check out the gardens. Though admittedly, that flower was probably the best thing there was to say the least.

"So, what exactly are we here for again? We found your uh ... flower, let's go," Rhodonite suggested. She was in no mood to get hit if the gardener got ticked off at her.

"Well, yeah we did, but I don't know ... I feel like there's something we're not getting. I mean, the map called us here for something."

"Yeah, it called us to see that flower," Peridot said.

"Really, that can't be the only thing. Why would a crystalline map that possibly belonged to the Tree of Harmony want us to come here just to see -"

"MY FLOWER!"

Well that was quick. The whole group stopped and turned back on the sudden noise. The same gardener was back at the pedestal, but now the old Unicorn was looking rattled, frantic as she looked around where the flower stood ... or rather, where it did stood. The flower itself was now gone! No pot, no petal, nothing left. The unicorn looked freaked out, but when she saw the group again, she looked furious with one in particular.

*smack**bam**whack*

"Knock it off!" Pink Diamond demanded, whacking the spade away.

"Give me back my flower, you thieving hooligan!" the gardener demanded. Considering she was just admiring and holding the plant, suspicions were kinda high. But Pink Diamond didn't have any flower in her hands, so what was she supposed to do? The spade whacked her in the head again, this time Pink Diamond grabbing the spade and throwing it out of the village.

"I'm a Diamond, stop it!" Pink Diamond demanded.

"I don't care who you are, give me back my family's prized treasure! NOW!" the gardener yelled. Pink Diamond was furious, but Steven jumped in the way.

"WAIT, stop! Let's not fight, please! Why don't we just get along and try to find the flower?" Steven suggested.

"NO!" both gardener and diamond yelled. This wasn't getting anywhere with them, and that response made Steven shiver.

"I predict that a strange creature would take the flower away, and race off outside of the village before we could stop it," Padparadscha stated. ... Well, late as usual.

"You wait until after it's gone to tell us that?" Pink said sourly, hand to forehead. Well on the bright side, it wasn't any of them. but the bad news was that the flower was taken by this "strange creature" or whatever. They took the time to try and find some sort of clue, but there was nothing there to say where it had gone to, or what could've taken it. No footprints, no plants disturbed, and no sound either. Someone would've heard something come by if they were on the ground somewhere, but no clue whatsoever.

"Padparadscha, can you tell us what this "strange creature" is?" Twilight asked. Padparadscha thought it over a little bit.

"....... it looked like a pony. But with two legs. And a big tail. ... And it made footprints like that over by the gate."

Padparadscha pointed off towards the front of the gate, and while no footprints were left off right by the entrance. They saw their own footprints and hoofprints, but a single set was seen going off the trail and into the forest. The older mare looked to the hoofprints, and while they were indeed that of some horse of some kind, cloven hooved, they weren't made by a four-legged animal, but more rather a two-legged one. The mare stepped forward, and her hoof felt the ground, feeling how it turned to mud.

"DANG IT! That Punga had to come in when my flank's turned!"

"Who?" Steven asked. The mare suddenly looked a bit spookier with dramatic lighting, as if ready to tell a scary story.

"Long ago, the empress tried practicing her magic to make herself beautiful. And in her endeavor, she tried it on a lonesome creature, turning it into ... The Punga!" she said the last part in a sort of ghostly tone before continuing "A disgusting, and foul beast that roams the forests. She left it alone, and ever since then, it has been pillaging those who pass through, stealing anything and everything that was beautiful to them, and then attacking them. Everypony had escaped from it so far, yet ... And now it has my only worthwhile thing left!" The old mare looked miserable by the end, and whatever this Punga was seemed to be the blame of it. But there was one bright side to this little incident.

"Looks like we found our problem," Twilight concluded.

~~~~~~

"All this fuss over a flower," Pink Diamond groaned. She wasn't enjoying this at all. Going off the path and following the hoofprints into the forest of Neippon. Much like the gardens back in Mistmane's town, the forests off nearby looked pretty bad as they continued through, even in autumn. They kept an eye on where they were stepping as they continued on, any paths no longer appearing as accessible or as easy to travel through.

"Can't we just leave the flower? I mean, we're doing so much already, and we're not even close," Rhodonite asked, pushing away a branch from her head.

"Ok, maybe this wasn't the ... first idea, but perhaps this was why the map called us here," Twilight said.

"Well that map sucks! This is disgusting! I'm a diamond, I don't travel through all this organic goop," Pink Diamond complained, lifting her foot to show the mud on her shoes.

"Will you two get a grip already? Come on, you're both acting like a bunch of children," Tiger's Eye stated.

"SHUT UP!" they both snapped.

"... AND I'm gonna move on ahead before I say something I'll regret." Tiger's Eye paused a minute to adjust her hair before moving on ahead. Her two-legged walk turned into a four-legged trot as they continued following the tracks. However, Tiger's Eye didn't get too far before she suddenly fell into a mud pool! Of a pony would've fell in there, they would be over their heads in mud, and Tiger's Eye could just keep her head above the mud. She pulled herself out and she was completely covered, head to toe in mud. Not really the best sight ever for anyone to see.

"Nope! no way, I'm not going any further," Pink Diamond stated firmly, finding the cleanest rock to sit on, and crossing her arms, keeping her gaze away. She will NOT go any further with stuff like that abound.

"Pink Diamond, it'll be fine if we just -"

"NO, I made up my mind! This whole place is disgusting, and I'm not going anywhere! You can't make me," Pink snapped, pouting in a huff as she refused to move off of her rock. She even made sure her feet were off the ground as well so they wouldn't get even dirtier.

"Well, is one of you going to clean these shoes or what?"

"It's. Just. Mud," Tiger's Eye groaned.

"Don't talk down to me, I'm a Diamond I'm above you! now one of you clean this up, and let's get out of here before - ... I ..." Pink paused when she realized that she was moving. She checked her feet, but they weren't moving her, nor was any Unicorn lifting her off the ground. Instead, the rock she was on turned out to be apart of a creature. And the creature simply flicked her off of it, making her fly into that same mud pool. Funny, sure, but they were a bit more focused on the animal in question.
The creature pulled itself out of the mud, its entire body completely covered in the stuff. It appeared like some large snake at first, but as some of the mud got off, they could make out a fin in the tail, a set of horse legs, and an elongated snout resembling that of a seahorse. It shook off some mud off its head, showing that it actually had a lazy eye, staring off like those of a doll. It had a good eye, but on the otherside of the head. As the gardener said, this creature sure didn't look very pleasing to see. Seeing the creature made Rarity and Twilight scream, and the Off-Colors back up a little bit.

"Punga?" Fluorite wondered. The animal itself was fairly large, about the size of Fluorite when fully extended, though it was hard to tell in the mud all over it. When it turned to fully look at them with both eyes, they all them saw the same flower in the same pot inside its mouth, somehow not wrecked by the mud around it nor the teeth.

"The flower!" gasped Steven. The creature groaned, placed the flower down and, as if swimming through water, it quickly began to move at them. It moved very fast, and quickly got its frontal hooves on Rarity! Rarity screamed, but then it ... kissed ... her? ...

"THAT WAS WET!" she shouted, and only then did the beast release her. It waited a minute before it turned to Pink Diamond not too far away, and rushed at her next. Pink Diamond was just getting up from the mud itself, feeling disgusted with herself before she found her lips meeting up with horse lips. She was surprised of course, but with the taste of horse breath and mud in her mouth, she looked almost sick.

"How dare you! Insult a diamond will ya!" Pink Diamond pulled herself out of the mud bowl, shook off the mud, and raced off at the beast. It was gonna try the others, but with Pink Diamond after it now, it couldn't stay around to get any of them even if it wanted to. Punga was grabbed by the tail, and with her strength, Pink Diamond swung it around about three to five times before she launched it clear out of the park! No one kisses a diamond like that and gets away with it.

"There. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to return that flower," Pink Diamond made clear, picking up the flower in the pot left behind. They did get their reward sure, but that was a bit excessive. That, and Punga surely didn't look like he wanted to attack any of them (not to give pain anyway). And only one of them really noticed this ...

"Well, we better get this back before it wilts," Twilight said.

"So that was the Punga? What kind of creatures do you have in this world?" Rhodonite asked.

"Compared to what it could be, that wasn't too bad. We got what we needed," Twilight concluded, her magic levitating the still pretty flower.

"Finally!" Pink Diamond said, still trying to get the mud off of her. The whole group was about ready to head off, but there was something that made them stop briefly. A question came up as they were counting eachother out.

"... Padparadscha?"

~~~~~~

"I hope he's okay."

Little Padparadscha had gone off alone. After seeing Punga fly off like that, she just had to go off to see if he was alright. The forest itself grew dense as she went along, going down through the path as if it was apart of the trail still, not very fazed by the mud, plants, or whatever else could be lurking around her. He little stroll continued on a bit more, as she walked out into a clearing. She didn't stop moving until she felt water brush up against her feet, turning out to be the banks of a pond. Despite the murky area, the pond was crystal clear, like that of a mirror. Padparadscha paused and after a bit looked around until she began to see something off along the river.

"....... *GASP*"

Punga. He looked alright despite the throw, but he didn't seem to notice Padparadscha there just yet. He appeared too distracted in the pond's reflective surface to really worry about that, and unlike before, he seemingly had on some flowers he plucked from the forest nearby, and was adjusting them on his head. Padparadscha moved in a bit closer and could see that Punga was simply trying to make it look good. As he stared into his reflection, the flowers fell off of his head and into the pool in front of him. He saw some birds nearby, getting the flowers back onto his head to see how they'll react. All they did was squawk in fear and flew away much to his dismay. For a monster, he sure looked miserable. A tear escaped his good eye, as she sat there by the side of the pond, the rest of the flowers shaken off his head. Guess those flowers weren't going to work. Punga simply laid back down on the bank, Padparadscha moving up right next to him. Punga didn't even notice her until his tail brushed against her.

"....... Hello. I'm Padparadscha," she introduced. Punga didn't answer at first, recognizing her from the group he encountered earlier. Punga looked her over, starting to move in closer Padparadscha didn't move right away, though probably it was for her delayed reaction time, giving Punga a chance to give Padparadscha a kiss right on the lips. The kiss lasted three seconds full, and the little Gem grew flustered sometime afterwards. But Punga didn't look too happy with the end results after checking himself. Punga felt miserable, a tear falling from his good eye as he looked back to the pond. Padparadscha began to wonder a little bit about what this creature wanted, before they started hearing some rustling.

"Padparadscha! There you are! Where have you - AAHH!"

Rarity. She was joined by Steven and Twilight, and the unicorn was quick to react on seeing Punga there. Quickly, Rarity grabbed Padparadscha and took off back to the others at a safer distance. Punga meanwhile felt even more miserable on that reaction. He didn't bother going after them though, his head lowered, and a few whimpers escaping his muzzle.

*aroooo* *arooo*

Before any of them could go, Punga began to howl a little bit, but these howls weren't anything threatening or scary. In fact, they almost sounded ... sad. Almost like mourning howls, or even crying.

"N-Nopony loves me," he said in between howls.

"....... He's not really a bad creature," Padparadscha finally said, which summed up what the others were beginning to feel about him. After all, Punga didn't really try to hurt any of them. It took some effort, and some bravery, but eventually they began to move in closer to him.

"Oh ... It's you ... from earlier, right?" Punga said. His voice didn't sound too threatening either.

"Yeah. You're Punga?" Twilight asked. Punga just nodded, and kept his gaze to the pond. Punga looked around for some more flowers, and got them in his mane again after adjusting what mane he had on his head. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but with an audience maybe it can work for him. After getting a small flower crown going, he fully turned to the others.

"How do I look?" he asked. With the lazy eye, and mud, it admittedly was a bit hard to keep honest with him.

"Um ... you look ... dazzling?" Rarity said, trying to give a fake smile. Punga though was a bit smarter than that, and just sighed.

"Dazzlings. ... It's no use. No amount of flowers is ever gonna make me pretty," Punga sighed, shaking off the flowers from his head. He slithered off back to the pond, and laid down by the bank.

"Is that why you took Mistmane's flower? To help you look pretty?" Twilight asked. Punga looked back in surprise.

"T-That was Mistmane's flower? Oh my Celestia, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't know! Where is it, where is it?" Punga frantically looked around for the flower, but he couldn't find it anywhere. Bad enough he wasn't looking any good, he didn't want to end up as a thief of something so valuable!

"Don't worry, our friends are returning it right now," Steven reassured him. Punga gave a sigh of relief, but still felt guilty.

"It's bad enough that I'm no prettier than a weed. But now I'm a thief too. ... Nopony would ever love me now," Punga stated. It didn't need much to figure out what problem was going on here.

"No, no, Punga you don't look that bad. Whatever curse the empress put you under, we wanna help," Steven reassured. Punga looked to Steven with an expression to match a sad puppy. Next thing Steven knew, Punga was suddenly on him, holding him in a hug with his front hooves.

"Thank you. You're very kind to bother yourself with a ugly creature like me," Punga said, tears of joy streaming down his face. Steven tried to stay cheerful, but it was a bit hard with the mud and now tears on him. Steven gave a big breath once he got enough room to do so.

"A-Any time," Steven managed to say. Punga released him, but now Steven was covered in mud. Well, if they were going to make him pretty, then they got a lot to do.

"Come now darling, you're not ugly. I mean yes, you are a bit uh ... less-kept," Rarity insisted, as she got some mud off of Punga's scales. "But we'll help you look charming in no time at all."

"You really think so?" Punga asked, looking down to the unicorn.

"I know so! ... Now, the first thing you need is a bath."

.......

"I predict that we'll be helping Punga become beautiful," Padparadscha said.

This statement was said not long after it got started. Punga stayed still as they all got to work on him, starting off with getting rid of all the mud on him. Being in such a wet place didn't make that very easy, but removing more of the mud revealed his scales as a dullish grey, much like that of a fish. It wasn't disgusting, but it was dull. Rarity and Padparadscha were in charge of the details (accessories mainly), as Twilight and Steven got the cleaning job done. With Rarity on making him pretty, they were in pretty great hooves, and as time went by Punga wondered if this was going to actually work. After all, in his memory, anyone who did see him would either beat him down or run for the hills. Punga didn't fight them at all, as he was the canvas for whatever painting they were working with on him. If it could make him feel better about everything, then why should he complain?

"And THERE!" Steven said. He used his shield as a mirror for Punga to look into. He looked plenty good, better than before with a clean mane, now smoothed out and similar to Twilight's hair. Punga looked himself over in the mirror shield, amazed by what he was seeing.

"I ... oh my, I look ... good?" Punga gasped, his hooves on his cheeks and eyes wide. It was as if he never seen himself like this before.

"You look lovely, Punga. See? With some work you can find beauty in everything," Rarity said with a smile. Punga smiled back, and moved over to the river for a full look on himself. He wanted to go off and show everyone, but he only needed to see some of the animals nearby his pond to see what true results this was. Punga saw some frogs and a few birds about, and Punga moved closer, wondering if they would be scared of him now. Padparadscha actually had her fingers crossed. ...

And all the birds flew out of sight, squawking in a panic. The frogs saw him and leaped into the pond, their only source of sanctuary. Punga lowered his head.

"Eh, n-now Punga, they're just birds, they would naturally get scared of -"

"Oh, what's the point? Nopony's ever going to love me. No Dazzling, no Unicorn, no one could get this curse off of me. Well ... thanks for trying to make me beautiful anyway," Punga sighed, before moving on down the river bank. It seemed he would never be loved by anyone, or anything for that matter. While that was a bit of a miserable, his statement did begin to make them all think a little bit. Yes, a curse was placed on him by the empress according to the gardener. ...

You were always the pretty one, more beautiful than even those Kirins. You got to go to the best magic school. Everypony missed you. Everypony loved you!

it has been pillaging those who pass through, stealing anything and everything that was beautiful to them, and then attacking them. Everypony had escaped from it so far

That, accompanied by the so-called attacks, and it all clicked.

"Punga!" called Rarity. Punga sniffed and turned around.

And Rarity gave him a kiss ...

*FLASH*

~~~~~~

It sure took a lot of effort for them to get themselves all done, but eventually they got him just enough to make him more presentable. He kept himself off out of sight as the others went towards town, the rest of the group waiting for them. Rhodonite of course looked very panicked (as usual), until she did see Padparadscha came up with them.

"Oh, thank the stars! What have I told you about wandering off?" Rhodonite asked.

"....... That I shouldn't do that?"

"Well, YEAH! Twilight, what happened?"

"Everything's fine. In fact, we got someone we'd like you all to meet," Twilight said.

"Someone friendly I hope," Pink Diamond commented. Twilight, Rarity, and Steven nodded to eachother, and Steven gave a whistle for Punga to come out.

"Introducing the brand new, and improved: Punga!" Steven introduced. Punga took a bit of courage to bring himself out to show everyone, but what they all saw next took them by surprise.
To say Punga now looked different was an understatement. Like a caterpillar to a butterfly. That morning, Punga was a grey-scaled half-pony half-fish, and all sad and miserable. But now all that had shed away into what almost looked like a draconic horse! His messy mane now flowed behind him like Mistmane, a coloration of lime green to seagreen flowed behind him. His back, which was bare, now held a magnificent, shining fish sail resembling that of a swordfish. Extra fins could be seen on his cheeks and his hooves, and his tail grew thinner with the fin extending into a stripe display of green and white. He no longer had the lazy eye on him, and both eyes glistened in emerald colors.
They all stayed quiet for a minute, even the gardener stared with mouth agape, her watering can overflowing the flowers she was trying to attend to. Was this the same Punga she knew about?

"... Didn't you say he was cursed to look horrid or something? Look at him, he's hot amongst ponies!" Tiger's Eye pointed out to the gardener. Punga blushed on the "compliment". Being called hot surely meant that he looked much better.

"Wait, hold on hold on," Pink Diamond said, trying to process things. The Punga, the same thing that assaulted her lips now looked like a dragon in prime, the exact opposite of what he was before. "... PUNGA? Wait, what?"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry for earlier, I kind of ... jumped ahead of myself there. I didn't want to hurt anypony," Punga said.

"... You're Punga."

"Uh ... yeah," Punga replied. Pink Diamond thought back to the animal that knocked her in the mud, and what kissed her, and tried to connected it to this beast in front of her, but she couldn't compute with it. It was probably for the best though, and Punga moved off towards the other Off-Colors and gardener pony.

"I'm very sorry about stealing the flower, mam. I was just trying to find a way to make me feel beautiful. I didn't know it belonged to Mistmane," Punga said. The gardener glanced to the flower in its pot.

"Well, you didn't hurt anypony so I can't blame ya too much. I'm just glad to have my flower back. It's all this place has left nowadays," the gardener told him, her hoof gently rubbing the rosebud. Rarity, and Steven both began to look around the garden. ...

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Rarity?"

"I believe I do," Rarity answered, as her own magic levitated a nearby garden spade and watering can. Steven tapped Punga, and whispered his idea to the animal, and Punga smiled and nodded before he too began to follow through.

Soon, Steven, Rarity, and Punga all began to get to work on the gardens. With Punga's appearance transformation, he actually began to fly around as if the air was water, which helped him out in sprucing up the place. Any weeds, vines, and thorns were plucked, trimmed, and moved away from any and all plants within the gardens. Their involvement really made the difference, and it really only took half an hour to complete. And the end result? ...

Beauty. All the bushes, trees, leaves and shrubs looked in their pure prime, green as the spring sun. Rose trees, violet bushes, buttercups, daisies, and many more blossomed in blood as beautiful as the flower that started it all. A few shrubs were styled in pony respect, and one even looked like a bunny, and another like an elephant. The removal of all the vines showed a clean, and pretty fountain with lilies. Vines were still evident, but they added to the beauty instead of taking it, like a fairy tale decoration. The gardener couldn't believe her eyes, and while Steven and Rarity were a little dirty themselves from the work, they and Punga could agree it was worth it.

"Perhaps it just seemed like your gardens were worthless. But a little pruning can work wonders. Of course you will have to look after more than just one flower now," Rarity replied, gently placing the gardening tools down as she trimmed one more branch on one more bush. Mistmane and Rose would be proud of them. Punga then began to see the Gardener shed a few tears of her own with a smile on her face. They were about ready to go, but the gardener actually levitated something over to them.

"Mistmane's flower? Oh, but I couldn't," Rarity insisted. But the gardener gave a soft smile.

"You and your friends had given me back my family's legacy. The flower you wanted seems like a fair trade for that," the gardener said. Rarity smiled back and her own magic happily took the flower. But as she did, something else happened to her and Twilight: their Cutie Marks began to flash again.

"Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?" Rhodonite asked. Twilight looked around and smiled.

"I have a feeling it means our work here is done."

Give Two Birds for One Stone

View Online

"Apples forever~ Apples together~ We're family but so much more~"

With a trot in her step, Applejack went on through the farm fields a plenty, maintaining the farmlands of its crops like any good farmer. Typically she would be checking her own sort crops of apples, but this farm wasn't her own. She was actually at the barn house, and they actually got to mending the fields. A fun pastime as it turned out for the Gems to do since they got enough time on their hands. Sure, it may be the Off-Colors barn, but it was Lapis Lazuli and Peridot who really took a liking to this fun little game of harvesting (and it wasn't the Gem kind either). Lapis Lazuli was finding it more relaxing than she thought: two barrels of water and some well-placed garden hoses and she got herself a easy-access watering system. All she had to worry about was where the great avenger was gonna find his sword within the chapters of her book. Peridot's Portal key was kept by her for safekeeping.

"You know, Lazuli, it's more fun to get more physical with farmin," Applejack said as she walked over to her with some corn.

"I'm good. You're right AJ, this is a good way to pass the time," Lapis said, not even looking up from her book. Applejack looked to the hoses, and saw half of the corn field already watered with her "work". Lapis herself didn't have to worry too much about the plants, considering she didn't need to eat at all, so it didn't bother her too much.

"Just don't go on putting all them crops in a lake, K?" Applejack joked. Lapis chuckled.

"Sure thing." Applejack nodded and trotted off on her way. Lapis Lazuli began to feel a little playful, and with a flick of her finger, the water in one of the hoses shot through one of its punctured holes, AJ suddenly getting a soaked flank. AJ spun around, just finding Lapis Lazuli looking at her book with innocence. AJ knew when Lapis was in one of her playful moods, and Applejack decided to play one of her own, and stepped on one of the hoses.

"EEK!" one wet Lapis Lazuli, ala spraying hose. Lapis shook off some water, and got the water off her book before any of the words could seep out. All she saw was AJ's smug grin, and both shared a laugh. They had more times to just be themselves since their Jungle Moon trip, so times like this were given more chance.

"Hey AJ!"

Further away, Peridot was doing her own little bit of fun on the farm. In this case, she had -

"I'm on a tractor!"

Yeah, that. A fully operational tractor, and moving pretty fast as well. Nothing really familiar to the Earth Pony, but heck, human tech was human tech. Peridot had no exact direction, she was just thrilled to have a tractor at all, zooming about on it like a automatic racecar. AJ jumped aside as Peridot zoomed by her, laughing all the while.

"Make way for the great and lovable Peridot!" Peridot announced, feeling full power as she rode off in her tractor. … and then it ran out of gas on her.

"HEY!"

"Still learning about how machines work," sighed Lapis, as she reclined and went back to her book. You'd think she would've gotten the concept of fuel down pact by now. She tried to get the machine to start up again, but it just wouldn't go on for her. Her brief enjoyment of going full throttle was dashed in no time at all. Applejack began to walk over to her, the machine now silent as a sleeping lamb. Peridot's growls and kicks didn't get it restarted.

"Y'all should try to use your own devices instead of this one," Applejack suggested.

"This is my device, Applejack! Come on, work you stupid -" Peridot was cut off when the Tractor did suddenly spring to life. And as it was aiming right at them, well …

"RUNAWAY TRACTOR!" Peridot yelled, screaming as she was running away from her own creation. Lapis glanced up at the situation, AJ and Peri running helter skelter away from one angry T. Lapis Lazuli focused some water, and got it right on the Tractor, the sudden downpour of water making the tractor screech to a halt, the fire no longer burning well enough for it to keep going. AJ and Peridot stopped after a bit, grateful that was over.

"Maybe I should've looked it up beyond from the paper projection screens," Peridot suggested. AJ didn't even respond to that, catching her breath. She took her hat off and fanned herself with it, but as she was, she didn't realize what was going on with her just yet. …

As with Rarity and Twilight before, her Cutie Mark actually started to flash up! AJ began to take notice after a short bit.

"What the? What in tarnation?" AJ wondered. Peridot saw this before with the Unicorn and Alicorn. Was the Cutie Map calling her again?

"Rarity and Twilight had gone through this. I think you're being called somewhere," Peridot concluded. AJ looked to Peridot, but as Peridot didn't realize it, her own Cutie Mark was also starting to flash to get their attention!

"Think we both need to head off somewhere," AJ concluded. Peridot glanced to her Cutie Mark and saw the same thing, freaking out. Where could they both be called to?

Lapis was ready to continue her own brand of adventure, but just before she could even begin, she began to hear a sort of tapping off next to her. Turning her gaze to one of the water barrels, it turned out to be Peridot's key, tapping against the barrel all on its own. Once upon a time that would be a bit freaky to see happen, but not only did they go through WAY more freaky events since getting those keys, but ever since getting back, this was kinda the key's forte to say it was time to go to Equestria. Sorta like someone calling them on a cellphone.

"Peridot, your key's ringing!" Lapis called.

"Again?" groaned Peridot. Well, she'll have to get Applejack later. If she didn't answer it, she would probably get tapped on to no end, so the green dorito Gem walked right over to her bouncing key. This had happened several times already, but today the key seemed a little bit more frantic than normal. It hopped in place like a bouncy ball, getting their attention strong and proud.

"Alright, alright! Let's get this over with," Peridot groaned, grabbing the key midair. However, the key didn't really had anywhere to actually aim at this time, no wall to hit or anything like that. Not saying it wouldn't work on the ground itself, but that wasn't recommended. Peridot tossed the key ahead, and it got into the ground, opening up the portal door like it would normally do. Once it did open up though, the key bounced out of the key hole, and right to the others, bouncing and hitting itself at Applejack, as if to get her moving.

"Alright, don't get your uh … key in a knot. I'm going," Applejack said. The key's response was Peridot's cheery laughing. Lapis glanced on back to the others as they were heading to the door in question. Her eyes then looked over to the garden that, at this point had more than enough water. Whelp, her job was done.

"Heck with it, I'll go along. Could be fun," Lapis figured, closing her book and beginning to follow them along. Applejack and Peridot looked to Lapis, but seeing the Portal Key appearing like it was insisting her to come along didn't have them question it too much. Seeing AJ's Cutie Mark act up, then Peridot's Cutie Mark, and now that the key was going nuts had to have some connection.

"Uh … ponies first?" Peridot suggested. None of them could see where they would end up, so they could end up thousands of feet off the ground far as they were concerned. None of them could see beyond the portal from their position so who's to say? Still, the key insisted to go through the portal, hitting itself against Peridot to get her moving, and rather roughly too. Peridot tried to make the key stop, but one slip of the foot and she tumbled into it. AJ grabbed her, but was no better off and fell herself. Lapis Lazuli knew what was coming, so she opened her water wings and dove down into the portal. Once that was done, the key hopped on inside, winking, before the door closed up. They were off on their way to wherever they were to go.

~~~~~~

"So, how's Pink handling Equestria?"

Meanwhile, in Beach City, Steven and Emerald decided to hang out for the day. Word of Pink Diamond's had gotten to Emerald later than the others, but all the same he was still intrigued with the idea that a revived Diamond was placed in a world of ponies. Who better to ask than Steven?

"She's handling it alright. She's thinking Equestria's all her own toy though, especially Lars … and Pinkie."

"Let me guess: because they're pink," Emerald assumed. Steven just nodded, as they continued down the boardwalk towards the Big Donut.

"She keeps calling them her trophies," Steven humbly admitted. Emerald admittedly wasn't too surprised, considering both Lars and Pinkie were as pink as Pink Diamond.

"Eh, she'll come around … eventually. Hey, how's Bill doin? Heard he's working for the Big Donut nowadays," Emerald asked, changing the subject.

"He's been great: he even got some option in naming some of the donuts. They're named after him, but he's feeling a lot better."

"After himself?" Emerald dryly questioned.

"Yeah: Classic Deweys, fried Dewey Rolls," Steven named off, counting on his fingers. At this point they were about at the front door and going on inside.

"Geesh, can't he name one thing not after himself?" Emerald joked.

"Actually yeah: the Pink Lars! I named it myself," Steven told him. It's really just a pink donut with sprinkles on it, but heart was still put into the name. Emerald just shrugged it off and they began to head up to the front counter. Normally Sadie Miller would be up front at the ready, but today there was someone else standing there.

"Hello! Welcome to the Big Donut."

"Wait … that voice -" Emerald and Steven were stopped cold by who was up at front counter that afternoon. Garnet! She was up in uniform much like any employee of the Big Donut would, but seeing this just looked … foreign.

"Wait. Garnet?"

"In a minute, you two. You'll have to wait your turn," Garnet said. She was already on another customer, and with his order already in place, she quickly got to work. She opened the bag in one motion, threw about five donuts into it, and sealed it tight with a second motion, giving it to the customer. One click on the register and it was done, and it was their turn.

"Welcome to the Big Donut. Tell me how I may serve you," Garnet stated. But both of them were drawing a blank here.

"You're working here now? But I thought you were a director back in Ponyville," Emerald reminded, as confused as ever.

"Yes. And now I'm working here," Garnet simply said. Emerald and Steven glanced to eachother.

"I … don't understand," Steven stated. Garnet seemingly was ready for this, and already was pouring coffee into a paper cup … just to splash it on the front counter. Emerald and Steven blocked it just in case the hot stuff would go onto them, but Garnet had other ideas in mind.

"My Future Vision allows me to see down the rivers of possibility," Garnet explained as she pointed to one of the so-called "rivers" displayed in the coffee, "granting me insight as to where out actions could possibly move towards. But that doesn't mean I can predict everything." Garnet paused and pointed to a isolated pool off outside of the rest of the spill and added "What I'm interested in is these pools of improvability so distinct and so isolated that I can't detect them. When we act in unnatural ways, we create new, unforeseen paths to these pools of improbability."

"... So in other words, you're trying new stuff just to see what happens," Steven concluded. Garnet paused but smiled and gave them a thumbs up.

"I didn't foresee you understanding that," Garnet stated.

"So, we gonna clean this up? Don't know if Sadie or Lars would like a dirty counter on their shift," Emerald said.

"That's what we would normally do. Let's see what happens when we don't," Garnet stated. Emerald and Steven shrugged and took a look at the spill. At first, nothing really seemed to happen, but after a little bit, some of the coffee began to slip off of the counter, and a singular drip came off the edge and landed onto the floor. A new pool.

"We are now in a new level of improbability. My Future Vision. Is useless here," Garnet stated. Emerald and Steven had never seen her like this before. Sure, she worked as a director already, but they jotted it up as some good Future Vision at work, not just being random.

"I'm scared … but intrigued," Steven stated, summing up their feelings on it. This was what Garnet wanted to hear.

"That's the spirit! Let's get even more intriguing!" Garnet insisted. She flipped over the counter after that, psyched and ready to go. Suddenly, with "I quit!" escaping Garnet's mouth, she tensed her muscles and with a pop, the uniform completely popped off in shreds!

"Come you two!" Garnet insisted, rushing on out the door. The customers were about as confused as anyone would be.

"Well, we're acting like Pinkie for the day. Ok then, let's see," Emerald shrugged, pulling off some of the shreds from his face, as he and Steven followed her outside. This was … different. But heck, it was something they wanted to explore a little bit, so as he said, let's see what'll happen now. Leaving the customers in there dumbfounded, Garnet, Emerald, and Steven were now just outside the Big Donut.

"So, what do we do now?" Emerald asked. Garnet thought for a little bit.

"Instead of serving food … let's order some," Garnet suggested.

"Like what?" Steven asked.

"Let's do … pizza!" Garnet decided.

"Now you're talking my language!" Steven said, immediately pulling out his phone and dialing them up. It didn't take too much time until they got Kiki Pizza on the other end of the line.

"Fish Stew Pizza," Kiki chimed.

"Hello, I'd like to order a pizza -"

"Ten pizzas!" Garnet suddenly insisted. If they were trying to get weird, then that would probably do it, but Steven decided to jump in further.

"No, twenty pizzas! Toppings? … Surprise me!" Steven insisted.

"Now you're getting it," Garnet said with a thumbs up. Emerald expected this order out of Amethyst, but they were going weird today, so what could he suspect?

"Let me take a crack at it," Emerald suggested. Steven nodded and gave him the phone.

"Hello? Yeah, I'm apart of the order. Add an order of - no. Fifteen orders of your pizza sticks! hold the pizza sauce!"

"Nice," Garnet said with a smile. Emerald felt like he was doing a prank call on them, and just as enjoyable.

"Delivery? I guess deliver it to the temple -" Emerald quickly stopped himself. "NO. that's just what they would think," Emerald concluded. He didn't say this over the phone, but they got the idea by now.

"Go weirder," Garnet suggested. Steven wanted to try this time, so Emerald gave it to him.

"Deliver it to the ocean - no, no, to Kansas! No, to the moon!"

"I don't think that's within our delivery radius," Kiki stated.

"Remember: Improbable, not impossible," Garnet reminded. Steven and Emerald tried to think of somewhere they wouldn't expect them to deliver, and soon both of them got the same idea. Emerald levitated the cellphone Emerald counted down from three. Then two. Then one. And …

"Deliver it to Fish Stew Pizza!" they both said in unison.

"So … this is for pick-up?" Kiki asked.

And this was just the start of the day.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, as they were doing their own bit of Pool Hopping, another area of another world was in the middle of their own lives. The landscape throughout the most part looked very arid and dry, not much of plant life evident anywhere. Dunes spread about throughout the area, and not much could be said for any creature wandering these dunes. Still, up in the air, a lone green bird was flying along minding it's own business southward. Flying through the desert underneath the hot sun was no problem for this little birdie, and it was making sweet time as well. As it kept going, it started to reach towards a isolated town, one not too familiar to any pony folk, or Gem folk for that matter. As the bird was flying off along, it didn't get about fifty feet into town until -

*CAAWW!*

In a quick snatch, the bird's leg was suddenly lasso'd by a rope from the town below. The bird tried flying away, but in a quick yank the bird fell down to earth. Next thing it knew, it ended up landing inside a cage, which was quickly locked up from above it. It squawked and shrieked, trying to get out, but it wasn't going anywhere as its captors looked to it with greedy grins.

"Don't you worry, we'll let you out," one of them said.

"Yeah … to the highest bidder!" said the others. both of them shared a laugh before putting the bird over by their stand.
It wasn't the first bird to be stuck in such a place, multiple species of birds also locked up in small cages. The town they were stuck in was no simple ponyville-esque town, but looked rather worn out and rugged all over the place. Buildings were wooden and well out of date, built within desert rock. And many of the birds at first were a bit quiet, but soon as they began to hear an unfamiliar sound of a portal, they began freaking out and squawking up a storm.
Applejack, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli finally hit ground. AJ and Peridot landed kinda roughly, but Lapis landed fairly calmly and without trouble. The portal closed up behind them, so they were in the right place … maybe. The flashing did stop, so wherever the Cutie Map wanted them to go to, they were there. But where was here? Applejack got her hat back onto her head, and took a good look around. None of this looked very familiar to her, or any of the others.

"So, is this another pony town?" Lapis asked.

"Beats me. Come on," Applejack said, starting to walk on out cautiously. Something about the place just didn't suit very well for her, but she heard of what the Cutie Map was all about prior to this, so if the Cutie Map wanted her in this place, then something must be up. They just got to figure out what that thing even was.

"Hey you. you with the hat. You sellin?" a voice hissed from one of the stands. Applejack held her hoof on her hat just in case someone would try anything fancy to them. Last thing they want was some grubby resident to rob em blind. As they continued going through the place though, they began to notice something a bit … odd.

"... These are ponies. Right?" Peridot asked.

"Don't think so," Lapis answered. And indeed, much of the residents didn't really look like they were truly anything pony, or anything really from Equestria for that matter. sure, they've met their fair share of odd things, but this place was stocked full of them. Many of the creatures they kept seeing appeared like other animals: a porcupine here, a lizard there, a snapping turtle somewhere else, and many other examples. They even saw some sharks amongst the crowds, but they all weren't just that, but anthropomorphic too. It was like a bunch of humans hybridized with other animals, and they all were as shady and unpleasing as the town itself. Be it reptilian, fish, or whatever, they were roaming around town more than most. As they continued going along -

"Dang it!" a snapping turtle resident got into some trouble. He tried getting some barrels up onto a wagon, but as he got the last one on, his whole load rolling off onto the ground.

"Here, let me help you with that," Lapis insisted, flying over to the barrels. They had water in them as it turned out so some water tricks got them floating right back into the wagon. Pretty easy, and normally helpful.

"HEY! No magic around my merchandise!"

but this was no normal town, and the trio bolted off before they could get into anymore trouble. These clearly weren't your standard helping folk.

"Alright, everypony. Try to blend in, and be careful who you talk to. Somethin tells me these folk aren't gonna be letting us off easy," AJ advised.

"Don't worry," Peridot said, even giving a salute to her about it.

*poke**poke*

Spoke too soon. Just before they could continue, Peridot's key suddenly went off again, jumping out into the open! Peridot scrambled to get grip of her own Portal Key, but something was pulling her key away from her, strong enough to make her actually skid on the ground! If the residents didn't take notice of these colorful characters, they sure have now. Or at least the fancy key that suddenly gone alive on them. Peridot groaned and yelled in her attempts, but her Portal key slipped out of her grasp, and began rolling off down the road.

"You clod, GET BACK HERE!" Peridot demanded, chasing after her own key. Since when do keys try to run away?! AJ and Lapis had no choice but to follow her through the town, racing passed numerous strange residents and cutting many corners as the key was seemingly moved along. Some folks did try to get it, but the key proved far too fast to get caught by any of them. At one point, the key seemingly got cornered by a lizard resident, but it quickly hopped over his head, just for Peridot and Applejack to barrel right into him, the three stumbling to the ground! Not a good introduction for any creature, no matter who or what you are. Lapis flew above them and she could see where the key was even going, though seeing where it ended up wasn't comforting.
The pony and two Gems found it going through a large crowd gathered around what seemingly looked like a pile of junk. The crowds were a bit thick, and Peridot and Applejack had to squeeze themselves through in order to actually see what was going on. Turned out, the key ended up an auctioneer's pile, and the one in charge of this auction didn't even realize that he had a new trinket to his many items. Or even if he did, he didn't care much for it. It was an extra item in this auction after all and he looked willing to continue this game of his.
As for the one in charge of the game of bets, he didn't look anymore pony than a bird would to a turtle. Compared to much of the residence, he looked a bit more formal, in a blackish-red tux and top hat to boot. He looked no bigger than a pony, probably at Cadance height at most. In fact, if one were to compare him to any animal, a rat would be a fine thing. A Naked Mole Rat. Liver spots were on his face, and a set of orange goggles were over his eyes, a mud-eating grin on his face as he was looking to the big crowds around him.

"Come over everyone, there's plenty for everybody. Place your bets!" he called. The crowd went on to make said bets on the objects. One of these objects presented by his side looked like a bowl of sorts, but Applejack, Lapis, and Peridot weren't too interested in that. Instead, they were more interested in trying to find that key in the pile. It took a bit but they did end up seeing it, but that was not the only thing they saw.

Portal Keys. ALL of their keys.

"HEY! That's our keys!" gasped Lapis. They all were bundled together on a key chain, and Peridot's key laid down dormant with the rest of the set. They KNEW the keys when they saw them, but how the hay did they get here?! That wasn't all though, as all the keys were laying on an old, ancient-looking shovel.

"But, wait. They were confiscated by White Diamond, weren't they? How'd he get em?" Peridot asked.

"Who cares, come on!" Lapis said, and before anyone could stop her, she flew right up to them. Before she could get them, the mole rat quickly saw her trying to snatch them away, and threw his cane at her, landing right at her head. It was enough to make Lapis Lazuli land on the ground in front of the Naked Mole Rat.

"WHOA there, missy, don't try stealing from Verko scot free," the mole rat said. Applejack and Peridot went over to her, helping her up to her feet.

"Listen here, varmint, those keys belong to us. So, if you'd kindly hand em over," Applejack stated, hoof out at the ready. However, the mole rat wasn't willing to oblige, and in fact looked more interested in Peridot, in particular her gemstone.

"What a mighty fine stone you got there. I'll give you those keys in a trade, what do ya say?"

"EXCUSE ME?!" Peridot snapped, quickly backing up. Trade her own gemstone?! As if! She even covered her gemstone with her hands just to be sure. Lapis Lazuli was equally as shocked, if not insulted.

"Sorry to ruin your fun, but she's not for sale -"

"How much for the stone on your back?!" a creature called. Lapis felt a sting in her own back on that question, and she spun around, staring daggers at the crowd.

"I'M NOT FOR SALE!" Lapis yelled. First Peridot, now her? The mole rat looked more interested when he saw the shining Lapis stone, and putting two and two together, he got to the conclusion on where her water wings came from. Applejack could see that they were gonna end up into trouble at the rate this was going, especially how quick they were willing to ask for their price tags.

"We don't want any trouble, just give us the keys and we'll go," Applejack insisted.

"No dice: you want somethin, you gotta give somethin. It's how barter works, don't you know," he snickered. AJ looked ready to kick his buck teeth out of his grinning maw, but now was not a good time for it.

"I know how it works, but you flat out stole our keys! Look at em, they got our faces on em and everything," AJ pointed out. The mole rat took a look at the keys in question, and turned out she was right. He did find Applejack's key out of the bunch.

"Famous are we? This is interesting. … NEW BETS everyone! Who wants these shining stars?"

SERIOUSLY?! Now what're they supposed to do? Bad enough they were asked as trinkets, but now they were on the spot as this rat's trinkets! The crowd went nuts with their bets on the three, moving in closer towards them. The mole rat was sure pleased with the money being shown to him, but these three weren't going to stick around for the next buyer. Opening her water wings, Lapis Lazuli grabbed Peridot and Applejack, and took off immediately.

This town wasn't gonna be easy.

~~~~~~

Back in Beach City, Garnet, Emerald, and Steven had just gotten their orders from Fish Stew Pizza. Twenty pizzas and fifteen pizza sticks all being carried by the trio in their own way.

"So we got the order. So what's next?" Emerald asked.

"What do you normally do with pizza?" Garnet then asked. It really didn't take much time for the two to figure out the answer.

"Eat it!" Steven answered.

"Right. So, instead of that. Let's do this," Garnet said. she then gave a whistle to someone walking across the street from their position.

"Here! Have a pizza!" she called, before taking one of the pizza boxes and tossed it over to him like a frisbee. The person fell over on being hit, but he wasn't complaining about free pizza.

"Thank you!" he called.

So for the next hour or two it was pizza deliveries. Emerald, Steven, and Garnet continued their own delivery service throughout town. They stopped at numerous spots in Beach City, surprising different people with different orders of pizza. With twenty pizzas and fifteen pizza sticks there was a lot to give around, and it was one of those random things that they were having a good time with. They stopped at the Millers, the Deweys, so on so on, and they all were pretty happy with getting a free surprise order. It was like surprising someone on Harmony Day or Hearth's Warming with a surprise present or card. They even stopped and gave a pizza to some seagulls, as odd as that may be. Pretty soon, their huge order was down to one more box and bag.

"One more delivery," Garnet concluded.

"Yeah, Vidalia should be close. Let's give it to her," Steven suggested.

"That would be nice. she must be upset with her son taken by those Homeworld Gems," Garnet stated. Ok, now it was confusing.

"The stars are you talking about: Homeworld like us - more or less - and no human was taken. Besides, he's right there," Emerald explained. The three turned around and there was Onion with a bag of … stuff. Who knows what he got at this point, before he quickly hopped a fence away from there. Garnet sighed roughly.

"Sorry. Must be thinking of a different timeline," Garnet sighed.

"Oh. Well, she should be right around here uh … there!" Steven concluded, pointing to the Onion house. Not many was there as of now, so Garnet took the honor of walking up to the door, knocking on it good and loud, but not enough to break the door.

"Mother Onion! Open up!" Garnet called.

"In the garage!" called a voice. So, they went on towards the garage in question, which at the moment with the frontal doors open, but covered in a sheet. They didn't stop them though, and Garnet kicked it right open, followed by a somersault, and getting into a pose.

"Get excited for pizza!" Garnet stated. Emerald hopped in next, in a karate kick before landing on Garnet's head, holding the bag of pizza sticks.

"We got pizza sticks and we're not afraid to use em!" Emerald yelled.

"Aahh! Wait. Steven?" Who they saw inside was a bit freaked out, hiding behind what looked like a painting of sorts. In fact, the whole garage looked less like a garage and more like an art studio, with a lonely stool sitting in the center of the room under some dramatic lights aimed at it, and an empty canvas with nothing on it. The figure was a middle-aged women, her hair in a short thick bob that closely resembled the vegetable in question. Her outfit mainly was a mint green dress with rolled up sleeves, white T-shirt, slate-blue, rolled up overalls and red slippers. She sure was freaked on seeing Emerald and Garnet pop up, but she did calm down on seeing Steven.

"What're you trying to do? Scared me to death?" Vidalia asked.

"Sorry. We're just trying to give you pizza in the most unlikely way possible. Wanna slice?" Steven offered, as Garnet opened up a pepperoni pizza in presentation. Emerald also presented the pizza sticks in a similar fashion, and it all sure looked good.

"Sure, I could use a break. I've been trying to paint this still life of a stool, but I just don't feel inspired," Vidalia explained, looking to the stool in question. Yeah, while the lighting made it fancy, it didn't give much to offer in honesty. Nothing to inspire, nothing to give, just sitting there. In idea to being random, Garnet knew what to do: she closed the pizza box, gave it to Steven, and moved over to the stool. She then got into a more dramatic pose.

"Paint me like one of your Amethysts," Garnet stated. Steven felt excited too and jumped in with his own pose.

"Paint me too!"

"Oh. so you wanna be my muse, eh?" Vidalia said with a smirk. Emerald, shrugging, sat aside with the pizza sticks and started to nibble on them, sitting by the opening in the curtains.

"If it's not too much trouble. I promise we'll be very inspiring," Steven promised, striking a secondary pose alongside Garnet. Vidalia started to take a better look at them both, her fingers positioned like a lens on a camera, and used in a similar kind of way.

"Hmm … yes, this can work! Strike a pose," Vidalia said, getting her canvas ready. By the time she looked again, suddenly Garnet and Steven were in another pose, with Steven standing on one foot, on Garnet's hand as if he's being presented as a bird or a trophy.

"It's struck," Garnet said.

"Ok great! now don't move," Vidalia said, as she began to get to work.

…….

Oh, the wait.

"Eh, Garnet? You know, when you suggested that we try doing things completely random, was a good idea when you mentioned it to us an hour ago. But now …" Emerald was not enjoying the wait, Steven and Garnet still in pose as Vidalia continued her work. Painting surely took a lot longer than Emerald realized, and he already ate up his pizza sticks well long ago.

"Your call on what we do, Emerald," Garnet simply said. If only he knew that at the start of this charade.

"Wish you said that earlier," Emerald sighed, as he began to think a little bit. They gave pizza to everyone in town already, threw the pizza girl for a loop, and now posing for Vidalia's picture. What else could they do that they wouldn't normally do? Steven was getting a little tired himself from his flying bird position, sweat going down his face as he tried to keep still. Emerald thought it over a bit, but eventually he began to get an idea on a little something improbable. Once he got that down right, he whispered it to Garnet's ear.

Next thing they knew, Garnet rushed outside, Steven on her head holding on.

"Sorry Vidalia, maybe next time!" called Steven.

"Wait, what about my essence?!" Vidalia called back, but the trio was already off and out of sight. Whatever Emerald suggested, they were more than willing to try it.

~~~~~~

"I can't believe this place! Our keys get stolen by some giant … thing! and now everything wants to add us to their collection! What kind of twisted cloddy place is this?!"

Applejack, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli weren't doing as well. They got out of sight from many of the creatures in town, sure, but as it stood, they couldn't just go off wandering around town without many a creature trying to get them to give up their own stones for the sake of buying and bargain.

"Alright, everyone, calm down. We just gotta be a bit more careful, that's all," Applejack advised, trying to stay calm about things.

"But how're we supposed to get those keys back? That Verko or whoever won't give them up," Lapis stated.

"Lazuli! Surely you can just freeze him to the wall or something, right?" Peridot suggested.

"And become criminals of this creature town? Not a very good idea, thank you," Lapis said. The last thing she wanted was to find their faces on more wanted posters outside of White Diamond's wanted ads.

"Nobody's gonna get sold, I promise. Here, y'all just wait here, I'm gonna try to get us somethin to blend in," Applejack decided. Simple enough.

"Blend in you say?" hissed a sudden voice. Applejack jumped back, and soon they all found themselves in the company of a anthropomorphic chameleon. He sure looked shady for his character, even dressed up in a long trench coat, his face covered in the collar, and a hat on his head. They could tell he was a chameleon due to his curled tail and green scales.

"I can get you some uniforms, no trouble. … for a price, of course," the chameleon said. Why not? Peridot almost instinctively covered her gemstone in case the chameleon was trying to get something out of that. No way was she going to end up in someone else's collection, not if she could help it. But what could they give him? They don't have any money on them when coming here.

"Um … can you take an I.O.U?"

"That's not how it works. Here in Klugetown, you pay up front or don't bother … but then again, I feel sorry for you, being treated like property like that," the chameleon said.

"Klugetown. Is that where we are?"

"Guess you're new on the block. But anyway, I got just the outfits for ya. You wanna blend in don't you?" the chameleon asked. Lapis, Peridot, and Applejack glanced to one another for a minute.

…….

"These outfits don't suit me," Lapis groaned.
The chameleon did have some outfits for them like he promised, but AJ, Peridot, and Lapis sure didn't feel too comfortable in these get-ups of theirs. It was mainly rags, old clothes, and things of the nature to keep their identity more ambiguous from the crowd. Lapis and Peridot had a look much like one of those celebrity "public" outfits to hide their faces, and AJ was dressed similarly.

"Just deal with it, Lazuli. At least the town's off our backs," Peridot said, though she was not enjoying this anymore than she was. They still had some keys to gather up, and they need to get it all handled one way or another. Lucky for them, the town didn't look too focused on them this time, at least not as accessories. On the bright side, at least they now know where they ended up, but Applejack, Lapis, and Peridot still weren't sure where Klugetown even was. The trio went on down the same street from earlier to where Verko would be, but today it wasn't gonna be their day: Verko was gone! Gone with their magic keys and shovel.

"Oh clod, he's gone! How're we supposed to find him now?" Peridot griped.

"He's gotta be somewhere in this town, we only left him for a few."

"Thank you, one and all, for your attendance, and we guarantee that your time here will not be spent in vain!"

"Who's that?" wondered Lapis. The voices were a bit vague, but Applejack did perk up a little bit on said noise and voice. Applejack, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli followed the sounds to another crowd off nearby, equally as interested, and equally as thick as before. They tried to see over this crowd, but they really couldn't get much of a view on the situation. That was until one of the larger buyers moved aside, showing what they were so interested in.
Up on a set-up stage looked like some sort of odd machine in the midst of two businessmen. The machine itself looked like one of those carnival stands one would set up, wheels and all, and the front picture looked like an apple with a piece cut out of it. As for the two businessmen, they saw the first set of ponies since arriving in Klugetown, a set of pale yellow, tall ponies, unicorns to be exact. They had on similar outfits, namely a blue and white-striped short, black bowtie and barber hat. One of the unicorns has a mustache, whereas the other had white stripes in his mane, but apart from that they were exact copies of eachother. Applejack knew who these jokers were a mile away.

"Flim and Flam. Double ponyfeathers!" AJ groaned.

"Who's Flim and Flam?" Peridot asked.

"Those two con-artists up there. What're they up to this time?" AJ wondered, going closer to investigate.

"Welcome, one and all, to the demonstration of a lifetime!" said Flim.

"A demonstration of a better life!" added Flam.

"A demonstration of a better time! And if we haven't captured your interest just yet, by the time we've finished, an unfortunate phenomenon practically guarantees that we will!" Flim reassured. But they all were pretty hooked already, so Flim and Flam got their attention in no time at all. In a whistle, another pony then moved on up. This pony in particular appeared pretty crippled and in crutches, slowly moving up onto the stage. Flam got the machine nearby to start up, and through a small nozzle up on front of the machine, a bottle was filled up of a green substance. The pony steadied himself a little bit, and Flam presented this substance to the pony, who which began to drink it.
The reaction started off kinda slow, but slowly the pony started to feel more and more powerful in his frontal legs. The crutches holding him up were moved and fell off of him, and to the group's surprise, this pony was on all fours again. The crippled had been cured of his ailment! And just to prove this pony was all better, he even began to jump up and dance a bit, showing just how cured he was. The whole crowd gasped on sight of this, and Flim and Flam could tell they got the crowd hooked.

"That's right, every creature! Flim and Flam's Curative Tonic can cure even the worst of ailments! Broken arms? Gill-scratch? You name it, our curative tonic can cure it," Flam explained.

"I'll give you two stonebucks for it!"

"I'll give you ten!"

"I need that tonic!"

These sort of demands were met with money up in the air for Flim and Flam to happily take. Applejack saw more than enough, and moved away from the crowd to join Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

"A Curative Tonic?" Lapis wondered.

"Sounds like nothing but red herring. Those two brothers will sell grass to a cow," AJ accused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean those brothers tried to run me and my family outta town before. And now here they are sellin some "Cure-All" Tonic to every creature else. Bad enough we got our keys being sold by some pack rat, now we got those two snakes-in-the-grass too," Applejack explained. She wasn't gonna trust those two unicorns any farther than she could throw them, though if she could she could buck them off outta town. Klugetown seemingly was buying this tonic for all its worth, much to AJ's dismay. Peridot began to work the gears in her head on this curative tonic, but then she began to get an idea in her head.

"I got it! Lapis, Applejack, I got a Peri-Plan."

"Not another one of your Peri-Plans," AJ sighed.

"No, no, hear me out! We can use that Curative Tonic on Verko," Peridot concluded, already going off towards Flim and Flam. However, Applejack grabbed Peridot by her coat and pulled her back to the group.

"How's curing him gonna help us any?"

"It's subtext, Lazuli. Allow me to explain …"

~~~~~~

Garnet, Emerald, and Steven went off from Beach City, and back off to the Barn House. Emerald's idea was being put into motion, and Garnet was working surprisingly fast on it, whatever it was. Steven, who had no exact knowledge on how to do this idea, stood aside with starry eyes as Emerald and Garnet were going to work on this idea. It sure was exciting whatever it is, and as he was standing there in silent amazement, the Off-Colors were actually coming over. This was their barn after all.

"Hi Steven. Is everything going - huh?" Tiger's Eye was cut off when she looked into the barn, seeing this same sort of work being done inside.

"What're they doing in there? Is this another project?" Rhodonite asked.

"Robots," Steven simply said.

"Pardon me?"

"They're building robots. Giant robots. I see a race: a giant, robo-race! With prizes! GIANT. ROBO-PRIZES!" Steven said, super-excited for the project to finish. The Off-Colors weren't too sure about this, nor knew what he was talking about.

"Like a test?" wondered right Rutile.

"A competition?" added left Rutile.

"What's this "robot"?" asked Rhodonite.

"They're like those robonoids on Homeworld, only bigger, and you can ride them!" Steven explained, suddenly going all robot-mode and intimidating the noises and movements a robot would make. Before they could ask anything further, the sounds suddenly stopped altogether. The group stood aside from the door, and good thing too as something suddenly bolted out of there. It zoomed to a stop off not to far away on wheel-legs, getting into a sort of ballerina position. It has a small plane as the body that was painted to resemble Pearl's skin and hair color, with a star sticker on the face of the ship and a traffic cone that mimics Pearl's nose where the propeller once was. It had long appendages that serve as arms with circular, three-fingered hands. the landing legs were extended to serve as longer legs with movable knees, and the 'feet' are composed of larger wheels. The cockpit is exposed, leaving only the windshield. Its shown to have a coo-coo clock near the back of the bot as well.
As for who made this robotic marvel, turned out Garnet was in the driver's seat, feeling pretty good about it herself. But she wasn't the only robot out on the field today.

"Behold everyone! The ultimate robot!" Emerald announced, presenting his own robotic marvel to everyone. This one was a large green mech, vaguely crablike with three shades of green, stout in stature. It had green boots on its small legs that resemble Peridot's, and the arms slightly longer with pincers for hands. A bipyramid summed up the body shape, with two gray cones jutting out the back of the model, and two tires used as arm joints.

"What an interesting concept," Padparadscha stated. Emerald felt good with it, but he began to compared his robot to that of Garnet's.

"Hey."

"Mine's taller, I win," Garnet joked. But this was an interesting idea to try out. They may have built stuff before, but they didn't try this idea before, and Garnet in her randomness was pretty intrigued with this one. Steven readied to go off and join them in this contest of theirs, as both Emerald and Garnet sized eachother up. Emerald's main idea was a robot match up, his larger, more robust robot he felt more suitable for a brawl than the nimble light robot Garnet had. That, and Emerald could control every little twinge of this robot's being with his telekinesis. Garnet had her own methods to work the thing, but she will at least try to work this out best she could.

"Ring that bell, Steven!" Emerald called. Steven got a bell from the barn, and gave it a good ring, loud and clear. Emerald snickered and got his robot charging forward at full speed. Garnet's more nimble robot however leaped right above Emerald's head. Garnet knocked Emerald off his feet with a well placed robo-kick to the back, making his robot fall to the ground quick. Emerald got himself up and turned to the other robot just in time to grab the robot by the foot. NOW Garnet was at his mercy, and he began to swing her around, hitting her onto the ground a good six times. It was a bit disorientating for Garnet, and her robot arms grabbed the ground, yanking her foot out of the grip of Emerald. Garnet then started to rush around Emerald, rushing in a circle faster and faster until it almost looked like a blur! Emerald couldn't comprehend and couldn't concentrate, giving Garnet enough of an opening to hit the robot in the legs, ripping it off with ease! Emerald lost balance, feeling more arms get cut off, and soon it was just the body remaining. No arms or legs to keep him up, and Garnet slowed down into another pose.

"Garnet wins."

"Ok, ok, you win," Emerald groaned, his eyes still spinning from trying to keep up with the robot. Garnet parked her robot off nearby the barn house, it retracting its legs and arms and resting its body down easy, before Garnet hopped out.

"Well, that was exhilarating," Garnet said. Emerald got himself out of his own robot.

"So what do you wanna do now?" asked Steven.

"Eh, your call Steven," Garnet simply said. So Steven began to think on what to do next. What can they do they won't normally do? The robot fight was a nice one, although they've built things like this before. The Off-colors nearby looked a little bit taken aback by Garnet's decision though.

"Let's go see what Jasper's up to!"

"Good idea," Garnet said with a thumbs up. Steven, Emerald, and Garnet then began to go off on their way.

"... K, is anyone else questioning Garnet's decision-making?" Tiger's Eye asked.

~~~~~~

Klugetown was all the rage now. With Flim and Flam's curative tonic now in good sale, everyone everywhere got their fair share of the stuff. Unfortunately, it can't be said the same for Applejack, Lapis Lazuli, and Peridot, who had to step aside until the crowds had calmed down. Which was a long time. Klugetown sure had a lot of customers to work through, and the trio kept themselves down and away from sight until Flim and Flam FINALLY had some space. Peridot's Peri-Plan needed that curative tonic, at least one, in order to actually get this to work out as she wanted. Both unicorns were off in the back of the stage, working out how much money they've managed to gather up together. Both brothers were continuing to go through their own little bit of con artistry, as the trio peeked in from the back.

"You sure about this?" Applejack questioned.

"Just get ready to grab the tonic while I distract them," Peridot instructed. It was not the best idea they could've come up with, but if they were to get their keys from Verko, then they need to get their tonic. A trade's a trade, and they need to get this to work. Soon, in their respected disguises, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli moved in, and Applejack kept her distance. Honesty was her best policy, and combined with the fact that they met her before might end up complicating things.

"Excuse me, unicorns. My friend and I have heard about your curative tonic," Peridot began, throwing on a good accent of Britain to be sure they wouldn't exactly get her mixed up and found out. Flim and Flam glanced to eachother, and found this a good opportunity. They did look a bit snazzy and rich for their look, so perhaps some bits and stonebucks from them would be plenty.

"You two interested in our miracle cure? Lucky for you, we got just the ticket to take any sickness you have gone in seconds," Flam said.

"And for two lovely ladies like you, we'll give it to ya for half price," Flim added in with a wink to Lapis. Lapis leaned down towards Peridot and whispered into her ear.

"My friend insists on another test run of your product. Just to make sure this isn't some scam at production here," Peridot suggested. Looked like they got a smart one here, so both unicorns got on the charm. As they were talking, Applejack had slipped on just passed the stage, and close to the curative tonic. Fake or not, Verko would try to trade big for a cure for anything. Flim however used his magic to move the bottle out of her reach. Guess she'll have to wait until they were done.

"We were hoping you'd ask," said the brothers. As if they were expecting the demonstration again, they began to hear somepony start to come up to the back, and towards the Flim Flam brothers. Turned out another pony had come up, this time with a back leg looking broken. Talk about convenient.

"And what timing too. how can we help you good sir?"

"I-I hope I wasn't too late, but I'm hoping to have some of your curative tonic. My back leg's been broken for days," he groaned, barely able to move his back leg. The brothers were more than happy to oblige, and the bottle was levitated over to him.

"This one's on the house," said Flam, allowing the pony to take a slip of the curative tonic. Lapis and Peridot stayed quiet and watched the results, and it took a little bit, but the leg began to grow less stiff. The brothers helped him out of the cast, and soon the pony began to find himself more mobile, the leg seemingly cured. How peculiar, and particularly suspicious of the two. Flim placed the fairly full bottle back on a nearby counter, just close enough for AJ to grab it with her teeth and pull it out of sight.

"How're you feelin, friend? Better than ever?" Flam asked. The pony smiled wide and started bucking in joy.

"I feel fantastic!" he beamed.

"Well, would you look at that, another satisfied customer. I'm sure that puts your doubts to rest, don't it?" Flim said with a nudge and a wink. Unbeknownst to Flim and Flam, AJ slipped out of sight, Peridot and Lapis seeing their cue to go. Lapis whispered to Peridot again.

"We'll have to consort with our people, and we'll get right back to you," Peridot stated, as she and Lapis began to head on out. They were going to take the exit passed the curtains when -

"HEEERE'S VERKO!"

Oh clod. Their Peri-Plan did not involve Verko showing up! Peridot and Lapis stumbled back on the sight of him, the naked mole rat snickering as he walked up to them and the Flim Flam brothers. Word of curative tonic reached this rodent's ears, and he wanted to check it out apparently. Flim and Flam didn't expect him either.

"Well, if it isn't the Flim Flam brothers! Got some curative tonic I see," Verko sneered.

"Oh! Indeed, you care for a demonstration? We guarantee our curative tonic will handle any ailment you may have," Flam said with a wink. Verko just laughed.

"I'd sooner buy off a butterfly than some bottle of snake oil! You can't fool this rat," Verko accused. Flim and Flam were taken aback by this accusation. But before they could say much of anything, Verko went right up to the cured pony, and tore off his disguise! The exact same pony from earlier! Applejack was peering in, and she couldn't of called it any better, but how was the Peri-Plan gonna work without their curative tonic? Flim and Flam were against the wall now that someone found em out, but it was just a few people, so they tried to be calm about it.

"Well, well, well, that's quite an accusation," Flam started.

"But let's say that it's true..." Flim said.

"Hypothetically..." Flam said.

"Theoretically..." added Flim.

Flam; "As I understand, your townsfolk had been in a bit of a rough."

Flim; "The biggest business town once upon a time."

Flam; "But hasn't got enough bits to get a proper medical miracle."

"Until today, that's right," Lapis agreed, as if she had lived in the town herself. Verko wasn't seemingly buying it, standing by the curtains with a grin on his face.

Flim; "Well, then even if our tonic were nothing more than a mixture of apple juice and beet leaves..."

Flam; "Hypothetically..."

Flim; "Theoretically..."

Flam; "The fact is that your townsies are happier now than before they tried it."

Flim; "So, the question is..."

Flam; "Do you really want to be the rat who takes all that happiness away?"

Verko could give less about it, and to prove how much he didn't bother of it, he used his cane to hook the curtains, and pulled them open wide. Just to show a group of townsfolk that heard … well, everything. Well, now what?

"Apple juice and beet leaves? GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!" one of them yelled, which probably summed up the situation best. Lapis, Peridot, and Applejack had to kinda bolt for it as Flim and Flam found themselves in front of an angry crowd. Verko waited for what these sly ponies had to say this time. …

"... Next town?" asked Flim.

"Next town," replied Flam. With some quick packing up and fast magic, the two con artists were quickly galloping out as fast as they could, with the townsfolk chasing after them. Sometimes the universe just gives you a freebee. AJ, Lapis, and Peridot got themselves out to a safer distance, but now with this exposed, their own curative tonic was useless. Applejack threw the now useless tonic aside.

"So much for your Peri-Plan," Lapis sighed.

"It could've worked!" Peridot insisted. But the writing was on the wall, this plan had failed … much like many of her other Peri-Plans.

"Well now what do we do? We got nothing to give that greedy rat to get our keys back," Applejack groaned.

"Yeah, all he was interested in was our gemstones," groaned Peridot. …

"Then let's give it to him."

"WHA?!"

…….

Verko was busily counting out his money once he got back to his office. A whole day of bets and bargains sure did wonders for him, having more than enough cash for a limo if he so wanted to buy one. He made sure these were legitimate by the ol' bite-down trick, and they all were legitimate stone dollars and bits.

"Ah, what a town of suckers. They'd buy anything if it wasn't nailed down," Verko said with a smug grin, looking to one of the golden coins he got. The reflection he saw in them was more than enough to make him feel like a good bargainer. nothing else said good business like a lot of bling for his pocket, and he kicked back and relaxed with his loot. As he readied to gloat some more, he then began to hear someone knock on his door, catching his attention.

"A late buyer," he thought.

"Come in!" and with that invitation, the door opened up, and in entered Applejack, no longer in disguise. If this plan were to work than she probably wouldn't need it anyway. She'll REALLY have to pull off her deception in order for this to work, which was not her forte at all. Still, so long as Verko didn't get too suspicious over her, than she could possibly get through this alright. Verko got a bit interested once he saw Applejack come in.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my little pony from the auction! Come here to take up my offer?" Verko asked. Well, Applejack didn't need to bother much in explanation and just decided to roll with it. She took off her hat, and revealed on her head two gemstones for him to have. The Peridot and Lapis Lazuli gemstone! Verko was sure pleased.

"Sorry for the confusion, but yep. Here they are. Two gemstones, just like you asked. Yep, that's what they are, heh." Again, not her forte, as she smiled nervously. Verko took a moment to check these stones, especially after hearing that to be sure these weren't just painted rocks. He held up the Peridot stone to a nearby lightbulb, and saw that it was slightly see-through, the green shade of light on his face. He then did a bite test on the stone as well, which made Applejack nervous, but lucky for her (and the stones) the bite didn't leave any marks. Verko snickered.

"Very nice. Very nice. You said you wanted those keys?"

"You do still got them, don't you?" Applejack asked. Verko opened up a drawer at his counter, and pulled out all the keys, including Peridot's key, all there and ready for the trade. Applejack was ready to take them when another thought crossed her mind. In such a town, she can't be too sure. She took a closer look at them, making sure that these were all the keys in question. Her eyes looked to the AJ key, and her own key winked at her.

Yep, these were their keys.

"Thank you kindly," AJ said, getting the keys by the keychain, and she began to walk on out. Verko found it a bit of a big trade off: two gemstones for a bunch of house keys, but heck it was business. Applejack went on out, and moved away about ten feet or so. She got the keys, sure, but she wasn't ready to just rush out of Klugetown yet. In fact, she leaned against a nearby wall, and began to check her hooves while whistling a tune.

Three. Two. One.

*FLASH*

"Fear the rocks!"

"What the - hey! How'd you get in here?!"

Applejack could hear the racket going on inside Verko's office, all sorts of banging and crashing before Lapis Lazuli and Peridot got out from the window. Lapis quickly took flight, and AJ did the honors of getting the door opened for them through her own key. One portal door getaway complete, and all three bolted right through before the portal closed up on Verko, who ended up slamming head long into the wall.

Lazuli-Plan complete. And won't the others be surprised.

Tall Tales

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"Okay, Garnet. So that's pizza service for half an hour, picture posing for who knows how long, about two to three hours of robo-building and … five minutes of robot fighting, and we just finished our visit with Jasper. Well, got any other ideas on what to do?" Emerald asked as they continued along. They were still going at being random, and for what they've done already, this craziness was pretty good for them already, though what they will do now was anyone's guess. The group was now heading on down the boardwalk.

"It's your choice," Garnet made clear. This again. Most of these was her choice, so guess they could try and figure out something they could do.

"You know, I dunno. I think we might need an expert on this," Steven figured, his mind running on blank. He thought they were doing a pretty good job already. Emerald tried to get his own mind to work on what exactly to do next. He was pretty happy they got some battle robots now, though annoyed he still lost not to mention, though where to go from here? He had to work his inner Pinkie Pie to figure it out, and then he got it.

"Ok, if you want a random idea, how about a camping trip?"

"Camping trip?" Steven asked.

"Hey, we've just delivered pizzas, and beat eachother up as robots, you want random there you go. We can find some campsite somewhere and hang out there overnight, sound good?" Emerald suggested. Well, he was right on the idea being a random one. Not very much prompting for that idea in particular, but with the idea Garnet was exploring, this was just what they wanted to get themselves to whatever pool of improbability they were heading towards. Garnet gave Emerald two thumbs up.

"AWW YEA, I got double points," Emerald said smugly.

"Ok. And how about a trip in our world? Going to Equestria would be just what we would think," Steven suggested with a wink. Emerald liked that.

"Eh, why not? The only thing we're missing is who to bring along on our little camping trip. No way we're gonna get crazy with just the three of us … er, four of us," Emerald corrected. Garnet was technically two people in a sense.

*click*
Wouldn't you know their answer would open a Portal door right by them? It seemed like thin air when the door began to appear, looking a bit more run down like the doors in Klugetown. Steven, Emerald, and Garnet moved aside as it quickly swung open. The figures rushing through were pretty fast, and tumbled to a stop onto the boardwalk. They were a bit dizzy from the quick tumble, but were as glad to be there as Garnet, Emerald, and Steven were to see them.
Peridot, Applejack, and Lapis Lazuli.

"Howdy," said AJ.

"Howdy," replied Garnet.

"WOW what timing! Peridot, we were just ready to think of looking for ya. Think you can get up to Ponyville for a second?" Steven asked. However, Peridot started to snicker a little bit, Emerald and Steven unsure where this was going until …

"DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUN!" Peridot shouted, as she dramatically presented all of their Portal Keys! Well if they wanted surprises, they sure got it on seeing those in their presence! And they knew these were the real deal when Steven's key began to laugh and smile on seeing his owner there. The keys got themselves out of their keychain, and Steven's key happily landed right in Steven's hands, his eyes starry and bewildered. Garnet's key did the same thing, alongside AJ's key.

"Y-You three got our keys back?! How'd you even do that?!" Steven gasped.

"It must've been difficult to get passed all that security White Diamond had set up," Garnet said, adjusting her glasses.

"No, no," Lapis said, "We were in Klugetown. Some giant rat named Verko was trying to sell them to a bunch of customers. Don't know how he got them, but we got em back," Lapis explained.

"... Klugetown?"

"Some odd place in Equus full of human-animal hybrids who's main purpose seemingly is to make deals and bargains with every other creature they meet," Peridot explained.

"I think the word your looking for is Anthropomorphic. Anthro for short," Emerald said.

"W-Well, whatever. Just hope we're not going back again: those freaks kept trying to sell us. SELL US! Seriously," Peridot griped. No way will she return to that kind of place if she and Lazuli were only gonna be seen as nothing but walking price tags. Talk about your good surprises.

"Whelp, we were looking for random, we got random. But a good random," Steven said. Emerald couldn't help but agree on it. What're the odds some naked mole rat would have their own Portal Keys anyway? As weird and out of place as that would sound, at least they got them back.

"So now I wouldn't have to be everyone's personal pilot in between worlds anymore. I can finally do what I want without being on one of those leather "leashes"," Peridot said in relief. Emerald started to feel a bit more cheeky again, sliding up to Peridot.

"And here I thought you'd like jumping about back and forth. Too much for a tough Gem like you?" Emerald joked. Peridot just groaned, a sense of Deja Vu as well since she said the same thing to him before. While he wanted to continue this, Steven immediately got an answer to Emerald's previous question, snapping his fingers in realization.

"Let's get the Mane Six to come with us!" Steven decided.

"Steven, that's what we would do. We're trying for non-normality remember?" Emerald reminded.

"AH, but we'd normally go with them for a camping trip in Equestria. Eh? Eh?" Steven explained. Emerald realized he had a point, though any camping trip would be new for them to do either way.

"Oooooohhhh. K AJ, what do ya say? Wanna get the others and come with us?" Emerald offered. Might as well ask the first pony they see to get this started. Applejack wasn't sure at first, considering they were just going off back from Klugetown and avoided being sold to some anthro buyer. Well, on the bright side, her Cutie Mark was no longer glowing as of now, so perhaps it would be best to try anywhere else outside Klugetown.

"Eh, why don't y'all give us some time to calm down. We just got back, and we just got these. I'll see when we can do it," Applejack promised. Better than a straight up no.

"Oh, yea, of course. We just thought of the idea now anyway, we'll plan it out when we can head off," Emerald said. He wasn't gonna randomly pop up there no matter how much they were trying to be random.

"Alrighty then. First thing I'm gonna do is get these keys back to the others. Here Steven, get this to Amethyst would ya?" AJ asked, tossing Amethyst's key to him as she had the rest of the Mane Six's keys, which at the moment were still on the key chain. None of the ponies were in this world anyway, no point for them to jump up and bolt for it. It was good enough for them.

"Sure thing, Applejack. Camping time awaits!" Steven beamed. Soon, the group began to split up, as AJ used her Portal Key to head off back home, the others going off to find Amethyst to show her respected Portal Key. Lapis, all smiles, grabbed Peridot and Steven and took off to do just that. This left Emerald and Garnet for the moment.

"Well, who'd of thought a mole rat would have those keys? Hey G, think you can check your Future Vision to check the weather for us?" Emerald asked. But Garnet was left kinda silent about what just happened.

"... They were in Klugetown? …"

"Earth to Garnet, you in there?" Emerald asked, jumping to Garnet's level so his voice was right in her ear. Garnet snapped back.

"Eh, sorry. Weather, yes. I'll need to know where the camping trip will be first before I can do that," Garnet explained. Fair enough.

"I'll let you know then. See ya later, and thanks for the robot brawl. That was sweet!" and with that Emerald went off on his way. Garnet was left alone for a brief moment, Garnet still trying to figure out how this could even happen.

"Hmm …"

~~~~~~

This sort of decision was a little bit harder to figure out overall: figuring out where to go and when the others would be free in particular. Emerald, being more familiar with many of Earth's places in his thousands of years of time, was in charge of picking out the location in question, and when he figured that out, Garnet got her Future Vision handled on what weather would be best to go there. Steven got the gear together and what activities they could do during this trip of theirs, and as Applejack promised, she checked in with the rest of her friends on what they could do and when they could come along. It was basic stuff really, even if the decision was completely random and out of nowhere. Then again, random and out of nowhere was what they were aiming for, so they succeeded in that regard at least.
The work eventually ended that following weekend (typically when a camping trip would be done). The group gathered up over by the Temple for the main meet-up, and plenty of the group had met up as Applejack promised. The group was a fairly large one: Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, Applejack and Apple Bloom, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, Greg and Steven, Peridot and Lapis, Emerald, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Garnet.
Quite a big group indeed, and they all had their own bit of objects for the trip itself. It may be an overnight thing, but it was still something any camper would end up doing. Peridot and Lapis Lazuli both weren't exactly there, but Garnet assured them they didn't have to worry about waiting for them, and just needed the whole group together here.

"This is so exciting! What do you think we'll see when we get there?" asked Scootaloo, her wings beating like that of hummingbirds.

"We could end up seeing anythin'," Apple Bloom said, "Especially with those other critters that kept poppin up, right sis?"

"Let's try to avoid meeting another one of em fer now," Applejack insisted. They were interesting, sure, but they weren't going on this trip just for some monster hunt. Garnet counted out all of the campers present with them. All present and accounted for. With a nod of her head, and pulled out her own Portal Key, and with a bit of nostalgia filling in as she did, she walked to the back and used it on the temple door.

"Alright everyone, one at a time. Just step through and we'll be at the site," Garnet reassured them all. Rainbow Dash flew in first, just in case the key might've been a little rusty in opening portals, but she flew back in and waved her hoof for the rest to follow. Some were a bit hesitant, but with some encouragement, they all were off through, with Garnet being the last to step through.

Their walk through the portal was a short one, and wasn't all that bad. Pretty soon, everyone had made it through, and they all found themselves in a rather new location. With the autumn weather, it made the whole world look very colorful, even with the spare pine trees scattered about. The group found themselves over by a clearing, situated right next to a large, calm lake. Other trees, namely oak, spruce, and such, were shaded off from greens to a vibrant coloration of oranges, yellows, reds, and browns. It was a pretty nice sight to see, and a good spot to set up camp.

"What's this place?" asked Starlight.

"Welcome to Celestial Lake," said Emerald, "Found this patch of heaven a thousand years ago. Looks just as good as before too." It sure didn't look like a Gem location, but it still looked pretty good for what it was.

"Alright campers! Line up!"

Then came Peridot and Lapis. A camping trip was a pretty good opportunity for them to bring out their inner "Camp Pining Hearts", and were dressed up like a camp counselor for the part of camp advisor. The outfits were pretty standard for a camp counselor, and they even had on some camp "badges", Peridot having a pair of shades over her eyes.

"So that's what they've been up to," Emerald thought.

"What're you two doing?" Rainbow asked.

"You see, Rainbow, we thought it would be beneficial for everybody for us to escort you throughout this mission while utilizing our expertise," Peridot explained. Lapis just smiled.

"In short, we wanna come along to try out our camping skills," Lapis answered. Emerald can't help but snicker on seeing Peridot like this. They weren't going on anything elaborate, it was just some small overnight stay at the Celestial Lake, not too much to worry about. A nice gesture anyway.

"Well, thanks you two. Well, everyone, let's start setting up camp," Greg suggested. That was something they all could agree on, no doubt, and with some magic users in Twilight and Starlight, this shouldn't take very long at all. As they were beginning to do that though, Emerald began to stretch and bring out one of his hexagon pieces, stepping onto it.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Peridot yelled.

"Checking out the area. I'll be back later. Have fun with setting up camp," Emerald said. Before any of them could stop him, Emerald flew up and away. Well, guess they weren't going to get his help.

"We'll catch up with him later. come on, let's get these tents up," Twilight suggested. Still, seeing Emerald just go off didn't suit very well for Garnet. Wasn't this his idea in the first place? Why would he just bail off so soon?

"Starlight? Think you can go and keep an eye on him?" Garnet asked. Starlight was working on her own tent when Garnet asked the question, and just got it all set up when she trotted over to her.

"You say something?"

"Emerald. I want someone to watch him, think you can do that for me?" Garnet asked. Starlight found this a bit of a quick request, but this wasn't too much trouble for the unicorn to handle. So long as she could keep up with him, that is.

*grrrrr*

~~~~~~

It had been a pretty long day after things had gotten settled down, and properly set up. They had basically all day to do whatever they wanted to do from there once the tents were all set, so it was camp activities galore for many of them. Pony, Human, and Gem alike all were having a ball in their own way, be it either relaxing over by the campsite, or exploring the world around the Celestial Lake. The ponies were mainly exploring around this part since they've never been here before, AJ, Pinkie, and RD mostly. Twilight and Starlight stuck around the campsite most of the time, but they did go off with them when encouraged to check something out. Greg and Steven spent the day doing some fishing out of the lake, and while what they did catch wasn't too much for them, they did get some father son quality time out of it. Plus what fish they did catch weren't all that bad either: a couple of bluegill, a bass or two. Of course, Lapis did give a hand in some catch-and-release too. Speaking of, Lapis and Peridot were having their own fun in this counseling game they were doing. The two mainly played out as if they were in charge of the camp, but everyone knew it was all in good fun so they didn't worry about it too much.
Much of their activities did shift around a bit thanks to Garnet's suggestions. Much of the activities mentioned on her end for them to do included them playing hide and seek in the trees, some Simon Says for a bit, cloud-watching here, some swimming there. It was a mangled mess on what Garnet wanted to do one point onward to the next, and the only one keeping up was Pinkie Pie herself. Leave it to the pink mare to keep pace with Pinkie ideas like hers.

Anyway, day slowly began to turn to night off in the nearby forest, and the autumn brisk air started to loom around the area. The night was very dim in light, the moon not providing enough to give everyone very much to see in this mess of dark blue sky and shadows of the trees. This would be the perfect night for bats to start fluttering, and for owls to begin their routines. As these creatures were starting to come about, another kind of creature was moving about through the underbrush. And this creature had been in position off nearby the campsite all day, watching them all go about all over the place doing who knows what. It was out of sight for a good while, as none of them suspected any sort of danger anywhere in the area.
With it now night time, the group got themselves handled over by a warm fire, courtesy of some magical tricks from Starlight Glimmer. A fire spell wasn't at all complicated.

"What a day. I feel exhausted," sighed Steven, but he was still happy either way.

"I feel tired too!" Pinkie said, as she cart-wheeled passed the set up fire. It'd been a while since they got a full fun day like this. With the quiet world now starting to come about, the sounds of crickets and owl hoots began to fill the air. It all sounded pretty soothing for some of them, though some of the sounds did begin to unnerve a few. In particular, Scootaloo started to get slightly antsy, as some of the sounds didn't sound too pleasing. That became especially apparent when an owl screeched off in the woods somewhere.

"So what's left to do to wrap up a camping night?" Emerald asked, though by the look on his face, he probably knew the answer.

"That's fairly easy: stories," Greg said. Rainbow Dash perked up on it.

"You want stories? I've got a ton of stories! Spoiler alert – they're all about me and how awesome I am!"

"I was thinkin' more like campfire stories?" Greg corrected.

"Sounds dandy! I'll get us started up," AJ said. Scootaloo then heard another screeching owl again, Fluttershy wrapping a wing around her.

"Y-you're not gonna tell us any scary stories, are you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Don't you worry. I was just gonna tell y'all about mine and Apple Bloom's favorite legend," Applejack answered. Apple Bloom immediately got excited on hearing that.

"You mean Rockhoof? I love that one! He was so strong, and when he -"

"Apple Bloom! We haven't heard of it yet," Steven quickly said. He didn't want to be spoiled of it, same as anyone else.

"Sorry. But it's so good," Apple Bloom squeaked. Applejack turned to the others.

"Well it's true: Rockhoof was known far and wide for his incredible strength. But he didn't start out that way. You see, Rockhoof was a tiny, little fella. The son of a farmer."

"Just like us!" Apple Bloom chimed in. Applejack didn't want any interruptions, so Apple Bloom hunkered down, and waited for her sister to continue. Applejack knew how excited Apple Bloom was so she didn't hit her down for it. So Applejack began to tell her story.

"He lived in a village that sat at the foot of a GIGANTIC volcano …"

---(Start flashback)---

And the village was protected by an elite group of guard ponies, called the Mighty Helm.

The time of the renaissance. Like Applejack stated, a lone village was settled next to such a mountainous volcano was placed. Although plenty older than many towns today, much of the buildings were built up of hay and wood, much like the buildings back in Ponyville, if not a little less extravagant in color. Mares, stallions, fillies and colts were all dressed and outfitted with ye olde' cloth and leather, much like how one would dress for the medieval times. The skies were clear, and today the villagers were in sight of a dueling match between two large, muscular stallions in a middle of a sparring match, going at eachother with spears. It was a pretty exciting thing to see, though those days it was a more commonplace to see it. Many a knight would do this to pass the time. The larger pony finally managed to knock his opponent's spear aside, aiming his own right at his opponent's chest. Scary, maybe, but in the end both sides just laughed at the fun. A mare pony of the Mighty Helm nearby threw an axe right to a nearby target, hitting a bullseye.
Off nearby was Rockhoof himself. and much like what Applejack had said, the young pony sure didn't appear like a pony of pure strength. In fact, he looked kinda scrawny. A pale, light cyan blue coat, his mane and tail a sort of gamboge color with a golden stripe through it, and his eyes a greyish blue. He went right over to the axe in question, and tried to pull it out. But with every yank, and tug, and pull, Rockhoof just couldn't dislodge it from its place. In the end, Rockhoof stumbled off back to the Mighty Helm, who all simply laughed at him. One of the mighty Helm did give him something to do. … In the form of a shovel.

Rockhoof wanted nothing more than to be in the Mighty Helm, but he was told he was too scrawny and weak to protect the village. But Rockhoof wouldn't take no fer an answer!

So Rockhoof began to get busy with it. Sure, it wasn't anything like what he had in mind, but the determined pony was not going to give this up so easily. His main role in shoveling the latrines for the village he took with some bitter determination. As he kept doing this though, he began to feel the ground shake up. And what did he find?

Then one day … the volcano erupted!

Rockhoof screamed in shock on seeing the menacing beast of mother nature start to bellow and roar, black smoke roaring up from its heated core, and lava starting to come down in a slow slide, right towards the village! Rockhoof's scream summed up the fear that everypony felt when they began to see the volcano start to erupt and threaten the lives of everypony there. The Mighty Helm was quick to notice this as well, with pressure all on their heads to try and figure out what to do.
There was little to no time to actually figure something out, so the mighty Helm had only one option in their fight-or-flight response. And their only option was the latter. It took little time for them to get a boat up and ready for the villagers to get out of there. The Mighty Helm waited for them all to get themselves on, but their answer was as sad as it was troubling for the Helm.

Their only option was to evacuate the village. But the villagers had spent their whole lives there - they had nowhere else to go! None of them would leave their homes … and neither did Rockhoof. For he was about to do somethin crazy!

Seeing the mighty Helm leave the village to their fate was not good enough for this pony. Seeing the danger that was advancing down, Rockhoof charged directly at the flow, shovel locked in his teeth. None of the villagers even realized what was going on with him, and Rockhoof had gotten himself in a cliffside, in between the village and the volcano. His plan?
Dig. Shovel spearing the dirt, and in quick turns of the head, Rockhoof quickly began to dig down hard into the earth, but this wasn't just some simple hole he was digging into. He began moving as fast as he could ever manage, stabbing the ground and throwing the dirt off aside. His main goal was in his sights, and the only place where the lava can go where nopony would ever be harmed: the ocean. He just had to get it there. And get there he was going to do, even if it kills him. Which at this point, looked very much likely. One of the Mighty Helm, who was trying to get the ponies to a safe location finally saw Rockhoof up on the cliffside, looking completely shocked that somepony would fight such impossible odds like this. This same expression was shared by the villagers, as Rockhoof continued, feeling the growing heat of the lava coming closer to him.

He continued to work, knowin' the odds were against him, but determined to push through it. Then, somethin' magical happened.

Rockhoof continued getting his shovel into the ground as fast as he could, but for many a pony observing him, it was a losing battle. But then, when he stabbed his shovel down once more, he suddenly found himself in sights of a flash of light, which moved up the shovel and right onto him! Rockhoof didn't know what'll happen, but in a flash, he found that something happened to him that changed everything. From such a scrawny pony, he blossomed into the mightiest horse one could ever see: his body no longer just skin and bone, and now packed strong with muscle to rival any pony.
As amazing as this transformation was, he had little time to celebrate or comprehend what even happened to him, as the lava was practically on top of him! Grabbing his shovel, with seconds to spare, his digging turned into a full on gallop, with his shovel digging a trench at lightning speed. The lava chased after him like a killer predator, and Rockhoof knew if he slowed down now, not only will he lose his life, but all the village as well. Even if he were to survive, he could never live knowing his home would be destroyed, not in the name of Equestria! Almost before he even realized it, Rockhoof slammed through the cliff leading right to the sea. And without a second to spare, he jumped out of the trench and all the flowing lava finally got to the sea.
The village was saved. The Mighty Helm had seen everything: this once scrawny and weak pony had did the impossible, and something none of the Mighty Helm would even dare to do. Rockhoof jumped across his ravine, and met with the Mighty Helm, as everypony cheered and praised their village hero.

Through his extraordinary determination and sheer force o' will, Rockhoof more than earned his place in the Mighty Helm.

---(end flashback)---

"Good story, Applejack! Even if it wasn't about me," Rainbow Dash said, very impressed with Rockhoof's ability. Not everyday can somepony go and dig a trench seconds before lava could touch them.
Just before anypony could continue though, another, louder owl screech echoed around them, making Scootaloo freak out a little bit.

"W-What was that?"

"It's just an owl," stated Garnet.

"In particular a northern screech owl," added in expert counselor Peridot. Scootaloo was still a bit worried, as they couldn't see too much beyond their own campfire. Rainbow Dash went on over to Scootaloo.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out Scootaloo. You're thinking about the wrong thing. Here, try me," Rainbow insisted.

"You? You know what it is?" Scootaloo asked, glancing around to try and find the noise.

"Close. I have a story."

"Let me guess. It's about you?" Applejack questioned.

"Practically," Rainbow said smugly, as she sat over by the fire. "It's about my favorite legend: Flash Magnus!" Rainbow said his name with her chest puffed out and wings spread to show her own idea of strength.

"Isn't he the one that fought the dragons?" asked Apple Bloom.

"D-DRAGONS?! You mean big mean ones, or like Spike?" Scootaloo asked nervously. Rainbow got into the zone with this.

"Oh, these were definitely the BIG SCARY KIND!" Rainbow's response just got Scootaloo curled up into a ball.

"Eh, Rainbow? Starlight stated.

"Uh, but not too scary," Rainbow humbly corrected. "You can sit next to me if you want. I promise you'll like the ending." Scootaloo needed no further prompting, and she bolted right next to Rainbow Dash. They were already intrigued with Applejack's story, so they were more than ready to hear what Rainbow Dash's legend was all about. Rainbow was more than ready to begin hers, and with a confident smile, she began.

"A long time ago, before the Wonderbolts were even founded …"

---(start flashback)---

Up in the skies above ancient Equestria, the clouds were in the presence of a group of Pegesi flying through. Each one of these pegasi were armed up in Romanian knight armory, the leading commander flying along ahead of the herd, with multiple pegasi flying behind in V formation. Equestria below saw the squadron fly on by, and some stopped to give them a salute, with some of the pegasi responding with their own salute below. Amongst these ponies flying through the skies was a particular Pegasus. A Pegasus of amber fur, dark red mane and tail, and turquoise eyes. Flash Magnus was in his prime, and appeared a flawless warrior apart from a few notable cuts on his feathers. This pony was no stranger to conflict, giving a "wing-five" to his fellow soldiers as he went along.

Flash Magnus was a lowly cadet of the Royal Legion. And one day, the legion under his following had to fly through the Dragon Lands to reach their comrades on the otherside.

Their flight through these lands in particular was not any simple fly through. The skies began to thicken, and full of smoke, making it hard for any of them to breathe, let alone see. The ground below was as rugged as the dragons and Slingtails that lived there, some looking up and growling in anticipation for them to fly down close enough. Anypony could easily be a good snack for any of them, or some good target practice in the case of the Slingtails. So, the ponies had to keep up good and high to stay out of their range.
The squadron thought they would be fine, but turned out it wasn't the dragons on the ground they had to worry about. Especially when they started to see a set of glowing eye cut through the thick mist and smoke. The legion had to get through, surely, but there were just some things they couldn't plan for. And now, a gigantic dragon stared the legion down, large enough to swallow them all whole! And even worse, a secondary dragon showed up. Two large, hungry, and angry dragons had the entire group cornered! Fight-or-flight began to kick in on the legion, and try as they might, their attempts were met with open jaws and blasts of fire. There was only one option to take.

"Everypony! Retreat!" called the commander. The legion did try to do that, but three of the members were suddenly split off of the group with a swing of a dragon tail. Flash Magnus stumbled in the air for a bit, but got himself straight just enough to grab a fellow commander and put him straight right. The situation had turned critical, and even more so with a draconic claw reached out and grabbed his friend, pulling him back into the darkness of the smoke!

"NO!" he shouted, trying to fly to get him, but he was cut short when the first dragon swung his mighty tail at Flash, cutting him short. Flash bolted skyward, but could no longer see any of his missing comrades anywhere. That was, until both dragons met up, two of his friends gripped tight in the second dragon's claws. They struggled, screamed, but try as they might, they weren't escaping. Flash was ready to bolt in, but suddenly his commander burst out of the cover of smoke, grabbing him and pulling him downward. His friends were caught.

He managed to get away, but the dragons captured his friends and took them back to their lair!

The squadron had managed to move down to a more secure location, albeit close to the draconic pair's lair. No other dragons or Slingtails would even dare get close to their dragon lords, so the pegasi had found a place to stop and gather their nerves together. The commander tried to calm down his other comrades, who were very shaken up. All but one.

"Commander! We have to rescue our comrades!" stated Flash. The commander however shook his head.

"I appreciate your loyalty, but getting passed Torch and his mate will be impossible! Nothing will work," the commander stated. Torch was the dragon lord of the time, and the toughest dragon in the entirety of the Dragon Lands. He didn't earn his status as dragon lord for nothing, and they all knew that. Flash Magnus looked on towards Torch's lair, knowing well that both of his comrades were trapped in there. Flash could only imagine what sort of danger they could be in, unless they do something. The cadet got his mind to work, and then he got an idea.

"Commander Ironhead," Flash said, getting the commander's attention. "I think I can outfly Torch and his mate: if I can lure those two into chasing me, you can sneak into his lair and rescue our comrades."

"Are you willing to take that chance, soldier?" Ironhead asked. Flash Magnus gave his commander a salute with his wing.

"I am. Sir." Flash was not showing an inch of fear, not an ounce. The words of a true warrior.

"... you need all the help you can get," said Commander Ironhead. It was then that Flash Magnus was presented something that even he didn't prepare for. Pulling it out of his own armor, Ironhead presented a shield to Flash Magnus. A gleaming copper shield, with the emblem of the Pegasi engraved on it. Flash Magnus was stunned.

"Is this … Netitus? The fireproof shield?!" he gasped.

"It has protected ancient heros for generations. And now, I can't think of a worthier flank for Netitus to protect. Good luck, soldier," Ironhead said, giving his salute to the cadet.
It's now or never. As the rest of the squad waited, Flash Magnus flew up right to the mouth of Torch's cave. He was about to come face-to-face with the dragon lord of all dragons of the lands, armed with only the shield. And even then the odds were stacked hard. He knew just as well that his friends were counting on him. Time to go.

"HEY, FIREBREATH! You want a snack, well I'm right here! Come and get me if you can! Hey! Come on!" Flash shouted, banging the shield to be sure they heard him. Dragon lord Torch's eyes pierced through the darkness of his home, seeing the pony getting his attention. No one mocks the dragon lord and lives to tell it. Torch responded with a huge blast of fire directly at the Pegasus, and Flash curled up just enough for the shield to cover him. As the legends of the shield say, it was enough to block off the fire, the heat and blaze missing him by a few strands of his own mane. Flash had to go.

As Flash Magnus flew for his life, his fellow pegasi swooped in to get his friends. Both the dragons were on top of him! He flew fast as the wind, faster than the dragons! But he knew he couldn't do this forever.

Up in the smoke-filled skies, Flash darted here there and everywhere, as torch and his mate were right on his back hooves. They were large, strong, and gave him little to maneuver, Flash Magnus made sure to keep just enough distance between himself and their deadly jaws. The shield was doing its job for him, and keeping the fire from scorching him. Just as fast, he was armed just enough to give the dragons a worthy adversary. Even if the shield protected him, the force of the blast made it a challenge just to keep the shield up and not have it fall off of him. In a combined blast of fire by both dragons, Flash glanced to ground level, and saw that all of his troops were out, but the dragons would get a shared snack if they didn't do anything.
Luckily they got pre-planned for this: the squadron, rushing up as fast as they could, gathering whatever clouds were amongst the smoke, they gathered them into a deadlier threat than even the dragons themselves. A storm. And a big one! Once the last clouds were set in place, Commander Ironhead whistled good and strong for Flash Magnus to hear. The Pegasus heard them just enough, and flew as fast as his wings could carry him, straight into the storm! Torch and his mate rushed right into the storm after Flash, and the action from the squadron's view could only be seen through flashes of lightning. A small Pegasus against two giant dragons, each flash showing all three in a horrifying rough-house of lightning and thunder.
Soon, the action began to quiet down after a screech could be heard within the cloud. Torch and his mate, singed severely and grudgingly, had to retreat. One small Pegasus just wasn't worth it. The battalion stayed quiet and waited a bit for Flash Magnus, who didn't come out from the fight yet. …

*cough*cough*

Flash Magnus, his fur tingling and burnt from the lightning and fire, emerged from the storm a hero.

Flash Magnus' plan worked! He arrived in the Dragon Lands a lowly cadet, and left the Dragon Lands as the bravest Pegasus in all of Cloudsdale!

---(end flashback)---

"Wow! I did like that ending," Scootaloo said.

"Told ya!" Rainbow Dash said, lifting up Scootaloo, "He always inspired me to be my brave and awesome self."

"Yeah, I guess he kinda reminds me of you," said Lapis Lazuli.

"Tch! You guess? Come on, I'm just like him!" Rainbow insisted. That just made the others giggle a bit. Starlight Glimmer was enjoying these stories quite a bit, but then Garnet decided to try a little something.

"Why don't you tell a story, Starlight?" Garnet asked. Starlight was a little taken aback.

"A story? Ok, let's see …" Starlight tried to think up of something. As a pony who had been going on a walkabout for quite a long time since leaving her village, odds were that she would've known at least one story she picked up in her travels. It wasn't too pleasing to remember herself as that equalist like before, but eventually she started to think up a story.

"I got one! I picked it up while going through southern Equestria. There was a Pegasus who lived there named Somnambula. I found a village under her name, and the townsfolk REALLY hold a lot of value in her," Starlight explained.

"Somnambula. Somnambula … I've heard of the place, but not the pony. What's that story about?" Twilight said, trying to think of it. Starlight began to notice that they were waiting for the story. Starlight cleared her throat.

"Long ago, there was a village who befell to a predator, known simply as the Sphinx …"

---(start flashback)---

The dry season. A time for famine, and with barely much water around anywhere in the desert landscape, life everywhere here was in a test. For the ponies of the desert village, much of this famine wasn't caused by the lack of the nourishing rains, nor the beating of the sun. No, this village in fact had a fairly good amount of crops, grown from the reservoirs of their labor. Wheat, sugarcane, grains and the sort were grown in fair abundance, enough for a village of its size to be fairly well nourished for a good year or two. However, this village and its pony residents were not having much of it.
One farming group was about to pay the toll to a large creature, as it landed down over by the family group. A tall animal, head of a pony, body of a prime lion, and wings of a mighty eagle. She had fur of dark cerise, and mane of dark indigo, and her eyes of amber stared them all down with warning. If these ponies didn't pay her toll, then she would take them away, and nopony wanted to become apart of her prison. All the Sphinx had to do was stare and glare them down for the point to get across to them, and they quickly gave the Sphinx the crops they've worked O so hard to plant. The Sphinx got about five bags of wheat from them before she felt satisfied, and with a grin, she grabbed them with her front paws and flew off. The blowback from her wings knocked some of the ponies off of their own hooves, as the Sphinx moved off back to her pyramid temple home, off just outside of the village in question. Those within the market cowered as she flew passed, but the Sphinx was pretty good for the day.
Except for one. A young Pegasus, light scarlet in fur and feathers and mane of arctic blue, and after seeing the Sphinx fly by, young Somnambula went on back to her own work.

Like her fellow villagers, Somnambula didn't have much, but she used what she had to keep others from giving up hope.

And this was well demonstrated as she went to give her payment to some bread. she used the only item of value she had left on her own person: a string of pearls around her neck. Anypony today wouldn't do such, but Somnambula didn't want to see anypony in her village go hopeless, or hungry. In fact, for an elder pony nearby a market stand (who by the way, didn't have a bit on her to pay), the generous Pegasus used her pearls to buy a loaf of bread, and to the elder mare's own hope, the Pegasus gave it to her. Somnambula may be hungry herself, but the others in her village came first.

"Oh. Thank you. You're very kind, dear," the elder mare said with a weak smile. Somnambula nodded and watched her go off on her way. She felt pretty good herself for seeing the baker with the pearls too, which could be worth plenty. The Pegasus began to head off on her way, but the villager didn't notice that somepony else observed her act of generosity and hope, and he became very intrigued and touched by this. He was just passing by on his way to the palace, but seeing Somnambula do this in such bleak times was a rarity in of itself. Somnambula moved along a bit more until she began to hear somepony walk towards her.

"P-Prince Hisan," Somnambula realized, turning around and bowing to the prince. Hisan though wasn't there to trouble her like that, and brought her gaze to meet his own.

"Somnambula, is it? We're in such harsh times with the Sphinx. Yet, you don't appear to have lost your faith," Hisan noted. Somnambula straightened up and nodded.

"The last thing I would ever want is to see everypony give in to the Sphinx like this," Somnambula replied, looking back to the elder mare from earlier. Hisan looked back to the villagers in question, seeing everypony try to go about their day with some form of spirit. Typically Hisan didn't consider it much, but with one villager trying to keep their faith alive, he knew something had to be done.

"Don't worry. You won't ever see that."

The son of the Pharaoh, Prince Hisan, was so moved by her compassion that he decreed nopony would go hungry again. But then came the day of reckoning ...

One day, the Sphinx had exited her home and went over to the village again. This time, her sights were set over towards the market, which was a bigger hit on the village than one of the crop fields. As if times weren't bad enough for the villagers, the Sphinx was targeting the center of their core now. She aimed her eyes to those of the marketplace, a instinctual sense of fear washing over most of them. Invasions on the village itself weren't as common as invasions on the fields themselves, but the Sphinx took a higher toll when attacking the markets. Somnambula, who was amongst the crowds, tried to remain hopeful, and tried not to have any of the other villagers turn tail and run, even having a young filly under her wing to comfort her. But for one market pony though, he was in the Sphinx's sight, and the creature stood tall, dwarfing the pony.

"Well? Where's the crop?" the Sphinx questioned, noting the lack of response from the pony. The Sphinx leaned in, but before she could do much, her cat ears started to hear the sound of numerous hooves coming at her.

"You're not taking anypony's crops, Sphinx!" decreed a voice. The Sphinx turned and found that the prince and even pharaoh had come out with a number of their guards, all armed with spears and aimed at the ready. The Sphinx knew retaliation when she saw it, and barred her feline teeth in a growl.

"Is that so? Pony?" the Sphinx inquired.

"I've watched you tear this village apart day by day. I won't stand by any longer and watch you destroy it of all its worth! CEASE HER!" Hisan ordered. On instruction, the guards went in to attack, throwing spear sky high right to the animal. She glared, but all she had to do, much to their trouble, was prepare her wing and in one swing of her wing, knocked all the spears out of sight like twigs. None of them even punctured her! The Sphinx roared at them, and suddenly rushed forward. Hisan tried to run, but the Sphinx got him right by the back of the neck, as if she grabbed her own cub. Hisan struggled, but everypony couldn't do much before the Sphinx flew off with him!

the beast told the Pharaoh the only way to get Hisan back was to solve her riddle. Nopony would volunteer to save the prince. Nopony except Somnambula.

Walking out to the open to see the distraught king, Somnambula was more than ready to get to the task at hoof. The Pharaoh was left in wonder for the Pegasus coming forward where none of his disarmed guards would go off for him.

"You're Somnambula. My son told me about you. You've been trying to keep this village from surrendering to that monster," the pharaoh noted. Somnambula bowed in respect, and nodded her head.

"Please. Save my son," the pharaoh said, almost a hint of pleading in his voice. Somnambula was ready to head off after the prince and Sphinx well before the pharaoh would give her the green light to do so. Her village had suffered so much, losing the prince just wasn't an option.

"I swear on my own wings. I will return him safe and sound. Don't lose your faith yet," Somnambula promised. And a promise the Pegasus was going to keep, no matter what the case may be.
The village all knew where the Sphinx lived, and Somnambula was no exception, so after making the promise, the Pegasus galloped straight to the pyramid. Somnambula opened her wings in her gallop and soon took off into the air, the world of desert turning dark and cold as she found the entrance to the pyramid. The hallway she flew through lead her straight to the main chamber. She could see the prince trapped on a lone pedestal above a deep pit. Even if she was nowhere near the edge, she could tell the bottom of the pit was full of acid. One slip and one touch and you were dead. In between her and the prince was the Sphinx itself, staring daggers down at her. Somnambula didn't waver, something the Sphinx found interesting.

"I've come for the prince, Sphinx," Somnambula made clear. The Sphinx looked down like an alpha to her subjects.

"So I see. Remember: you must solve my riddle. Be warned, I've used this riddle many times before your village. And none of them could figure it out," the Sphinx warned. Somnambula was not going to turn tail now.

"I'm ready."

The sphinx gave her riddle.

"I can be found in all the universe, but can be seen by none. I shine brighter than the brightest star. I'm stronger than a dragon, but as fragile as a flower. I'm your ally, but can be your enemy. To have me costs you nothing. But to lose me costs you everything."
Somnambula began to think and wonder on it. It sure was a complicated one. She could be found anywhere, but never seen, can be her friend or foe, strong as a dragon but fragile as a flower, and to lose her would cost her everything. Somnambula was puzzled. But as she tried to think, she then started to put the clues together through her own village. All those ponies going through so much hardship because of this Sphinx, and what she had been trying to do. She had it. And the Sphinx had it too for the longest time.

"Hope!" she shouted. The Sphinx paused, but her face grew into anger. This Sphinx was NOT pleased with the right answer.

The Sphinx was so enraged, it seemed she might still refuse to release the prince! So Somnambula decided a compromise.

"Sphinx! You can give me one more challenge, whatever you want it to be! But if I succeed, then you are to leave this place forever!" Somnambula proposed. The roars from the Sphinx began to die down a bit, the animal starting to see the deal. The Sphinx smiled, showing her teeth.

"You're on. So here's my challenge. All you have to do … is walk to the prince."

A surprisingly simple task, of course, but the Sphinx was NOT going to make it that easy. For a start, the Sphinx summoned a blindfold, wrapped tightly around Somnambula's eyes so she couldn't see anything. Another flash, and suddenly Somnambula's wings were locked down, and she couldn't budge them. They were like rocks attached to her sides now. Somnambula remembered that a bridge straight in front of her lead right to the prince, but the Sphinx then started to do some mind games: slamming the wall nearby, and snapping what sounded like rope, Somnambula thought that the Sphinx had cut the bridge! How was she supposed to cross now? The Sphinx, confident that it won't work, pushed Somnambula up to the starting platform. One more extra trick, just to be sure nopony cheated, she summoned a gag over Hisan's mouth to keep him quiet. Hisan can't help, and as far Somnambula knew, there was no method to just walk to him.

But Somnambula never lost hope! She knew she'd need to make a leap of faith to save the prince.

Somnambula backed up, counting out the exact steps she did to get a good running start. The Sphinx sat aside and thought that Somnambula was too scared to go. The Pegasus gave a slow breath, and then she started to gallop forward. At the very edge of the cliff, she made her jump as far as her legs could allow her. It was then Somnambula hit down onto what felt like the bridge, but now feeling half way, she couldn't give up now. She was still blind folded, and still one false step away from falling to her death. Hisan was scared for her, and he tried to speak as best he could do to make sure the Pegasus didn't step off. Somnambula was as quiet as a mouse, and with one hoof in front of the other, she began to listen in to the muffled voice of Hisan, and started moving in closer to him. Somnambula didn't stop moving until her hoof felt what almost felt like the hooves of Hisan. That was only confirmed when Hisan himself grabbed her blindfold and tossed it aside.
The Sphinx was defeated. But as angry as the animal was, she knew a deal was a deal, and in grudging defeat, the Sphinx ran right out of the pyramid. Once she got outside, her wings spread and she flew away, this time away from the village as everypony watched. Silence hung in the air, and when the pharaoh looked back to the pyramid, out stepped both Hisan and Somnambula. Her promise was kept, and succeeded.

The Pharaoh asked how Somnambula prevailed, and she explained that she had always hoped she could make things better for her people and that hope had carried her through. The Prince replaced the pearls Somnambula gave up with a string of glowpaz. And around her neck, they glowed bright enough to light the entire kingdom.

---(end flashback)---

"WOWIE! She stood up to that meanie Sphinx all by herself!" Pinkie gasped. Well at least they all were liking the story, and Starlight was glad she didn't embarrass herself during the story.

"Well, it's getting late everyone. how's about we all head in for the night?" Greg suggested. They had been telling some good stories for a while, but none of them were ready to head off to sleep just yet.

"Come on, dad, one more story?" Steven asked.

"Pleeease?" added Pinkie Pie.

"Now now, it's really getting late. Don't think if we have anymore time for any stories," Greg insisted, a yawn escaping his lips.

"I think we have time for one more," Garnet stated. Now it was intriguing: Garnet should know plenty of interesting stories from her experience.

"OOOOO, Garnet's gonna tell us a story?"

"Hey, Garnet. You've been wanting to do stuff random, right? How about you randomize this?" Steven asked.

"We've been doing that."

"He mean make a story up on the fly. Improvise, make it up as you go along," Emerald corrected.

"Alright, I can do that," Garnet said. Saying stories on the fly was a bit different than saying stories from experience, but any source of creativity would have to come from free-thinking. Besides, it could be fun. And so, the group sat down and lended their ears for what kind of creature story she could come up with. Garnet needed little time to make up something for the sake of story telling, as she cleared her throat. Here goes nothing.

"A long time ago. There were two different realities …"

---(start "Flashback")---

In one reality, there lived a young maiden. A magical maiden by the name of Sophie.

The home in this story appeared in a more gloomy town than the ones described by the others. A home out in the middle of a pine forest, worn out, gloomy, and similar appearance to that of times of ye olde England. A pretty old and run down place it was, many a buildings within this village made up of gray stone. The villagers all looked tired too, all human this time for the sake of Garnet's story.
Within this crowd of humans going about their day was another, young maiden in question. Much of her outfit was rags and old cloth, much like the other villagers in her town. Her hair was well-kept though, brown and stretched down her back in a smooth wave, with the front covering her eyes. Much of her looked very much like a particular Sapphire. And at the moment, she was starting to head off towards home, namely a lone cottage. On her way though, she saw one of the kids nearby, who looked like he had seen better days. Not much of the people around her was doing all that much, but Sophie did stop to see the child by her cottage. A soft smile to the child, and a gentle hand rubbing his head got the boy to look up to her.

The town where Sophie lived was very withdrawn. not much excitement. not much love. But Sophie was one who made sure to show someone at least one act of kindness. To show that someone in her town still cared.

And for the moment, Sophie had just the thing. Her method was to help the boy smile, and Sophie decided to play a game with him. She brought one hand around to the back of the boy's head, the boy unsure what she was doing, and when she brought her hand around front, she was then holding a pretty red buttercup. The boy was surprised, but found the little gift rather beautiful. Sophie just smiled and went into her cottage, as the boy, now smiling, walked off on his way.

But as she did like helping her villagers, she too felt alone in her cottage. So, with her magic, she attempted to find a true friend. … But one faithful winter day. ...

The weather outside may be a letdown for some, but for Sophie, she had just returned from some notable item collecting, and now was working these items into what appeared to be some sort of magic. She had a book opened up nearby, which listed off the numerous items to be put together. It was something Sophie would do to pass some of her alone time. With her checking the book time and again, she started to work out the spell.
Though even magical beings don't always know what they're doing. She was focusing much of her attention on her own hands, but she didn't realize what this magic was actually doing. By the time she seemingly finished, so did the effect of this magic over on one of the walls of her home. Sophie turned to the odd sound and found that apart of the corners of her home looked a lot more like rippling water. What did she do?
In front of the maiden, moving out from the very corner of her own home, stood a ferocious creature. It looked canid in nature, but she knew better, for this monster was of no origin from her kind. Tall as the tallest horse, as dark as the shadows it appeared from. Its eyes glowed a stagnated hue of blue aura, every matter of its being sharp and edged. Its teeth were barred with primal warning, the fare maiden frozen in place in presence of the extradimensional wolf.
Sophie was dwarfed by the creature, as she tried to give it some space. Her home though held no room for a horse to roam in, so this wolf had some trouble going around the home. In a loud snarl, it found its exit through the same corner Sophie seemingly opened up, but rather than going back home, it just got itself outside, and raced off. Sophie got to the window, trying to find this creature, but it was long gone. And in witnesses regards, Sophie was not alone.

The creature became known under one name. Tindalos. And ever since its release, everyone began to fear for their lives as to what such a monster could do. The attention was brought to the queen herself, and it took little time to figure out the creature's origin.

The ruler of the kingdom was in torment. Sitting down on her throne, awaiting for what she was sure would be the culprit of this monster's release. Sophie was brought forward by a pair of the imperial guard, Sophie herself humble and quiet in front of the queen herself. The queen's face was covered in robes, leaving her eyes covered, which was probably for the better for Sophie's sake.

"My lord. We have brought you the condemned," said one of the guards. the queen simply instructed them to leave, and soon it was just her and Sophie.

"Sophie. You've been such a generous and kind person. And yet, it's you who confessed to releasing this … Tindalos. Into my kingdom?" the queen said, in a soft, yet firm voice. Sophie kept her gaze down.

"I'm very sorry, my lord. I never intended to have this happen," Sophie replied gravely.

"I know you are. But that doesn't change the fact that this Tindalos of yours, is still roaming. If such a creature is left unchecked …" the queen didn't need to finish her sentence to get the point across for poor Sophie. The queen lifted Sophie's gaze with a gentle touch of her hand.

"Sophie. You were the one who brought this creature onto us. You can also send it back."

Under the queen's instruction, Sophie was sent outside of her village, in order to put the Tindalos back. It was up to her to decide the fate of the beast.

Sophie was quiet on her walk. With soft snow underneath her shoes, and small snowflakes gently floating down from the clouds above, she went through the nearby forest to find the beast she had sent out. None of the guards were with her, and none of the villagers were willing to help either. She was alone.

*arooooo*

Sophie stopped on the ominous sound. Wolves weren't rare in the area, but this didn't sound like any normal wolf. She was worried, but the queen's instruction, and her own worry to her own village pushed her onward to follow the noise. It took her a bit to figure out where this sound came from, after passed some bushes, and admittedly it was what she expected it to be. Sort of.
Over by a old pine tree, she began to notice a creature in agony. A very large creature. Sophie wondered if a horse had become prey to some wolves, but she didn't see anything else around that could be making that noise outside of the fallen creature. Sophie slowly, and cautiously moved around to the front of the animal, and it turned out to be the Tindalos! However, the Tindalos now sure didn't look as threatening as it had before. It looked tired, cold, and its back leg was caught within what looked like a beartrap. Sophie felt conflicted: on one hand, the village would be safer without the Tindalos around, and with it stuck inside the beartrap it wouldn't be long until that would be achieved. But on the other hand …
Sophie chose the latter. And released the Tindalos's foot from the beartrap. The Tindalos needed a minute to realize its foot was no longer stuck in the trap. The Tindalos got up onto its front paws, but it howled in pain when trying to balance itself onto its back foot, falling back into the snow. Any creature would be in pain after getting caught in a beartrap. It was difficult to say how long it had been trapped, but Sophie went over to the foot, seeing the beartrap's horrifying work thanks to its killer bite. The creature growled a little when it saw Sophie move closer to the animal's hurt leg.

"Sshh. I promise I won't hurt you. Everything's going to be okay," Sophie promised. The Tindalos wasn't able to get away anyway, so all it could do was lay there as Sophie tried to work her own magic. Her hands rested on the leg, the creature cringing a little bit, but as soon as the pain shot through, it was soon gone. Sophie had healed the creature of its wound, and while its leg was still a little bit weaker, it no longer stun as bad as it did before. Sophie and the Tindalos met eye to eye, and Sophie brought a gentle hand up to the animal's face. She rubbed the animal's cheeks gently, and the Tindalos began to whimper a little bit, before it closed its eyes and nudged Sophie.
Sophie smiled, but there was one more surprise left in store. The dark body started to fade a little bit, the darkness removed much like smoke to a fire, and the canid-like shape started to morph and change into a much small, more human-like one. By the time it was finished, Sophie found herself in front of a small human, about her height. The new form didn't look threatening at all, but still had some edges on it: fingers ending in points and hair in a square. Sophie gasped in surprise, but she wasn't afraid of the Tindalos anymore than she was earlier.

"T-Thank you." it was all the Tindalos could say for what Sophie did. Sophie gave the Tindalos another surprise, and she had the Tindalos in a hug.

"Thank goodness. Are you alright?" Sophie asked, looking her eye-to-eye. Such kindness and care, the Tindalos began to cry.

"Who cares?" the Tindalos asked, smiling.

"I do," Sophie replied. The Tindalos was more than happy to return the hug, tears of joy down her face at what seemed to be the first person ever nice to her.

It was Sophie's care who had saved both her home, and the Tindalos.

---(end "Flashback")---

"So. Beautiful," said Steven. For a story made up on the spot, Garnet did a very good job on it. It got some good applause from the others.

"Well, I owe ya, I didn't think you could do it," Emerald said. All Garnet did was smile.

"That's the last story. Time for good campers to get off to bed," Garnet instructed, playfully fluffing Steven's hair. Steven wanted to stay up, but he was getting a bit tired from the long day, and for everyone there, that was a good story to end it on. Greg helped the chap up and brought him over into the tent, and bit by bit, everyone else did the same thing. This camping trip went pretty well. Garnet was the last to turn in, looking up to the stars for a moment.

And for the creature in the nearby woods, all it did was move away. It got more than enough information today ...

Garnet's Universe

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"Ready when you are! Bring it!"

Autumn continued forward, and with it now in full prime, it made perfect weather for some good ol' sparring practice. The sparring today was done with Garnet and Jasper, and the crowd off nearby consisted of the Mane Six (Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow), Steven, Blue, and Peridot. Ever since they finally got those keys back from Klugetown, they've gotten a lot more time to go back and forth, and the method much easier as well. Peridot was especially happy for it, as she can finally chill out and enjoy herself without running off doing some message, or someone's personal guide from Earth to Equus. It was a fairly nice situation either way.
Anyway, as much of the group watched, Garnet and Jasper were going at eachother, good and strong. Most of this was all in good fun, but they didn't hold back from eachother either. Each punch, kick, and swing was met with full force, something they both know they can handle. What hit was connected shook up the ground, intensifying the fight itself. Jasper was feeling pretty good with her strength, and during the fight, Garnet ended up actually getting hit with a left hook to the head. That would make anyone cringe, but Garnet got to her feet after a flip, the heel of her foot hitting Jasper in the chin. Good counterattack.

*FWEET!*

Time was up, and Pinkie provided the whistle for the timer itself. Both Garnet and Jasper stopped, though it felt kinda incomplete.

"So soon? I got a lot more fight in me," Jasper insisted.

"Next turn. Time for the best flyer in Equestria to step up to plate," Rainbow Dash said, acting as smug as usual.

"Sure thing. Don't hold back," Garnet insisted, as she got into position. Rainbow Dash was more than ready to take on the Gem fusion. Jasper just shrugged and sat on down over by the crowd in question.

"Go Rainbow!" called Pinkie, the pink mare already in a cheerleader's outfit of rainbow colors. Might as well give some support to her, right? The Pegasus surely felt pumped and ready to go in.

"And … GO!" shouted Twilight.
No sooner after she said it, Garnet and Rainbow began their fight. Rainbow Dash had a lot less resistance than Jasper did, but speed was her best friend in this tussle. Garnet made her punches and kicks, and Rainbow Dash did her bucks and whacks, much of the group either worried for Rainbow's safety, or anticipating who'll win their fight before the clock would go off. Garnet was doing pretty good, but Rainbow's added size and speed made her the stinging wasp in this fight: small, but each hit was good and strong. Garnet kept her focus on the speeding Pegasus as best she could do, but Rainbow Dash was actually raising four against the fusion. She may be smaller than the fusion, but her reflexes made her a lot harder to hit than Garnet actually anticipated.

"HIYA!" Rainbow shouted, and with a karate-styled hoof hit, Garnet felt the hit strike her stomach. Rainbow had a flying headstart, so the hit was strong enough (somehow) to knock Garnet off the ground, and making her landing on her back. KO'd.

"AWW YEAH! Score one for the Rainbow! Woo-woo!" Rainbow cheered, going into a victory dance in a mix of a wave, moon walk, and other such in her midair victory dance. It was … more surprising than impressive, though Rainbow Dash didn't realize it until after she saw the others.

"... What?" Rainbow asked in a shrug. Did she do something wrong? Sure didn't feel like she did. Garnet picked herself up off the ground, surprisingly quiet for what just happened, feeling the hoofmark still in her stomach. It took Garnet a bit before she got to her feet, but still gave a thumbs up to the Pegasus.

"Good hit," Garnet simply said.

"Getting out of practice?" Jasper asked. A move like that from a pony wouldn't be enough to completely knock her over like that. Stun her, maybe, but not knock her off her feet.

"No, it's fine. Just proves how strong you all are getting," Garnet stated. This felt like it should inflate Rainbow's ego a bit more.

"Well, we have been fighting off our fair share of world-destroying bad guys in the past. Hey, let's go another round!" Rainbow stated, hooves crossed and grin full of pride. Garnet stretched a bit, seemingly brushing off the hit she had to take.

"Another time Rainbow. I only had enough time for that. Right now, I have a mission to get to," Garnet explained, her Gem gauntlets removed. Basic enough.

"What is it this time?" Rainbow asked in anticipation.

"Just a Gem monster off to the south. I've gotten reports something huge has been terrorizing the locals there. I'll go handle it," Garnet explained, starting to go.

"Already? Well, can you hurry back? I wanted you to watch Stevonnie train," Steven reminded. Garnet looked down to him and gave him a smile, hand on his head.

"I promise I won't be long." and with that, Garnet went off on her way. They may not have a Warp Pad back at the Temple as of now, but they still had some close by, so Garnet didn't need to worry about where to go. But as she was going off, the others started to wonder a little bit about Garnet.

"Hey. Is it just me, or does anyone else notice anything funny with Garnet lately?" Jasper asked.

"HAHA funny, or not HAHA funny? Or that kind of funny someone says is funny but is weird to everyone else?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's "not HAHA funny" Pinkie," Rarity said.

"She's fine, she's just trying to be more random that's all," Steven reassured them. Saying that's reassuring with who he was talking about … it just doesn't work.

"Garnet? Being random? … You are talking about the same Garnet, right?" Jasper questioned.

"Sure I am. I helped her deliver pizza, pose for one of Vidalia's pictures, build a robot. Kinda. Lots of things," Steven explained. And that was just on the first day he got involved too, it didn't cover what she had been doing throughout the following week, before and after the camping trip.

"Now that you say that, she did ask if she could make a sculpture of me and Lazuli after our camping trip. And even after that she went to Equestria, and from what I gathered, got Pink Diamond into a appearance modifier's base with her."

"You mean a spa?" Rarity asked.

"Same thing," Peridot replied.

"She and Emerald did come by while I was training too. Something about wanting to put Emerald as a decoy," Jasper added in, though some part of her felt disappointed that didn't happen. Peridot was a bit disappointed too, but that was beside the point.

"Guys, it's okay. Garnet explained it all to me," Steven said.

"Well we're all ears," Twilight said. Steven began to think over what Garnet had said.

"There're these rivers in this timelines, and then there's these pools so out of range she can't see them coming. She's trying to do things she won't normally do and seeing what happens," Steven summed up. A sum up was a bit easier to get by than the full explanation.

"And, how long was she doing this?" Jasper questioned. Steven readied to answer, but he realized that he wasn't sure exactly. He just found out a week or two ago, but now that he thought of it, Garnet had been a bit dynamic before he fully understood it as well. This in fact, didn't start until after their White Diamond escapade, now that they thought of it. …

"Maybe we should make sure she's okay," Steven decided.

"It can't hurt. Come on, let's find out where she went," agreed Twilight.

~~~~~~

Garnet had her own thoughts to go over during her walk to the Warp Pad. She may have had her mission to work out, sure, but the fusion began to wonder what just happened back there. Her hand was still where she was hit, the moment going through both minds of Sapphire and Ruby. On one hand, they were getting stronger and can hold their own better, but … what was on the other hand was what's starting to trouble her. Well, all the same, she had her missions to work out, and as far as the goals were concerned, they came first.
The Warp for this mission was a little bit isolated, and over off within the farmlands. Typically a Warp Pad would be more openly-spaced, out for many to see, and indeed there was one like that closer to the Barn House, but Garnet had this one in particular isolated for a reason. This one was off within some shrubs bordering the surface, and covered in some leaves. Not the most complicated, but if Sadie could do it on Mask Island (from what Steven told her once upon a time, anyway), why can't she? It seemed to be doing good so far, as none of the leaves and shrubs had been disturbed since she last checked. A quick look to be sure she was alone …

"Don't worry Steven. I'll be home soon …"

With the sound of the Warp Pad, and some time to teleport, Garnet had reached her destination. It looked pretty calm for what she said she was going to do, far from hectic. In fact, it looked no more dangerous than a playgorund - a lush green forest with tall trees, some bending at odd angles like a corner or square but overall a simple forest one would go to more to clear their head more than anything. Garnet got herself up and off of the Warp Pad, and began to go around the place. It didn't look very much off of Equestria, but this wasn't any Equestrian landscape at all. As the fusion moved around through the forest, a small figure was keeping an eye on her up from the branches, looming around her like a ghost. Garnet casually continued to walk around for a bit more, looking around the scenery for a bit until her foot nudged something on the ground.

A bomb! Garnet quickly got out of the way before it could explode, jumping up into the trees just to find three more being dropped down to her. A perch wasn't gonna happen, and she jumped down from the trees again, finding the culprit standing off not too far away. The figure didn't look familiar, though kinda small and wearing a black cloak over its body, making it look like it had triangular eyes like a pumpkin. In its hand held another bomb, which like the others had two yellow dot eyes and a triangle smiling mouth on it. It threw the bomb right at her, and the Fusion summoned out one gautlet glove, grabbing the bomb and having it explode in her hand. Very nice, and not even flinching from the explosion. The figure stood there slightly stunned as Garnet walked right up to it, the glove removed, and picking the bomber up with ease. And who was it that was attacking her when she removed the cloak?

"Top of the morning, Garnet! Nothing like some training to get the blood pumping, am I right?"

Turned out, the figure wasn't a threat at all. In fact, she looked kinda cute. While not a human per say, she was in fact an anthropomorphic, Persian-green frog wearing a black cape with a hood, yellow mittens, and a pair of pale pink boots, with what looked like a katana being carried. The frog really wasn't looking to actually hurt her, and smiled to Garnet in a playful manor, tongue sticking out and all. Garnet smiled.

"It's nice to see you too, Hopper," Garnet said before dropping her, Hopper landing on the ground like a frog world do, a croak escaping her as she landed.

"By the way, have you seen Hoppy? she was hoppin excited to come train with us," Hopper asked.

"HYAAAA!"

Out of nowhere, jumping out from the nearby bushes, another figure presented itself to them in a battle cry, rushing down to Garnet skyward. The fusion reacted fast enough, her hands in a clap as she grabbed the sword this newcomer was using, stopping her in mid-air. When settled, the figure actually perched herself on said sword, hands grabbing it and feet resting on the holder. This one, like Hopper, was also some anthro, this one a gray rabbit wearing a faded pale periwinkle kimono with a pale yellow-green trim, an indigo belt, and faded blue samurai pants. She carried a katana with purple and red handle and a dark indigo blade on her left hip, and dark indigo wristbands on each wrist. This rabbit though has a cut over her right eye, leaving her with only one eye to see the world with.

"Garnet." said the rabbit.

"Hoppy." said Garnet. Hopper at the moment had some sort of device she was looking at, looking like a tablet or something, with a spinning three-way antenne off the top of it.

"Wow, Garnet, I can tell you've been training. you're strength levels are hoppin high!" Hopper said, just as Hoppy landed over nearby the frog, withdrawing her katana.

"Yes, Hopper, but there can always be higher. We should train a bit more. I nearly had the jump on you that time," Hoppy said with a smirk.

"OOHH," Hopper said. While sure it was a joke, Garnet felt like it kinda hammered in the point on her, given her last fight already.

"Maybe in just a bit, but now I need to find something. There's a roaming Gem somewhere here that I need to bring back with me."

"OH, wonder what it is this time! A Gem-powered amulet, a rogue flying carpet, or even a magical power onion!" Hopper said excitedly. Seemingly this wasn't the first time Garnet had been here, and while all of those did sound a bit interesting, that wasn't why she was here. At least not those in particular.

"Whatever it is, we have to hurry. There's someone at home I need to get back to," Garnet said. Hopper went over to her.

"Is it that kid Steven you told us about?" Hopper asked. Garnet nodded, and she even had a picture with her, pulling it out of her chest pocket. It wasn't anything too fancy, just Steven smiling as took a picture with his friends, including her, at the beach.

"Yes. I promised him I wouldn't be too long."

"So can we please see him? He sounds like a great friend."

"He is, but not yet. I don't think they're ready to hear I have secret multiversal friends," Garnet replied, starting to go off on her way to locate said artifact. Hoppy and Hopper followed her off on her way. Steven may have made friends with Equus Ponies already, but that was a bit different when compared to whatever universe this was. Just as the three went off out of sight though, another portal then went to open up, this time being one of a Portal Key instead of the Warp Pad.

"Told you we should've used the Warp Pad," Peridot said.

"Where're we?" wondered Twilight. She, Peridot, Steven, Rarity, Pinkie, Blue, and Rainbow had arrived.

"Looks like Equestria to me," Steven said.

"Unlikely: Much of the flora here doesn't appear to match the structure of Equestrian plants," Peridot noted, studying the plant a bit closely, knocking on the wood of a nearby tree. The Ponies agreed they never seen a tree like this one, although resembling some hybrid between an oak tree and a pine tree with where branches and leaves were placed.

"But where's Garnet? That key would've brought us to her, wouldn't it?" Rarity wondered, looking around to try and find her somewhere. Not too much clue except for the bomb explosion spots left by Hopper's bombs. This suggested something, but what exactly? They went over to the location, Blue taking a few sniffs of the ground. A faint hint of smoke was left on his nose, as the others looked around for some clue. Blue focused a bit on the Gem scent, and eventually after a deep inhale, made like a pointer hound, and stiffened up, one leg up and aiming his snout right into the proper direction.

~~~~~~

Well, both groups were off and on their way through this new universe. One could argue that Equus was a bit more childish in appearances when compared to Earth with the simpler designs of the flora and local inhabitants, but this world had a more "N64" style in some sort of way: many of the trees they kept passing through kinda cut off at the tops to look more like greenery platforms, distant hills look fully round and on top of a rectangle though one could argue they could be local plants or something, like the plants from the Jungle Moon or something of that sort. As Garnet, Hopper, and Hoppy went on their way, the other group trailed off behind at a farther distance. Hoppy and Garnet went along normal, Hopper hopping along behind them like the frog she was, and overall it appeared much like a simple walk through the woods.
Or that was, until -

*THUD*

The next figure kinda came out of nowhere, but this one wasn't exactly a happy soul to see this time. He looked pretty tired, worn out, and when Hopper checked him with her device, it wasn't looking good either.

"His power levels are hopping pretty low," Hopper said in worry. Garnet could see that this character didn't look too bad, and he looked less dead and more tired. At this point as well was when the others actually showed up, but they didn't come out right away, keeping hidden off nearby in the bushes instead.

"There she is. ... Wait, is that a ... rabbit?" Rainbow asked.

"Rabbit and a frog," Pinkie quietly corrected, as if it actually made sense at all. Rarity shushed them both as Garnet began to go over.

"I can revive him," she stated, before going over to him to pick him up. They were a bit intrigued when hearing this, none of them knew she had reviving powers. ... However, it just revolved her taking a water bottle out from her hair, getting water in her mouth, and spitting in the man's face. not to mention followed by a few slaps. The group cringed a little bit on the slapping, but eventually -

"H-huh - RINGO!" shouted the man, before he was then dropped. Upon getting up to his knees, the man smiled up to the trio. "Haha! Thank you for saving me!"

"Sounds kinda familiar," Peridot quietly noted.

"Tell us your name, stranger," Garnet simply said.

"My name is Ringo: a humble caretaker of the shrine on top of yonder mountain," Ringo said, pointing over to to said mountain off fairly far away. The ponies knew well now that this wasn't their world in any means, mainly because no human ever set foot in Equus before, and Ringo surely appeared as a human (sort of). Ringo's hair was styled in a ring, similarly to an onion ring. He wore a burgundy kimono, brown shorts, a white apron, black boots, and rectangular gray rimmed glasses. Ringo resembles Ronaldo in general appearance, and after hearing him sounded like him too (go figure). Hoppy took a look over to the general direction and she (along with the group), could actually see said shrine from where they were, placed up high on top of a tall hill. Then Hoppy took note of Ringo's injuries.

"How'd you get so wounded? Did you get them during training?" Hoppy asked. Ringo sighed.

"Well, you see. An innocent Foxman wanted to see the shrine. Such a sweet, sweet Foxman. Naturally, I obliged. Inside rested the sacred magic gem of ultimate power. It was then that the Foxman double-crossed me. He used the power of the gem to banish me from my own shrine. Ever since then I've been searching for someone strong enough to help me."

"So sad," wimpered Pinkie.

"What's a "foxman"? Is that another human type?" Peridot wondered.

"Not really," Steven replied. As for the three, Garnet started to think about this "gem of ultimate power" or whatever, and came to a similar conclusion to Hopper and Hoppy.

"That gem must be contained. No one should have that much power," Garnet concluded.

"Oh, you can have the gem. I just want my shrine back," Ringo insisted, hands together and looking innocent. Or trying to.

"That's not the face for a trusting man," Twilight noted.

"We'll get it back for you."

"What?" the group gasped.

"Hop five!" Hoppy and Hopper said, high-fiving eachother. Well, what the hay?

"What's she doing? clearly he's not to be trusted. He's too ... Ronaldo-ish," Peridot quietly stated, not believing her ears.

"SShh. Maybe she knows that and decieving him. ... Possibly," Rarity said. Well they'll just have to find out in just a bit, won't they?

~~~~~~

"We're Here!"

It took little time at all for Garnet's group to get there, and when they reached the shrine of Yonder Mountain, Garnet, Hoppy, and Hopper got right up front as Ringo peeked to the main platform. The pony group kept further away, hidden off out of sight further down the stairs and watching from afar to see what'll happen.
for the shrine itself, it wasn't really too extravagent, and admittly rather tiny: a main red shrine gate with an extra set of stairs leading up to what looked like a small house where this Gem of power was at apparently. And there there was the Foxman, who himself was sitting right in front of the shrine gate. A reddish-orange anthropomorphic fox, with a muscular upper body and black pants, wearing a white bead necklace around his neck, which resembled to bead necklaces worn by Buddhist monks. And they found him ... fiddling on an Iphone. Huh.

"What a fox," Rarity stated, the group taking their position over behind the smaller hill to the shrine.

"Be careful, Garnet," Steven murmured. And while they didn't hear them, Hoppy and Hopper were just as worried for her, especially after Hopper tested the Foxman's strength with her device, showing 70,000. not bad for a fox.

"His power level's off the charts!" gasped Hopper.

"Careful Garnet. Don't bite off more than you can chew," advised Hoppy. Garnet nodded and walked right up to the foxman, who really didn't pay her much mind at first, looking over what sort of news and tid bits were on cookie cats and snowman on his Iphone and finding that more interesting than this fusion.

"Foxman! Hand over the Gem," Garnet demanded, and only then did Foxman took note.

"What? ... You again?" The Foxman said, glancing over to Ringo, who actually hissed at him like some angry cat. Well, the Foxman wasn't so easily intimidated and said "Oh, I see what this is. If you want the gem, you'll have to defeat me."

The group was a little bit concerned, but hearing this challenge did actually make Peridot snicker a little bit.

"This should be good," Rainbow said.

"Is he for real? He doesn't stand a chance against her," Peridot agreed. And with just how many other things Garnet had beaten up in the past, that actually wasn't a farfetch'd thing to believe. Garnet, as they expected, was up to the challenge and summoned her weapons.

"So be it." The foxman was ready for this, setting his Iphone down and cracked his knuckles. However, just a simple crack of those knucles was enough to send a wave through the others, showing just how much power was inside those arms. how much does one man have for just flexing to have a physical impact?! Both Foxman and Garnet made a battle cry, and slammed their fists together. Both at first seemed fairly well-matched, pure strength pushing against eachother with both sides not breaking. Tension was building between the two, and Garnet tried to keep herself focused here. However, Foxman gave a triumphant-looking grin, and suddenly ...

*BAM*

Off launched Garnet. And after slamming into Ringo, Hoppy, and Hopper like a bowling ball to bowling pins, off they went, flying right off the hillside, and out of sight. As for the group, they were left flabbergasted, some wide-eyed, some with jaws wide open in shock. Rarity got her hoof to close Pinkie's muzzle before the pink mare spoke again.

"WHAT?!" gasped Pinkie. How in the hay did that happen?!

"W-What just happened?!" Peridot asked.

"Garnet got clobbered, that's what happened! Oh, he just crossed the line," Rainbow said, and in her anger, went right out of hiding. She had about enough of this.

"HEY FOXY! Come here and put em' up!" Rainbow shouted, going boxer-style with her frontal hooves. The Foxman turned around and saw the others nearby.

"What do you want? You here to swipe the Gem too?" Foxman accused.

"No, but we don't really take well to you beating our friend," Rarity warned.

"Your friend? So that's it. Well, I got a message for you - no one's getting near that Gem except for me," Foxman warned, his fist clenched and ready for another fight.

"I got a message for you, too!" Rainbow shouted, doing frontal hoof punches before jumping right at the Foxman. However, his hand was raised up, and Rainbow Dash felt like she slammed into a brick wall, and a LOT harder too. She was left dazed for a moment before the Foxman literally flicked her away back to the others. Well, guess they got a fight to deal with, and Twilight took over. Foxman raised his mighty fist for another attack, but Twilight's magical spells got to him first, and kept the arm levitated in a chain. she did the same thing to the other arm as well for good measure, all the while the others took to Rainbow. With a slam of his fists, Foxman easily broke those chains with almost no effort, which was disturbing and worrying to note. Twilight did some warning magic shots, but they bounced off his arms like it was nothing. Then came a rather scary move: gripping the ground, the entire group was lifted off the ground, all standing on a chunk of dirt the Foxman was holding above his head.

"Oh mane," groaned Rainbow, just before the Foxman rallied it up, and threw them off the mountain! Thinking quickly as they were flying, Twilight got her teleportation spell to good use, and managed to teleport the group just in time before the chunk of earth hit ground, shattering into rubble. The group teleported not too far away from the stairs.

"Why that good for nothing -"

"Rainbow, hold it!" shouted Steven, grabbing her by the tail before she could just fly back up and try again.Clearly he was far too strong for them to take if he could send them all off so quickly.

"What the stars was that?!" Peridot gasped.

"Rainbow charged at Mr. Foxman, then Twilight tried to hold him down and -"

"Now, Pinkie, we don't need a play-by-play," Rarity said, straightening her mane from the rough tumble.

"Rarity's right, mistakes happen," Twilight agreed. "Now what happened to -"

*ARF*

The group looked over to Blue again, who managed to find the scent of the fusion after some quick sniffing around the place, him making like a pointer again. Pinkie followed the stance and stood alongside Blue, pointing in the direction.

"That'a way!" Pinkie said, pointing her hoof for good measure.

"Hope you're okay, Garnet," Steven said.

.......

"I told you he was *cough* strong."

Wouldn't you know they would end up in a tree? Garnet, Ringo, and Hopper looked knocked out, if not a bit stunned but Hoppy looked unaffected for some reason, already in a criss-cross sitting position on one of the branches. Garnet felt a bit more troubled than ever. She couldn't beat the Foxman. Well, there's no doubt about it.

"Then we're gonna have to get stronger," Garnet confirmed.

"Training time," Hoppy commented.

~~~~~~

Well the first day wasn't much good for both sides of the party. So, after their little encounter, They found their next spot for a more calmed down effect when night time came around. Garnet, Hoopy, and Hopper found a rather lovely waterfall off within the forest, a steep waterfall that poured down into a shallow pool. It was shallow enough for them to sit comfortably and not get too wet. Well, even if the pool itself wasn't very deep, the three were meditating off within the flow of the waterfall, eyes closed, calm and collected and working their inner focus. As for Ringo however, he took it less like meditation and more like a shower, him in his underwear and washing his hair.

"Ringo." he cooed in a sing-along tone through his humming, the other three glancing to him with some slight confusion. ... Why was he even taking a shower? Who knows. The three went on back to their meditation after that, shrugging it off and letting him be. They all were pretty good for a minute or two, until Hoppy began to hear a tiny fly starting to buzz around them. Hoppy lost her focus a little bit when it landed on her nose, just for a sudden tongue to shoot out, grab the bug, and Hoppy seeing Hopper gleefully enjoying her tiny snack. Hoppy would go for vegetables over bugs anyday.
With them doing all of that, up on top of the waterfall, the group had made their own little camp right above them, keeping their eye on what they were doing. It was out of the way, and not in anyone's way. Well, at least they found Garnet, and found her alright overall after the fall, her and the others too. Blue and Steven took a look down to them from the perch as the rest chilled out with the calming sound of the waterfall. Steven had his hands over his eyes like he was holding a set of binoculars to see the situation.

"How's she looking down there?" asked Pinkie.

"Pretty good. She's wearing a white sleevless shirt I think. Oh wait, I think she's ... Oh, she's getting up," Steven noted.

And indeed, Garnet was. Hoppy, Hopper, and Ringo got themselves out of the water, and Garnet was ready to go. She began to summon her gauntlets in her hands, seemingly ready to do some good training practice. They began kinda small, but Garnet had some other special idea in mind, and with some focus, the gauntlets on her hands began to grow more, and more, and more, until they were ten times the size and weight! Each gauntlet looked about a rhino a piece.

"Weighted Gauntlets," Hoppy, Hopper, Pinkie, and Steven gasped. Steven and Hopper shared a starry-eyed looked as they saw what Garnet had on her. The fusion felt a little unsteady at first with such a weight shift in her arms, almost falling back, but gathering her strength and was ready to get her own brand of training started more or less. It took a lot of energy but she did gather enough power to thrust one fist forward, that move alone making the water ripple under her feet. Hopper checked her device.

"She gained ten points from that one punch!" she gasped, and indeed it was true, showing Garnet and a +10 underneath her. Good. Garnet focused up again and began to do some air punches. It sure was a difficult process, but the fusion wasn't going to be denied, and the more punches she made, the faster she went, and the more determined she got. The punches themselves, housed with so much power, made the ground shake, the tremors being felt by the group up on top of the waterfall. It started out small, but then came the moment when Garnet started to rapid-fire her punches, making everything shake like an earthquake! The group at the top felt these easily, finding it very hard to stay still even if they wanted to. Garnet kept this up for a good thirty seconds straight (not bad given the size of her gauntlets), but when she finished, so did the shaking. Pinkie Pie was the most shaken up, and when it stopped, she felt the ground with her front hoof. ... Or rather, lack there of.

"Uh oh." Steven quickly jumped and grabbed Pinkie by the tail, and in turn Blue grabbed Steven by the foot, but while it did connect Pinkie, it mostly just made them fall off the waterfall! Garnet felt good, one giant fist aimed skyward, making her giant fist more of a landing platform for Pinkie, Steven, and Blue to land on. And now, only now, did Garnet realize that she didn't come here alone.
She removed her gloves, and the three landed in the water nearby, getting soaked but not as hurt as what could've been. It took a minute for both parties to see eachother, Pinkie shaking off the water like Blue would.

"Hi!" Pinkie said with a smile, waving a friendly hoof.

"Hello!" replied Hopper, waving as well. Garnet was ... quiet. And she took a look to the three.

"I thought I told you I'll be handling it."

"I know I know, but we wanted to help you. Is that okay?" Steven asked meekly. Garnet thought it over but before she could answer -

"Steven! Pinkie! You okay down there?!" called Twilight. No point in staying out of the way this time after that accident. Garnet just sighed.

"Ok, you all can come down now!" Garnet called. On the word, Rainbow and Twilight flew out, Twilight lifting Peridot and Rarity down to the ground safely. Ringo, Hoppy, and Hopper had never seen any creatures like these before, but they didn't really feel too weirded out. They were, after all, anthropomorphic animals in their own right.

"Wait a minute ..." Hoppy went over and looked them all over for a moment or two, though while many of them weren't too familiar, she took only one look at Steven.

"Hmm ... Wait. You're Steven!" Hoppy realized. Hopper was excited herself, hopping right up to them, excitedly.

"Oh my hop, it is you! Garnet told us a lot about you, I'm so hoppin happy to meet you!" Hopper said. Pinkie shared her enthusiasm and hopped in match with the frog.

"I'm so happy to see you too, any friend of Garnet's a friend of me," Pinkie said, also matching her excitemenet. First time she ever made friends with a frog that can talk back to her.

"Sorry we didn't stay. We were just a little worried, really. You are alright, are you?" Rarity asked.

"Especially after you were launched off that mountain," added Pinkie, though something they didn't want to bring up again. nor was it something Garnet really wanted to hear them know of already. Garnet didn't answer her verbally, but instead showed them: bringing out the gauntlets again and bringing up her strength, launching herself up high into the air, near one of those "hills" and with one well-aimed whack of her foot, cracked the top off like an egg! If that wasn't proof, what was?

"So cool!" much of the group said.

"I'm ready." Garnet stated.

~~~~~~

"We're here!" Ringo announced … again.

"You gonna say that every time we go here?" Peridot asked.

Now with a full team behind her, Garnet went right on back to the Foxman the next morning. Traveling there was of little problem, as the forest they were launched into was right at foot of Yonder Mountain. Garnet stood up between her friends and the Foxman again, and as far as they all were sure of, the Foxman was looking forward to them coming back. The Foxman smiled wickedly and got up again, clenching his fists and ready to go.

"Looks like you're hungry for another delicious beating," the Foxman mocked. Garnet was unfazed by this.

"Actually that last one spoiled my appetite," Garnet stated.

"How dare you insult my cooking skills?" the Foxman yelled, his fist ready to launch her and everyone else off across the valley. Everyone cringed, and readied to get launched off again, some covering their eyes. However, the last bit of training was just what Garnet needed. She simply raised her hand, and the fist stopped cold. The Foxman was stunned, but he wasn't planning on giving up, and tried multiple punches again, all of which missed. Garnet summoned one gauntlet, and with one mighty swing, slammed the Foxman square in the stomach! The foxman groaned, and soon whimpered, landing on his side and clenching his stomach in agony. It was clear who won this confrontation.

"Hip hop hooray!" shouted Hopper. The Foxman was to the point of tears when Garnet came over to him.

"Now hand over that Gem," Garnet stated again.

"But I'm the guardian of this shrine!" the Foxman insisted.

"Wait. Guardian?" Steven wondered. Blue suddenly started to bark again when looking off to said shrine, and that their Ronaldo look-alike was rushing straight up it! Admittedly, it wasn't too surprising, considering who Ringo was compared to.

"HEY, CLOD!" Peridot shouted, already running after him. Ringo had just gotten up to the top and at the shrine, when Peridot caught up with him, grabbing him by the legs making him topple over.

"Let! Go!" Ringo demanded.

"No way, dirtbomb!" Peridot snapped, trying to keep Ringo from the Gem of ultimate power. Ringo though just managed to squirm his way out of her grip.

"You trick us!"

"Of course I tricked you!" Ringo laughed, not looking more impish, "How else am I suppose to get passed that Foxman? Now the ultimate power belongs to Ringo!" Ringo chortled. Naturally they weren't going to have that.

"Over my shattered body!" Garnet said, rushing up the steps towards him. Ringo began to head over to the Gem of ultimate power, but he was then grabbed by the ring in his hair by Pinkie Pie, pulling the man back down the steps in a somersault.

"Eh … sorry," Steven said to the Foxman, rather meekly.

"Nevermind, just stop him!" the Foxman said, pointing to Ringo. Steven, Hoppy, and Hopper spurred into action, just as Pinkie Pie was knocked away, and Ringo made a mad dash for the Gemstone in question. Garnet grabbed him by the hair ring again, and lifted him off the ground, Ringo thrashing to try and get out of it. As this was going on, Peridot and Blue had gotten to the shrine itself …

"It's over Ringo."

"HAHAHA! Don't try and counts your hops before you make them!" Ringo warned, but his confidence didn't have that much effect on them, since he was still kinda stuck in Garnet's grip. "That gem hold all the power in this world. Oh, when I get to it, you all will bow to me! And then, I'll destroy this world because I can!"

"Will you shut up already?" called Peridot from the shrine.

"Don't interrupt my evil monologuing!" Ringo shouted, just to be dropped by a bemused Garnet. She was feeling more like an idiot now.

"You don't have to even do that. ... THE GEM'S ALREADY GONE!"

"WHAT?!" shouted everyone else. The Foxman was the first to jump up to the shrine, shoving Peridot aside to look for himself. Turned out, there was no gemstone inside anywhere! After all that trouble, and the object in question wasn't even there?! The Foxman was the most shocked by this revelation, even lifting up the shrine and shaking to try and find the gemstone, but nothing came out of it.

"Where'd it go?! I've been guarding it for years, I-it should be here!" the Foxman insisted in a panic. How could the gemstone be taken without him knowing? This surprised everyone else just as much, trying to find some sort of clue. There was no footprints aside from their own though, and even then they didn't get close enough to the shrine to take it. Blue immediately got to work in trying to find the gemstone through his smell. He got Garnet this far, but he wasn't sure what the gemstone would smell like. The Foxman then turned to the others.

"Give back the gemstone!" the Foxman demanded.

"What?! We don't have it, you see any of us have it?!" Rainbow insisted, just as surprised as everyone else. But where could the stone have gone? Or worse, who could've took it? Hoppy went over to the Gem dog going about, who at this point was a bit close to the clifface. His nose was telling him that this gemstone was in a rather odd place … and coming up fast!

"Look out!" Hoppy said, grabbing Blue and pulling him back.

And just in time. Just as Hoppy and Blue got out of the way, a huge red blur flew up from the side of the cliff. Everyone else had to move aside as this newcoming creature landed down, crushing the shrine underfoot. A Dragon. A large, female Dragon.
She stood tall compared to the others, just taller than Yellow Diamond, but shorter than White Diamond, and her body alone as long as a bus, not including the slim tail and neck. This wasn't exactly a typical dragon either, more resembling a eastern dragon than a medieval one, with no wings on her back to keep her in the air. The Gem of ultimate power wasn't really seen anywhere right away, but all the colorations of red scales told them it had some association to it. A set of large antlers jutted out from her head, along with rabbit-like ears, and in her mouth canine-like teeth. Apart from that, she was all reptilian. A smooth line of hair stretched from her head down to the end of her neck.

"So the Gem of ultimate power is a corrupted Gem. Not surprised much actually," Rainbow admitted. The Gem dragon however wasn't going to stick around for this dinner, and began to rush off passed them, knocking many of them aside before she took off skyward. Ringo, desperate for the ultimate power, grabbed the Gem by the tail, and was flown up skyward. All the Gem dragon needed to do was spin in midair to launch Ringo off back to the others, hitting into Garnet. The dragon growled, and then gave a mighty roar that shook the ground. As any dragon, she began to charge up a breath weapon. It would normally be fire, but this Gem dragon had something else in her arsenal. Nearby the head, some gemstones actually started to appear: three red hexagon stones appeared around her head, and seemingly joined in with the Gem dragon's blast of energy. For the attack on her, the breath came out in a light-fast, red laser beam comb, landing right on Ringo. They weren't sure if the dragon either felt sorry for Ringo, or if she needed a distraction of sorts, but Ringo began to feel power building inside of him.
Ringo surely was enjoying it, his muscles growing. His body looked less like Ronaldo and more like Bismuth now, and an actual stone was visible in the hole of his hair ring. The apron he had on turned into a tattered cape wrapped around his waist, and he ended up gaining a staff with three rings on the end of it. Ringo decided to test his new ability on the closest figure in question: the Foxman. He released a magical energy from his staff, transforming the Foxman into …

"A-An onion ring?" gasped Steven. The Foxman's only evidence of its true self now was a fox tail at the end of the ring. The Gem dragon began to fly off away with lightning speed. None of them had time to get him though, as Ringo had the power that gemstone would've given him if he were to take it.

"We will avenge you, Foxman," said Steven, hand resting on the onion ring created. Everyone rushed to him, but Ringo had other plans. Focusing on his new gemstone, he got them all suddenly teleported away!

"What the?! Hey! … where're we?" asked Rainbow. The world they've entered into looked a bit darker than before, day or night unclear in this place. What they could see though was a number of floating, neon rights, and much of the coloration had some resemblance to Malachite's realm. A cluster of rings began to appear, and soon "Ultimate" Ringo showed up, all smug and full of power over his adversaries. Blue growled on seeing him, as Ringo settled down on a ring as it rotated.

"Welcome to the Ringo zone! My powers are strongest here. You wanna stop me? Go on, it'll amuse me. And when I'm done with you, maybe I'll destroy the world, just 'cause I can!" Ringo mocked.

"You already said that!" Peridot yelled. But now the threat seemed a lot more likely, and they couldn't let him get away with it.
The first to jump up at Ringo was Hoppy and Rainbow Dash, one aiming in the air as the other jumped from the ground up. Ringo though had a few teleportation tricks up his gem-powered sleeves, and quickly dodged them as they bolted at him time and again. His staff charged up and launched numerous rings at them both. Rainbow dodged them, and Hoppy sliced them up, the projectiles exploding on impact with the ground. Steven had to bring up his shield so none of the explosions got to them, and they too joined into this fight.
Hopper hopped right in next, and her tongue shot right out, wrapping around Ringo. It was a very risky move, and Ringo made short work of the handicap with a electric shock from his body, zapping the frog into letting him go. This did give time for Peridot and Rarity to do a combined karate kick on him. Headshot! Ringo landed on the ground roughly as Peridot and Rarity readied up again. Ringo's stuff quickly summoned up a mega-ring, and launched it right at them. The ring at first appeared powered at the center, so Rarity and Peridot moved outside of it, just for the ring to zap them both as it passed by! Two more players out of the game.
Twilight Sparkle zapped in a power chain at Ringo's staff, and Ringo tried to make sure it didn't get removed from his hand. Twilight's magic though proved just too strong, and she yanked the staff out and tossed it out of reach. While it did stop the staff's power, Ringo still had his own gemstone, and zapped at Twilight.

"Ringo! You must be defeated!" Garnet yelled. Ringo just smiled smugly.

"Nope. The name's Ultimate Ringo," Ringo corrected, before he teleported out of range from Garnet's punch. He grabbed his staff just before anyone else could do so, but Blue jumped in and clamped his jaws on the staff, trying to make him let go. Ringo kept trying to make the Gem dog stop, but in his biting, Blue then clamped his jaws down on the hand holding the staff, making Ringo shriek in pain, and dropping both staff and hound. Ringo was furious, but Blue already began running off with the staff in his teeth. Ringo then got a zapping attack again, and struck Blue, making his skid to a stop and release the staff.

"THAT'S IT!" Rainbow charged straight to Ringo, her leg ready to do a good karate kick. However, Ringo then launched up several rings at Rainbow making the Pegasus flail, and spin, falling to the ground.

"Get ready to hop, drop, and roll!" shouted Hoppy, her katana at the ready to slice him up. Ringo reacted just quick enough though, and blasted rings right at the rabbit.

"Hopper - er I mean, Hoppy no!" Garnet gasped. The group was getting beaten down one by one, Ringo needed to be stopped before they all could be torn down. Ringo saw Garnet coming his way, and he was more than willing to jump to the challenge.

"Ultimate!" he shouted. Soon, he and Garnet met up head on, and became a deadly fist fight. Both sides were striking fast and hard, and despite her training to get stronger, Garnet actually was having trouble keeping up, much to Ringo's glee. One fist slammed Garnet in the face, and stunned her just enough to get launched by one of Ringo's gem beams. The impact made her slam into the ground, cracking the zone underneath her.

"Garnet!" gasped Steven. Ringo, laughing all the while, prepared another finishing zap to her, but Steven jumped in the way just in time, just for the magic of his staff to turn him into an onion ring! Garnet froze.

"I-I'm sorry Steven … I'm not strong enough," Garnet finally admitted. That was the problem. She had fallen from Rainbow Dash already, she fell from the Foxman, and now she fell from Ringo. She just wasn't together. Garnet pulled out the picture she had on her, and glancing to the onion ring that was once Steven. The gemstone was left at the very center of the ring, somehow still connected to the onion ring, and -

"What do we have here?" Ringo suddenly grabbed Garnet's picture, and looked it over. "Not bad. But it's missing something. I know!" and much to her anger, he turned the picture into an onion ring, and ate it right in front of her. She was at least grateful it wasn't Steven that was getting eaten, but the effect was just as strong to her.

She had enough.

Getting up, she began to alter her gauntlets, which turned into spiked gauntlets with rose knuckles attached to it. The fusion charged forward as fast as she could do, going into another fist fight tussle with Ringo. This time though, the tables had turned, and it was Ringo who didn't keep up, getting slammed in the face. Ringo landed in one of his rings, spinning crazy before slowing down. Garnet then jumped skyward, up to a spring-like ring, and used the momentum from the spring to launch herself directly at Ringo! Ringo shook off just enough to see Garnet charging at him like a meteor.

*BOOOM*

And just like that, Ringo was taken down. The huge cloud of debris cleared up to reveal a brutally pummeled Ringo, the ground cracking severely under him. He was knocked out cold, and the gemstone on his head shattered to pieces. Garnet looked to the remains of the stone, which was still flickering like a lightbulb until it fully ceased light. Garnet herself needed a minute to get herself together, comprehending what occurred here. With the gemstone now shattered, how was she -

"Ugh … what happened?"

Steven! The group turned to the onion ring, and found that Steven had turned back to normal, gemstone and all. They all were worried over him, and they were glad to see him back to normal. Of course, they had little to comprehend this much, as they all started to teleport away again (except for Ringo, that is). Soon, they all found themselves back in familiar land, and back to the shrine. And good news for them: the Foxman was back to normal as well! Whatever that gemstone did, any effects it had was now gone upon its shattering.

"Yes, I'm back! … But where's the gemstone?" the Foxman asked.

"Not here. Don't worry about a thing, we'll locate it. It's best it doesn't fall into the wrong hands again anyway," Garnet concluded.

"That was hoppin amazing!" Hopper beamed, "Your power levels were hop-tastrophic!"

"That's not even a word, but I agree with ya!" Pinkie said, equally psyched. Despite all of the excitement though, Twilight still remembered what Garnet had said down there after Ringo knocked her down.

"Was that the problem, Garnet? Your strength?" Twilight asked. Garnet sighed, and turned to the start of the stairs.

"... It's alright. We got Steven back, and the Foxman. And Ringo is now stuck in his own zone. I'm feeling a lot better now," Garnet said. The others felt a little confused, but in the end, perhaps Garnet would be better to talk when they were at a better time. For now, the Gem dragon had flown off somewhere, and they had to figure out where that went off to. Garnet did gather up the shards from Ringo though, and got them bubbled up before they left the Ringo Zone, so they at least had something to work off.
They got something out of this adventure regardless. Anyway, with all said and done, they began to go. The Foxman, Hoppy, and Hopper waved goodbye, as they all went off to go, but as good as it was, this little adventure felt a little bit incomplete.

Something was wrong with Garnet. They just got to find out what.

Dragon Lord

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"I'm so glad you two could come."

Off within the towers of Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle was having some good company over. It had been some time since they have done so, but Luna and Celestia finally had some time to check in on what had been going on over these autumn days.

"Of course. It's rare for us to just come by and visit," Luna said.

"There's always some crisis we have to deal with. somepony's always asking for our help," added Celestia. Celestia and Luna barely had much involvement thanks to their roles as princesses of Equestria, so seeing this time was a breath of fresh air. Plus, over nearby, Pink Diamond herself was trying to find something to do. Namely stare off into some of Twilight's books … or try to anyway.

"I'm grateful to know things had been going well for you here, Pink Diamond. And won't the others be happy to hear once they come by," Celestia said, though Pink Diamond looked a bit bored.

"Yeah, sure, how do you work these things?" Pink Diamond asked, showing a book to them, more confused than annoyed. She heard that books did hold a bit of information, but how could she get them to work?

"Just open the pages," advised Twilight.

"How? There's no touch screen, or buttons, or - Oh!" Pink Diamond stopped talking when Luna opened the book for her, getting the information out to her. Well, they could let this slide, since she was just made weeks ago. Now more interested, she began to look through the pages of Equestrian information. It's not the most exciting thing ever, but it's better than poking at a book cover all day.

"I've heard from your letters that Starlight Glimmer has been doing well in her friendship lessons?" inquired Celestia.

"Well, we had a rocky start. But she's doing great now! In fact, she's agreed to help Spike and Amethyst get some gemstones for Rarity today," Twilight informed. It was nice for Starlight to go out and try to lend a helping hoof for her friends nowadays. Guess her trip to see Sunburst helped out in that a lot.

"TWILIGHT!"

… And the following slam of the door got much of their attention. Starlight and Amethyst had gotten themselves back, looking a little dirty admittedly, but there was something a little bit troubling with what they brought back. Well, guess somepony needed their help after all.

"Twilight, thank goodness, we got a situation here. I don't know what happened, but -"

"Whoa, slow down Starlight. Now what's wrong?" Twilight asked. Amethyst came in not too long after, holding Spike in her hands, and placing him on the table. However, there surely seemed to be something wrong with him: his scales were shining for some reason, and he was itching up a storm! He couldn't stop from scratching himself in vain to get the pain to go away. Well this was a surprise.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"I-I dunno! All of a sudden I started glowing. And burning!" Spike said, scratching himself like a dog to get it to stop. Luna and Celestia though need little time to figure it out.

"Little is known of Dragon culture. But this is something we've seen before. It's the call of the Dragon Lord," Luna said.

"Dragon Lord?" Amethyst questioned.

"Indeed. Dragons glow when the Dragon Lord is needed of them in the Dragon Lands," Celestia replied.

"Great. Ngh, but how do I make it stop?" Spike groaned, scratching his face.

"The only way to end the summons, is to answer it. You must go to the Dragon Lands, and see what is expected of you," Luna explained. Spike was really feeling rough with this scratching.

"Y-you sure? Isn't there a spell that could stop the itching, or something?! Starlight?" Spike asked. Starlight was put on the spot, but didn't have anything.

"Eh, well, I can try. Just stand still," Starlight said, trotting back to get some distance. Her horn began to glow, but luckily for Spike's well-being, Celestia opened her wing to block it before Starlight could make a shot.

"There isn't a spell capable of stopping the call of the Dragon Lord," Celestia reassured. Starlight stopped her glowing horn.

"You sure about that? nothing in spell-deactivation, dragon physics, or even in magical skin treatment?" Starlight questioned. Celestia shook her head.

"We've tried magical methods ourselves last time the Dragon Lord made the call," Celestia explained. "Even if it is halted, it will not completely vanish until the Dragon Lord no longer has need of them. As Luna stated: the only way to stop the summons is to answer it."
Spike was really hoping for a quick way to stop this, and a gulp could be heard from him.

"Oh boy. Back to the Dragon Lands again? Uh, m-maybe I can wait it out? I'm in no mood to meeting with *gulp* Garble."

"Isn't that the dragon who nearly fried you?" Amethyst asked, thinking back on it from some of the stories they've shared. Spike nodded.

"How could I forget? He would've burnt us to a crisp if they weren't there," Spike said, referring to Twilight as one of them. This was something Spike did way back in the day, trying to prove himself more like a Dragon. Of course, ol' Garble and company did not make that easy for him. If all Dragons were being called there, no doubt Garble would be there too.

"Eh, maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe the Dragon Lord's just doing a roll call or something. And hey, remember Scarlett? She's a dragon, maybe she'll be there," Amethyst suggested.

"Scarlett. You really think so?" Spike asked. He hadn't heard too much about Scarlett in a while, probably his first true Dragon friend.

"I dunno, maybe. She is a Dragon, and this is effecting all Dragons, so …"

"Uh, well if I have to go to the Dragon Lands. Will you come with me?" Spike asked. Twilight actually got a bit excited about this.

"Ooh! Oh my goodness, I'd love to! We are sadly lacking any information on dragon culture and customs. I could research them – maybe even write an article! This could be my chance to make a great contribution to the knowledge of Equestria!"

… The others were not amused.

"Heh, and be there for Spike, of course," Twilight corrected.

"Do be careful. The Dragon Lands are especially dangerous for ponies. It would be wise to be discrete," Celestia advised. This sort of information got attention of Pink Diamond, who immediately found going on an adventure far more pleasing than just reading some books.

"You're going on an adventure to the Dragon Lands? I'm in!" Pink made clear. Nice enthusiasm, but the others weren't sure.

"I'm afraid it would be best for you to stay here," Luna advised. Well talk about knocking wind out of a sail.

"What? Why? I'm a diamond, I can take down any of those Dugongs!"

"It's "Dragons"," Starlight corrected.

"We have no doubt you can, but the Dragons hold little care for what status another creature outside of dragonkind is. Your status as a member of the Diamond Authority wouldn't help you much," Celestia explained.

"That," added Luna, "And it's that exact reason why you shouldn't go. You are a diamond, and one that has been lost for thousands of years at that. Your fellow Diamonds would be devastated if something were to happen to you now."

Pink Diamond pouted hard, trying to hold back a groan.

"Oh fine. … Have fun on your great adventure, while I sit here and read some boring books for the day. Which by the way is WAY more boring than going to see Dragons," Pink sighed, going back to the books and grabbing another. This Pink Diamond was no bookworm, but as fun as it would sound, she wasn't going anywhere. They knew she was upset, but it's for the best.

"Alright. so, where're the Dragon Lands anyway? Got any idea?" Amethyst asked.

"Don't worry, I've been there before. We know where it is, though if we're going to be discrete I think we should do something more practical." Twilight reassured.

~~~~~~

"... This is practical?"

With some quick access to the lands themselves thanks to Twilight's Portal Key, Twilight, Amethyst, Starlight and Spike got themselves to the lands in question. It sure looked a bit different from the normally bright and lively lands of Ponyville or Canterlot, or whatever else. The land didn't have too many plants at the heart of it, and full of hard rocks, dark skies, and even in autumn, it felt a lot hotter. The ground all over was covered in cracks, cervices, and grikes, and in this area in particular shaped into some sort of crater, with a huge rock formation at the center. Disguises were a bit of a quick thing to go by, and while Amethyst had it covered with a dragon disguise ala shapeshifting, Starlight and Twilight both had their practical disguise down pact … aka, a rock.

"This is about blending in, remember?" Twilight reminded.

"I could've just used a transformation spell, you know," Starlight said, finding it a little cramped inside the rock costume. Spike was sitting on top of them both.

"Keep it down in there, or they'll hear you," Amethyst said, who was sitting right next to them. They didn't need anyone else to know who was there.
As a few more minutes came by, more and more dragons started to land down and find a seat to the Dragon Lord's arrival. They all could see many different types of dragons take their seats, all shapes and sizes. some appeared like dinosaurs, some looked more serpentine, and some more lizard-like. But regardless on what body type, they were all dragons through and through. They would have to keep in their toes and hooves just to be sure there wasn't any trouble.
As they were waiting around for this Dragon Lord to show up, they began to hear someone start to come over to them.

"Spike? That you?"

"Scarlett!" Spike gasped, and indeed it was. Scarlett moved out of the crowds right over to him, glad to see one happy face in this horde of Dragons. Just like every other Dragon here, she too was glowing slightly, but was happy to see him again.

"Wow, it's been a while. How're things?" Spike asked.

"Oh, all the better for seeing you," Scarlett replied, "I think you've actually grown since I last saw you."
Spike began to feel a bit confident, puffing out his chest.

"Well, I have been working the weights lately," Spike said, even flexing a little bit. Scarlett couldn't help but giggle a bit. However, this was a bit short-lived as another Dragon started to go over.
A tall teenage dragon with dull red scales, yellow underbelly, pinkish freckles, and yellow spikes which end in a webbed crest on his head similar to those on the helmets of the loyal guards they would see on night patrol. His eyes yellow with purple pupils, and wings yellow and slightly torn.

Enter Garble.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our old friend Sparkle Warple."

"It's Spike," Spike corrected.

"You sure your pony friends didn't give you a pony name?" Garble mocked, his eyelids a flutter in a girly manor. Spike was not up for Garble's games. And immediately Amethyst could see why he would not like this guy.

"Nice to see you too," Spike spat.

"I didn't say it was nice to see you. It's not. I don't like you," Garble reminded, shoving Spike off his rock before claiming it as his own. "Was I not clear about that?"
Scarlett helped him up to his feet.

"Lookin to start something?" Amethyst growled.

"Stay out of this. Why don't you go bug someone else," Garble spat. This just got Amethyst snarling at him.

"That's my rock!" Spike said.

"Oh really? Then why aren't you sitting on it?" Garble mocked. The other dragons laughed, but Amethyst wasn't gonna take this lying down. Amethyst spun around, and used her "dragon" tail to whack Garble off, the red dragon landing hard on the rocks with a thud. Amethyst placed spike back on his rock, and took the extra weight off of Starlight and Twilight.

"Sorry Spike, just dealing with a fly," Amethyst spat.

"Thanks," Spike replied.

"You think you can show me up?" Garble growled, getting right in Amethyst's face.

"Oh, I know I can take you on, over-cooked gecko," Amethyst replied. both dragons growled at eachother, but before a fight could start, Scarlett quickly bolted in between them, pushing them back.

"Stop, stop, stop! He's coming," Scarlett warmed meekly.

"Who's coming?" Amethyst asked.

And then came the shadow. Every dragon stopped talking and looked to the crater's formation. The shadow easily covered fifty feet, and when they looked ...

"Holy Smokes ..."

And there, landing at the center of the crater onto his throne sat a colossus. Many of the dragons were enough intimidation to go around, but this one towered over them all like a human to an insect, and just as foreboding, as any of the dragons around them could as easily stand at the palm of his frontal claw. Huge, orange-membrane, draconic wings stretched out behind him, outstretched and open for all to see upon landing. A mighty arrow tail long enough to cover an Equestrian train. Massive horns, curved downward and forward, coned, and each one as thick as full grown redwood tree. His body covered in diamond-shaped scales, and while thick enough for any sword, he still wore a cast of black obsidian armor on his upper torso. His left horn had a golden ring worn on it, and on top of his head, a red bloodstone crown. His teeth jutted out of his jaws, and his eyes of dark amber looked down to all of his subjects. Amethyst was worried enough with these dragons eating gemstones, but one sight of this giant beast and she was frozen still. She could only hope this giant wasn't hungry, which was probably shared with Spike. The dragons all around them stopped talking once he landed and looked to every single dragon in the area.

"DRAGONS OF EQUESTRIA! HEAR ME!" he roared. All the dragons, including the rebellious ones like Garble (shocking I know), stopped their chit chat and looked to the mighty beast. Then again, none of them could even come close to standing up to such a beast even if they wanted to. Spike, Scarlett, and Amethyst stayed quiet and waited for what the giant had to say.

"I have been Dragon Lord for longer than many of you can remember, and my reign has been extraordinary!" He bellowed. Much of the dragons stayed quiet, but apparently the dragon didn't approve.

"AGREE WITH ME!" He ordered. Soon all of the dragons (Amethyst and Spike not included) all agreed and cheered, many of them chanting "Torch! Torch! Torch!". This kept up until Torch, the dragon lord apparently, raised his claw.

"This is fascinating: Dragons are notoriously reckless, but they do whatever the Dragon Lord says!" gasped Twilight.

"That's … actually pretty neat," Starlight agreed.

"Unfortunately, according to dragon law," Torch said, rolling his eyes in annoyance, "it is time for me to step down. Sad, I know."

...

"BE SAD!" Torch yelled. Many of the dragons did just that, many actually crying on this "sad news".

"And here I thought the Diamonds were demanding," Amethyst whispered. She may have not known too much on the diamonds and their orders, but none of them were as demanding as this.

"And that's why I summoned all of you. To compete for the throne! In the Gauntlet of Fire!!"

That time many of the dragons cheered on this news, this time without Torch making the demand on them to do so. Seemed their minds were set, and that was when Torch presented something else to all of them: held in his thumb and index claw was a sort of artifact. Some sort of staff, but to Torch it might as well be a small toothpick.

"Whosoever has the strength and fortitude to retrieve this Bloodstone Scepter from the heart of the Flamecano, will then be crowned Lord of the Dragons!" Torch declared, just before he turned, and flicked the staff away. The staff itself, as they all watched, flew long and far until it got into a nearby volcano. Amethyst and spike glanced to one another, but then a huge red ring of light emitted from the area. It went over each and every single dragon, and then did the growing. The itching stopped, the glowing stopped, and they all looked normal. Spike couldn't help but give a sigh of relief. Torch smirked to his subjects.

"When the Bloodstone Scepter disappeared, the Dragons stopped glowing," Starlight stated.

"I know! We are learning so much!" Twilight said in glee. somehow, Twilight had a book with her, and was writing it down quick. Starlight continued watching as she did that, trying to avoid the feathered quill she was using.

"The Gauntlet is dangerous, for I designed it myself! Only Dragons with my strength, ferocity, and determination will be able to finish. We'll all gather at the cliff when the sun is at its peak!" All the dragons roared and cheered on this declaration. It all sounded fairly easy to do, but considering the species involved, it was anyone's guess on what they could all be going into.

"O-Ok, I don't want to be Dragon Lord or Dragon toast," Spike said.

"Yeah, and you stopped glowing, so let's high-tail it out of here," Amethyst whispered. Spike and Amethyst quietly began to go when -

"YOU THERE! Where do you two think you're going?!" Bellowed Torch. Every other Dragon quickly moved aside, leaving Scarlett, Amethyst, and Spike in the open. Well so much for a getaway plan.

"Uh ... Going home?" Amethyst said. Torch lowered his head down to their level.

"None of you can leave unless I say you can!" Torch stated.

"B-But we don't even want to be Dragon Lord your cla - I mean, majesty," Amethyst insisted, spike nodding in agreement. however, be it by instinct or by royalty laws for her own kind, Amethyst had the diamond symbol up by mistake, which she quickly corrected. Torch just grunted.

"Is that so? Well as the current Dragon Lord I SAY -"

"Dad!"

Torch was ready to yell, but then he saw another dragon fly down to them. This dragon was cyan blue in scale coloration, and looked only as big as Jamie or Lars back home. Her head scales and tail were darker blue, and her eyes matching Dragon Lord Torch. Apparently this was Torch's daughter, and she wasn't standing by and letting this happen.

"Dad, look at them. He's just a runt. That, and they don't even want to compete. Let them go," she insisted. Torch found this a bit amusing himself. Amethyst quietly moved over to Garble.

"Who's that?"

"That's princess Ember. I wouldn't even look at her if I were you. Unless you want Torch to eat you," Garble answered. Considering she was lucky not to be sniffed out thus far, that was a likely possibility either way.

"They are tiny. I could crush them both with my pinky claw," Torch said, a few chuckles escaping his jaws. Amethyst never liked being called a runt by anyone, being the overcooked Gem she was, but any attack now would get them both killed. Even she knew her limits in something like this. Spike got in her way before she could jump in, and Scarlett off nearby was getting a bit nervous for her friend.

"Hm ... Very well then. I release them," Torch decided. Well they were out of the game, thank goodness.

"Thank you! And thank you," Spike said, the second one towards the helping female dragon. She didn't worry much for it though and flew off as they began to move away.

"Well, that's that. Let's get outta here before I decide to make mincemeat outta Torch," Amethyst said through gritted teeth. As much fun as it would be to beat Torch in a fight, how could she face a giant like that by herself? Spike and Scarlett went to join her, walking on their way passed the other dragons themselves. The whole horde of dragons were more than ready for this gauntlet, whatever it was, and as they were starting to go, they could overhear much of the dragons talking to eachother.

"When I become dragon lord, I'm going to make burps an official greeting," said one of the dragons. Another dragon scoffed on the idea.

"You? Please! When I'm dragon lord, I'm going to pillage Equestria of all their pillows. Why do those ponies get to rest in comfort while we sleep on rocks?" Not too much either. It was then that Garble moved passed them both, shoving them aside.

"That's nothing! When I become dragon lord, the first thing I'm gonna do is get revenge on those puny ponies. They're going to regret the day they crossed Garble," he growled. "We'll take whatever we want from Equestria. And burn the rest!"
Now THAT sounded very scary for Equestria to deal with, and with the idea any of these dragons can rule, that was what made Spike nervous.

"O-Oh no. Equestria's gonna be in trouble if any of them are in charge," Spike said shivering.

"Don't worry, maybe they won't even get it. Besides, you got us, we can handle it. Not too bad," Amethyst said. Amethyst didn't like the idea either, but wasn't as worried about it. But THEN one more dragon came forward, laughing at Garble's idea.

"Just Equestria? HA! Just wait til you hear what I'm gonna do!"

"Oh yeah? What?" Garble asked, getting right into the dragon's face.

"When I become Dragon lord: we're all gonna go on a little trip. There's a world somewhere that's jacked full of talking gems! And once we takeover that world, we'll have a grand feast, and whatever's left of that kind we'll use on that pathetic pony place. Taking two worlds with one swoop!"

"I take that back, it IS that bad," Amethyst gulped.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope that burping Dragon wins," Starlight said.

"B-But what can we do?" Scarlett asked humbly. Her friends were both Gem and Pony, she didn't want to loose either of them. Spike had to think of something, but with looking to them, and thinking it over, there was only one thing he could do.

"I'll do it."

"Do what?"

"There's only one way to protect Equestria and Homeworld, and only I can do it. I have to compete in the Gauntlet of Fire!" Spike declared. Scarlett looked shell-shocked.

"C-compete in the Gauntlet?! Spike, don't, it's too dangerous!"

"I have to do something. You heard them: the worlds are in big trouble, and they got horrible plans for both of them!" Spike reminded. With the other dragons not with them, Twilight and Starlight got the disguise off for a brief moment.

"But Spike, the Gauntlet of Fire's extremely dangerous. Besides, if you'd win, you'd have to stay here," Twilight warned.

"I know I do. But it's the only way to protect my friends," Spike concluded. Amethyst and Scarlett could tell that this choice was the only one they got left in the case of what they got to go on. They weren't sure what Torch did during his ruling, but none of these dragons were looking for any peace amongst any other race. That, and the fact they're aware of the Gem world didn't help either, as if they win they could go off and get a feast out of Diamond City! As if their world wasn't as in enough of delicate terms with it.

"Well, sport, if you're gonna go and do this, don't think you're gonna go in alone. We'll be right there with ya," Amethyst promised, Scarlett nodding.

"And we'll be there to cheer you on the whole way," promised Starlight. Spike was glad at least someone was going to root for him here.

~~~~~~

Once the sun was high enough, and with all Equestrian Dragons present at the cliff looking off towards the island, the Gauntlet of fire was more than ready to start. All the young dragons were more than ready to get going, looking forward to become the almighty Dragon Lord just like Torch. Torch himself stood by the cliff as well, but before they could start things off, Spike and Amethyst soon caught up. Torch looked down to the contestants.

"I thought I released you two," Torch stated.

"Well, we decided to compete anyway. We are dragons," Amethyst pointed out, which was true (sort of). This just got Garble laughing though.

"You're going to compete, Sparkle Warple? You can't even fly!" Garble mocked, the other dragons all laughing at him. Amethyst wasn't gonna take this sitting down, and was right in Garble's face.

"Why don't you watch your tongue, gravel head?" Amethyst growled.

"Who're you calling gravel head? Gravel head!" Garble mocked back, snarling at her. This confrontation stopped when Torch roared, good and loud.

"Save your ferocity for the course! Any Dragon can compete. But they do so at their own peril," Torch bellowed. Garble reluctantly stopped, but not before turning around and walking away. His turn around got his tail whacking Amethyst in her rear, infuriating the Gem in dragon's clothing even more. And to think Spike had to deal with this pain before. Torch raised his head up high, looking off to the island.

"Your task to fly over this ocean to the Flamecano is just one of the many perils that await you. Remember: the first to return to me with the Bloodstone Scepter will be therefore crowned. So … GO!" And with a mighty fire breath aimed to the skies above, the signal had been struck, and all the dragons on the cliff began to go off. Flying off the cliff was no problem.

"Good luck! Just kidding, hope you lose," said Garble, before whacking Spike off the cliff with his tail, landing right into the saltwater. Amethyst flew down to him, as Spike was spitting out some water.

"Thanks, Garble! I thought of swimming anyway," Spike called in a groan, before he began to swim.

"Don't worry, we'll get him. Come on," Amethyst said, picking up Spike and taking him out of the water. Amethyst was just as determined to get through this, though mostly to be sure that Garble was beaten. Scarlett was along for the ride herself, also unable to fly along, so Amethyst had to carry Spike on her back and carry Scarlett with her arms. Not too bad for a Gem to do. The other dragons simply ignored them as they went along through. Twilight and Starlight cheered him on from below, having to swim across the water in seaweed disguises.

"You can do it, guys!" called Twilight. Spike gave a thumbs up as they went along.

*RAAAHHH!*

Oh, did you think a simple fly over the ocean was gonna be that easy? Just narrowly avoiding the obstacle, a huge Sea Worm suddenly launched itself out of the water. It looked like some weird hybrid between an eel and angler fish, stretching up a good twenty feet out of the water. The dragons were well above the range, but the Sea Worms made up for it with a launch of water from their mouths like a Jetstream.

"Look out!" shouted Scarlett, Amethyst just stopping short of the Jetstream. There was a multitude of these sea creatures launching themselves out of the water, blasting out the water right at the horde flying over. Some of the dragons were slammed hard, and other just avoided the hits of water. And to think that this was the first obstacle of this gauntlet. Amethyst, Scarlett, and Spike were doing pretty good in their reach towards the island, but Starlight and Twilight looked and saw one particular Dragon get struck down hard. While many of them were struck down by the water geysers from these Sea Worms, this one was actually hit by a speeding dragon, who struck him with his wing, knocking the armored Dragon right down to the water. He landed right next to Starlight and Twilight, but this dragon didn't come up right away. In fact, he wasn't coming up at all.

"He's gonna drown!"

.......

For the dragon, his life was saved. With combine efforts from the others, this dragon was given another chance at life as he laid there on the shores of Flamecano. Spike and Scarlett were the first ones he seen, coughs escaping his mouth. Eventually the group got the helmet off of him so he could breathe properly -

"Princess Ember!" gasped Spike. What're the odds they would end up rescuing the princess of Dragons? Ember took a bit before coming to, but she didn't look too pleased.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ember questioned.

"Saving you, your majesty," Scarlett said, "We saw you fall, but Spike here dove right down after you! You wouldn't be here if it weren't for him." A nice gesture, sure, but Ember still wasn't too sure. However, after getting herself around, her snout started to tell her there was a bit more going on here.

"Wait … is that a pony I smell?"

"W-Wha? Ponies? What ponies? No ponies here, hehe," Spike said, standing over by Twilight and Starlight just in case. Ember though was a little bit smarter than that, and moved Spike aside as she investigated the suspicious mounds of seaweed. One yank and -

"Ponies?! What're they doing here?!" Ember demanded.

"They're my friends," Spike answered.

"Friends? Dragons don't do "friends"," Ember stated.

"Well this dragon does," Spike said. Ember didn't seem too keen on this whole thing really, but there was little time to actually question it, especially in the middle of the Gauntlet of Fire.

"Whatever. Just make sure you and your ponies don't get in my way. I got a Gauntlet to win," Ember said, getting her helmet back and ready to go. However, before she could take off, her nose started to pick up scent of something else. Something a little bit more appetizing. More tempting. Ember turned back, and suddenly found herself right by Amethyst.

"Huh. You actually smell very good," Ember stated.

"Uh … thank you?" Amethyst said, backing up. While the dragon disguise was a pretty good one, it would seem Blue the Gem Dog wasn't the only one who could sniff out gemstones. Speaking of which, Ember soon saw the gemstone located on her chest, which Ember could see the reflection off of.

"Wait a minute," Ember said, looking very suspicious. Amethyst started to get a little bit nervous. If she were to get caught now, she would get eaten no problem, and once more, would put the rest of her group in danger. Ember looked Amethyst in the face.

"You a Siren?" Ember questioned. Amethyst scrambled to try to come up with something.

"Siren? Me? No way, I'm a full dragon. I just uh … picked up this as a souvenir, yeah! It's like a good luck charm," Amethyst answered. Ember thought on it for a bit, even flicking the gemstone with her claw. Amethyst cringed on feeling the claws on her gem. Ember did have one idea, and decided to test it, her claws suddenly digging into the sides of Amethyst's stone. Amethyst cringed, and tried to keep herself together, but the risk of her stone being pulled out of her chest proved just too much.
Her body suddenly turned back to normal, much to Ember's surprise.

"What the - a Gem? Well, no wonder then."

"Ok, so i'm not a dragon, don't try to put me on the menu!" Amethyst warned. She wasn't gonna get eaten without a fight, but this did spark some curiosity.

"Wait, how'd you know about Gems? Er, the kind that walk and talk I mean," Starlight asked.

"I heard some dragons chat about it on the way here. I always thought it was nonsense until now," Ember explained. Spike glanced over to Scarlett, who now was giggling nervously, a blush on her face.

*AUGH!*

Not a moment too soon. Soon after the conversation, suddenly one of the dragons was knocked right down from the sky by a flying boulder, slamming down hard onto the beach. And wouldn't you know it happened to be Garble again? He found himself right under the huge boulder, too heavy for him to simply move by himself. Starlight and Twilight quickly got the disguises back on, Ember got the helmet back on, and Spike hid off away. Garble tried to get the boulder off of him for a bit before looking over to the dragons.

"Don't leave me here Spike!" called Garble.

"Don't listen, Spike. He just knocked you down, remember?" Amethyst quietly reminded. However, even so, seeing something in such a predicament and leaving it there didn't suit well for this dragon. So, he and Scarlett both decided to go over, and with both of them working together, easily pushed the rock off of Garble …

"Ha! Knew you'd do it. Your pony friends made you soft," Garble mocked, just to kick some sand onto Spike. Scarlett stepped back, but got hit in sand too.

"You're welcome."

"For what? I didn't say "thank you"," Garble stated. With Garble now next to them though, his own snout started to pick up a scent of both Gem and Pony.

"Wow. You even smell like a pony … or is it coming from over there?" Garble began to sniff around like a predator after prey. Starlight and Twilight both stayed silent, not wanting their cover blown, and Garble was inches from their faces. Before they could be found out, Ember suddenly got in the way.

"That's me. I pillaged a few ponies on my way here," Ember said, her tone lowered to sound like a boy. Garble took interest.

"I like your style. Have we met somewhere before? You kinda look like -"

"My neighbor!" Spike suddenly said, jumping in between Ember and Garble. "Uh … Sandy … Rockbeach!"

Each to its own. The group all took a look back up the cliffs of Flamecano Island, and they began to see something up on the cliffsides, chucking rocks at the Dragons. The main reason Garble ended up on the ground in the first place.

"Stupid Slingtails knocked me down, but I got no time for small talk," said Garble. "Ha! Get it? Because you're -"

"Will you just go?" Amethyst warned, getting right up in Garble's face again. Garble just grumbled before flying off on them. A gauntlet can't be finished with just chitchat. As they watched Garble fly off, they saw a few other dragons getting struck and narrowly avoiding the large rocks flung by the Slingtails. Jasper and Bismuth mentioned fighting one of these things already, but seeing them in action did show them at their strongest. Plus, they were in their element, so they had more boulders to use.

"Boy, that looks rough … but, that's what makes it a challenge. By the way, why'd you cover for me? You could've had one less competitor," Ember concluded.

"I'd ask you the same question. You could've told Garble about my friends," Spike said. Which he did have a point. Ember though shook it off and got focused again on the task.

"Well, nevermind. I can't win this thing just by talking. I'm gonna prove to every dragon who thinks I'm a little princess that there's more to being a ruler than just "big and strong"." As it stood though, they kept hearing multiple grunts and screams as more Dragons were bombarded by the rocks. No way would they going to get through this mess without at least one rock hitting them. And at their size, one rock could launch them back into the lair of the Sea Worms. Spike took little time to think on this, but an idea did flash his mind.

"Hey, why don't we work together?"

"Together?" Ember questioned, eyebrow raised.

"You can fly up there, and I'll be a lookout for you. Like a second set of eyes," Spike proposed. The others were kinda unsure about this, and Scarlett moved Spike off to talk to him in private.

"Hey, you sure you wanna just jump in like this? I-I know she hasn't bothered you, but you don't know her too well."

"I do know she could've told Garble about Amethyst, Starlight, and Twilight, but she didn't. I think we can trust her," Spike explained.

"Well, maybe. She hasn't been as uh … rough as other Dragons I knew," Scarlett figured.

"Well, I'm up for helping her out," Amethyst put in.

"You, Amethyst?"

"Duh! She's trying to prove that just being all brawn and no brain isn't all it takes. I've practically gone through that," Amethyst said, showing her true self to prove her point. Speaking as a Quartz Gem that was only half height as a regular, they could see how Amethyst could relate to this.

"Her behavior has been contradictory about what I've noted on Dragons so far," Twilight said, looking to her book.

"Hey, little fella!" called Ember, catching their attention. "I've thought about the idea, and it makes sense. Let's do it."

"Great! It's a deal!" Spike said, hand extended. Ember though only held him by the finger for the handshake, and got her helmet back on again.

"Just so you know, this doesn't mean we're gonna pick flowers, or exchange necklaces, or whatever pony friends do," Ember made clear. Well, deal's a deal, and it was time to get this started. Scarlett climbed onto the draconic Amethyst's back, as Starlight and Twilight readied themselves as well, Twilight waving a hoof.

"Good luck! We'll meet you at the top."

~~~~~~

And so, as the other dragons continued their own peril through the Slingtail territory, Ember and Spike were up and off again. Ember carried spike on her back easily and had the easier time in flying on through the rocks with Spike on her back. Ember dodged and weaved her way through the rock launches, Amethyst and Scarlett adopting a similar strategy off close by. The Slingtails themselves were about as relentless as one would expect to creatures invading their territory, and while the rocks and boulders were very large, accuracy was about as well-done as an actual catapult. One Slingtail down below aimed its shot up high, right at both dragons!

"Pull up!" called Spike. Ember did as she was told and aimed skyward, her tail barely scraping the boulder as it flew in the air, landing down hard onto the ground below. Another Slingtail off below then tried its shot.

"Cut left!" Spike said, and Ember went left fast to avoid the next boulder. Calls like this were made out time and time again, Scarlett guiding Amethyst as Spike guided Ember. It was a bit of a tricky game of dodge the bullet, but both sides were doing pretty well in the race. Eventually, they were catching up with the leading dragons as they flew off inside a nearby cave.

"Nice work. Let's keep this up. Er, until we get through the tunnel," Ember said.

"Lead on, Ember," Spike said. Ember felt more confident, and both troops then flew right on into the cave after the other dragons.

Of course, the flight itself was kinda cut short after a little bit. The tunnel itself at first appeared pretty mundane, rock walls, floor, and ceiling. …

*SLAM!* *SLAM!*

The two tag-teams skidded to a halt when they began hearing this loud noise. On looking in, they all found a huge chasm full of moving stalactites and stalagmites slamming into eachother like rows on rows of rock teeth. A few Dragons stopped and were humbled by the sight of this task, and a number of other dragons were actually kinda stuck, gripping onto the moving rock formations, and barely making much progress in making it through. Flying through clearly didn't do them well. While sitting there, they actually saw Garble fly passed them, and immediately trying to fly through, only for them to see a stalactite slam him into the wall nearby! Again, flying wasn't gonna be doing them well that easily. But as Ember said, that's what made this a challenge.
In silent agreement, Amethyst and Ember took off flying, and as before, Scarlett and Spike gave their warnings as they went through. Unlike before though, there was far less room for error, and far less time to make a call. The "teeth" grazed the two fliers time and again, and one in particular was dangerously close to Ember and Spike.

"Scarlett, feel up for flying?" Amethyst asked.

"Huh? But I can't -" before Scarlett could finish, Scarlett was suddenly launched into the air, and Amethyst flew straight at Ember and Spike, knocking them just out of range as the Gem took the full hit of the flying stalactite and stalagmite combo. The hit was swift, and crushed her like a pancake, leaving her very dazed afterwards. She still had to keep her form, and thank the stars her gemstone didn't get crushed in that hit, as Scarlett landed on her back again. It took Amethyst a bit to regain herself AND keep her form.

"Oh my goodness, you alright?" Scarlett asked.

"Never better ol' cap," Amethyst muttered before fully coming to, shaking her head and catching up.
Ember, Spike, Scarlett, and Amethyst continued on ahead, and while many of the Dragons so far were left behind, only Garble seemed to make it there thus far. Much to their annoyance, and his to see them in front.
The next obstacle to this crazy tunnel was a similar thing to the first one, but instead of the proper rock teeth, they instead were dealing with trigger-happy crystals (ironic for Amethyst). They didn't have to carry the others through this part, but didn't completely split up throughout this part, them having to duck, slide, and leap through this while narrowly avoiding the many jutting crystals. This was a crazy strain on them, and some almost got struck by them by the slim bits of their scales. The pressure as well was straining on Amethyst as she tried to keep herself together while dodging all this, and the slam on herself in the prior challenge didn't help either.
As for Garble …

*SLAM!*

"Uuugh. Anyone got the license on that … carriage? ooohh."

And *thud* he went to the ground.
Soon, the four managed to reach the end of the tunnel. On arrival, they found themselves in the presence of the deep heart of the Flamecano, lava pools edging a good amount of it as land bridges and many tunnels laid out everywhere. This surely looked like the main place where this Bloodstone Scepter would be located, but they didn't see it much of anywhere. They still had to look for it somewhere in this place. When they finally arrived, Amethyst finally felt faint, and returned to her normal form, breathing heavily and needing a minute to regain some energy.

"Yellow Diamond's trainings' got nothin on this," Amethyst panted.

"Guys! you made it!" Starlight suddenly said. SOMEHOW, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer both had gotten themselves over at the exit, and were waiting for them with some rock disguises on. That was the power of the Portal Key right there.

"Eh, it was nothing," Spike said with a smile. At least they made it through.

"Nothing? Spike, you've risked so much through all of that just to help me get through, and they're risking so much just to support you!" Ember made clear.

"That's what friends do: we look out for eachother. Don't you have someone looking out for you?" Amethyst asked. Ember however shook her head.

"Well … not until now." Ember paused, and suddenly snapped back to her version of reality. "But that doesn't matter: we made it through the tunnel, and that's it. There's one Scepter, one Dragon Lord, so I guess it's every creature for itself."

"What? … So we aren't really friends?" Spike asked meekly. Ember felt a little conflicted at first, but again remembered the task at hand.

"Like I said, Spike. Dragons don't do friendship." And with that final statement, Ember went off and flew on her way through the caverns! She flat out ditched them on the spot for the sake of the contest. It was a bit bittersweet, and some thanks for how much they helped her out.

"Um … don't worry, Spike, m-maybe she didn't mean it?" Starlight asked. Spike sighed.

"I know she cared for us: she saved us already once when she didn't have to. Forget what Ember says: that makes us friends!" Spike stated, before starting to go off to find the Bloodstone Scepter. He helped Ember this far, so even if he couldn't reach the Scepter himself, then maybe he could at least make things a little better with Ember. After all, all the dragons were heading off that way, so odds were Ember would be too.
The group really didn't have to go too far though, and only after a good half an hour …

"Wait, I think I see something! Down there!" Scarlett said. Scarlett went off ahead a little bit as the others went off to catch up.
The group got to the tunnel, and once they did, they found themselves in a large chamber again. A chamber with a single land bridge leading up to a platform of red crystals shined in its glory from a hole above. This was the center of the Flamecano, and on the platform would be the Bloodstone Scepter! With all the trouble already, they have made it.

"There it is! I can't believe we're the only Dragons to make it," Spike beamed.

"You're not."

Big surprise: Garble! He had managed to get to the center after all, and boy was he furious when he saw such weak Dragons make it before him. Worse yet, Amethyst didn't change!

"I-I'M STILL A DRAGON!" Amethyst yelped, but she wasn't fooling anyone anymore. Angry, and determined, Garble charged forward, shoving Amethyst and Scarlett aside, almost knocking both off down the bridge, as the red dragon grabbed hold of Spike by his head, holding him right over the edge!

"And I am NOT going to lose to a puny, pony-loving Dragon like you!" Garble made clear, ready to drop him right off the cliff.

"Okay, THAT'S IT!" Amethyst finally took action and summoned her whip, wrapping it around Garble's head and pulling back hard. Spike was dropped to the ground, and Garble glared back at Amethyst. He grabbed the whip, and brought it up to his teeth, biting down hard and cutting it in two before rushing at the Gem, tackling her to the ground! Garble had about enough of this, and grabbed Amethyst by the hair and tossed her right at Spike, sending them both over the edge! Amethyst just got a whip to grab hold of a edge in the bridge, but it wasn't too much, and Garble was already moving to the platform!

"We got to do something!" Starlight said. Twilight agreed, but before they could …

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
Ember! Out of nowhere, Garble was suddenly slammed hard back, the red Dragon crashing into the ground, and knocking into Starlight and Twilight, knocking their disguises off of them. Ember got hold of the whip, and quickly pulled Amethyst and Spike back up to safety.

"Ember! I thought it was every dragon for themselves! Why did you save us?!" Spike asked.

"That's what friends do! And I am. I mean, we are. I never should have left you all back there. Agh, please don't make me talk about my feelings!" Ember said. Garble got to at this point, and one look at the ponies got him even more angry.

"WHAT THE?!" Garble turned savage, teeth barred, and he began to march up towards them, making both Unicorn and Alicorn backing up to the cliff. The primal rage of the Dragon made their instinctual fear start to come up, being a pony against a dragon and all.

"Spike! Amethyst, Scarlett! Get the Scepter!" Ember instructed. Scarlett and Spike began to go and do so, but it was Amethyst who didn't agree and rushed for the others instead.
Ember got to them first, and Garble was tackled hard to the wall. Garble looked on and saw Scarlett and Spike making haste towards the Scepter, something he will NOT allow! With his own strength, he tossed Ember aside, and bee-lined towards the two, just for Amethyst to wrap her whip on his tail the last second, making him slam into the dirt. Garble tried to get the whip unwrapped, but Ember just tackled him just as he did so, which turned into a test of strength.

"I'm sick and tired of you two helping each other! Dragons don't do helping! Dragons don't do friendship!"

"These dragons do!" shouted Ember, spinning once before throwing Garble back again. This time the stubborn dragon got himself upright before he could hit the wall, and he had about enough of this crazy game. No longer caring about anything, he flew straight for Scarlett fast! Scarlett gasped, and was grabbed by the tail, and used as a weapon to slam Spike back to the others before he threw Scarlett at them all. Like a bowling ball to pins, everyone got struck back hard! Garble smirked smugly, whipping his hands in satisfaction as he walked right to the platform.

"Finally! Dragon Lord Garble's reign starts now!" Garble said, ready to grab the scepter. Scarlett, Spike, Amethyst, Starlight, Twilight, and Ember readied to get him. They can't allow -

"Huh? ... WHERE IS IT?!"

What? Turned out, Garble found the area was devoid of any scepter. The others went up to see, Garble shattering crystals and digging the dirt to try and find it, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Come on, I'm so close! Where'd it go?" Garble said again, digging voraciously to find it.

"Eh, your Dragon Lord torch did kind of flick it over here," Amethyst commented.

"The scepter always lands in the same spot though. It's like a magnet. That means someone must've grabbed it first," Ember figured.

"But isn't everyone else behind us?" Spike asked, pointing back to the other dragons ready to catch up. Amethyst quickly got into disguise along with Starlight and Twilight before they caught up. If memory served, that was correct: the only one that kept up with them was Garble, so who could've slipped by them?

*crack*

"I think we found our answer," Scarlett shuttered, looking up.
Looking on upward, they began to see a familiar dragon from earlier, the exact one that suggested Gem destruction as apart of his ruling. And this dragon already got hold of the Bloodstone Scepter before any of them could even get there. However, they knew this wasn't anything normal. For a start, the dragon was hanging upside down from the ceiling like a Gecko, and the staff no longer had the exact Bloodstone in it, that part now within his teeth. Looking at it now, he didn't look anything much like a Dragon anymore, and more alien in appearance.

"Hey! That's my scepter!" Garble yelled.

"What scepter?" the dragon asked smugly.

"Um. The one you have in your claw?" Ember asked.

"What? this scepter?" and suddenly, the dragon proceeded to crumble the staff like twigs. Once done with that, the "dragon" dropped them all down to the others.

"You all wanna fight over the stick, go ahead. I got what I want," the dragon snickered. All this trouble to become Dragon Lord, and now they all just got some shards to make up for it. Torch would never buy it.

"Oh great! How's any of us gonna become Dragon Lord now?!" shouted one of the dragons.

"You're not, that's kinda why I did that. Duh," the dragon scoffed.

"That scepter was mine!" Garble yelled. The other dragon hissed in his face, his eyes flashing green for a moment.

"Oh? then why weren't you holding it?" O the irony. And to further slam the point home, the dragon turned and whack Garble away with his tail, before beginning to fly skyward towards the exit opening. The other dragons were ready to fly up, but this dragon slammed the walls with his tail. The tremors were just hard enough to close that exit, and make the cave start to crumble!

"Cave-in! Everyone out!" Scarlett yelled. All the dragons were already running out the same way they came in. Where else could they go? The chamber itself was already crumbling hard, many of the crystals and rocks falling down onto them. Some of the dragons got hit by these rocks, or stumbling over others just to get out. Amethyst grabbed Spike and tried to get out, but all the shaking and tremors were not doing them any favors. So many of these traps and challenges torch had set up were now even more hazardous: the crunching stalactites and stalagmites may not be as abundant, but were harder to avoid due to the tremors. The larger dragons had the most trouble with this, and Scarlett was almost crushed under one of the dragons, only saved by skidding just inches sky of her. Garble though barreled right through her to get out, making Scarlett tumble and get her tail stuck under a fallen rock!

"Scarlett!" gasped Spike, jumping out of Amethyst's hands, and running back to get her. Scarlett tried to get her tail unstuck, but many of the dragons weren't staying to help her. All but one.

"Come on, I got ya!" Ember! Regardless if they were friends or not, Ember wasn't gonna let a fellow dragon bite the dust. Using all of her strength, alongside Spike, they both shoved the rock off of Scarlett's tail. She, the first dragon, Ember and Spike rushed off to rejoin the other escaping dragons. Ember pulled Scarlett along just fast enough to avoid the falling rocks above. As they continued going through though, the cave-in got them all in a surprise, and a huge rock suddenly fell down at their only exit point. And they were so close too!

"We're trapped!" gasped one of the dragons. With all the rocks still crumbling all around them, they had no time to think of any particular plan to get out, but Ember wasn't leaving any dragon behind. It was then that Ember remembered their earlier tactic.

"No we're not! Everyone, follow me!" Ember ordered, pointing over to the passageway they used to come in.

"Hey, you're not in charge!" Garble snapped. As if the cave wanted them to listen, a gigantic boulder almost crushed him, landing inches from his tail.

"ME FIRST!" Garble yelled, rushing passed Ember to the same hole she was pointing at. There was no time for questions, so many of the dragons rushed right for it. some of the larger ones did find the exit a little bit snug, but they got through alright. As they tried going through though, there was one dragon that suddenly got stuck his wing stuck under a falling crystal. None of them realized it until after he screeched, Ember skidding to a stop and seeing the dragon stuck. The blue dragon struggled, but he wasn't going to get out in time by himself.

"Spike, guide the other dragons outside!"

"But I can't leave you!"

"Just go!" Ember yelled. Spike tried to protest, but the cave quickly reminded them of the situation, and Spike had no choice but to run off down the tunnel, as Ember raced back to the other dragon.

When the whole group finally got outside, they could see what devastation that first dragon had did to the island's volcano. The other dragon was long gone, but they all could hear the entire island's cave completely collapse. Whatever that dragon did, it was far stronger than just a few whacks of one's tail. Everyone held their breath, Scarlett, Spike, and Amethyst waiting for the two to come out, but as the sounds died down, there was no noise coming up from the interior of the cave. From the opening, bellows of smoke and debris shot out from it. Everything was silent, Spike crossing his fingers, hoping that Ember could've gotten out.
Eventually, they all then saw a huff of smoke come out one more time, to show Ember and the dragon rescued. They both looked a bit dusty and dirty, but other than that they looked alright in the long run. Most of the dragons cheered, including Spike and Scarlett for Ember's quick-thinking, the dragon she rescued actually giving her a kiss on the cheek. A bit quick, but who could blame him for thanking her for saving his life? Him, and everyone else as well. Spike went right up to her and hugged her as well.

"You made it," Spike said, smiling. Ember smiled back to him.

"We made it," Ember replied. Starlight and Twilight, out of sight, but no longer in disguise, smiled to eachother when they saw their friendship. Good thing, but -

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" bellowed a voice. The noise from the cave-in reached far beyond just the island, and was just enough to catch the attention of Torch. Seeing the giant dragon fly towards the beach was a intimidating sight, and Torch landed off into the water, the huge wave only missing the others because they all flew up. The wave went back down, and they all landed again, but Torch wasn't pleased on this ruckus.

"You mean none of you could even get into my gauntlet?" Torch growled.

"We all got in, chief!" yelled Amethyst, "But one of your contestants sabotaged it! He nearly crushed us!"

"WHAT?!" Torch yelled, his voice making the ground shake. Torch looked ready to scorch everyone alive, but Ember had just about enough of this, and flew right up to Torch's line of sight.

"Leave them alone! None of them had anything to do with it!"

"Ember? You?! What're you think you're doing here?!"

"I know you didn't believe I could do it, but I did," Ember stated. This made Torch even more cross with his daughter.

"I explicitly told you NOT TO DO IT! You're no bigger than that runt I agreed to send home!" Torch retorted.

"So what if I'm not as big as other dragons?! It shouldn't be ALL that matters!"

"I designed this Gauntlet for a BIG, STRONG dragon to win! Because it takes a BIG, STRONG DRAGON, TO LEAD!" Torch roared. Ember was not deterred in the slightest though, and landed on Torch's hooked nose.

"I know! But you know what? I made it through anyway. That, and I just saved ALL of our contestants from getting crushed inside that cave-in. So maybe it takes more than being "big and strong" to be a good dragon lord!"
And to Torch's surprise, all the other dragons agreed in a nod. Torch, for the first time all day, grown a little quiet when seeing this. He took a moment to see what Ember was talking about, and even though he didn't see it, Ember was telling the truth.

"... I was wrong, Ember. You might not be big … but you are strong. And smart. And perhaps that counts for more than I thought. … And you will make an excellent leader." Torch smiled to his daughter, and while she didn't have the Bloodstone Scepter, Torch could see the good potential she could bring to the dragons under her step. While this suited well for many of them, only one dragon had complaints. Try and guess who?

"HOLD ON! Why is she suddenly the new Dragon Lord?!" shouted Garble, flying right up to her, "She may have gone through the Gauntlet, but I HAD THE SCEPTER! ME! Why is she the Dragon Lord, and I'm not?!"

"I don't see YOU holding it! ... Where is the Bloodstone Scepter anyway?" Torch asked, suspicious, and seeing how it wasn't anywhere in sight. The other dragons needed a minute before Spike went forward.

"Eh. Well, the dragon who sabotaged the gauntlet? He stole it."

"What do you mean he stole it?" Torch growled.

"Well, kinda. He just took the Bloodstone, and crumbled the rest of it. He didn't even want to be Dragon Lord," Spike replied, hoping not to get eaten by Torch. And while that'd normally be the case, Torch took a look towards Ember, remembering what happened already.

"... I don't need a scepter to know who's the Dragon Lord here."

"WHAT?" Garble gasped. Torch smiled, and looked back to Ember, who honestly was worried her dad wouldn't accept it.

"DRAGONS! HEAR ME! I present to you all the new Dragon Lord! EMBER!!"

And all the dragons there applauded and cheered for Ember. With help from her friends, she had proven more than worthy of the Dragon Lord role. Something shared amongst everyone else there. Except for Garble, who simply crossed his arms and grumbled to himself. By all rights, he should've won that, if not for that meddling cheater dragon.

~~~~~~

As for the sabotaging dragon, he didn't stop his flight until he was well outside of the Gauntlet. He wasn't even in the Dragon Lands anymore, but more closer to the pony settlements. The land underneath him was barren and not very pleasing to anyone going through. It wasn't until he got here did he land. He looked up to the skies around him to be sure that no one followed him, or saw him come this way. He appeared alone. The dragon began to move over towards one particular structure in sight, which itself looked like a giant termite mound with as many holes as a wasp's nest. The dragon flew right inside without fear, and traveled through the varying tunnels and chasms within, until he reached a much larger chamber.

"Ah. There you are. And did you get the Bloodstone?"

The dragon snickered, and opened up his wing to present the Bloodstone to the figure. When this happened though, his body suddenly was covered in a green flame. His body suddenly altered into a much smaller size, and a lot more pony-like. However, this pony was dark-skinned, holed transparent wings, and his legs had as many holes as a fine swiss cheese. This was no dragon, and neither was the figure being shown the Bloodstone.

"Excellent. This will work nicely."

The Great and Powerful ...

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For the time, there had been quite some fun amongst many of Canterlot, and busy as ever was every unicorn there. Autumn surely got many of them going about in the cooler days. Not too hot, but not freezing to keep these ponies inside as they were handling their own days around the place, some playing, some talking, some finding the nearest store for some afternoon shopping.
And amongst it all, stuck in Twilight's Tower, Pink Diamond was left to simply sit there and watch it all go down. Being able to go around Equestria was one thing, but being cooped up in the tower when nopony was around to watch her was something else. Something she simply was NOT liking. She simply sat there, bored as bored can ever be as she stared on outside from the library's main window, her finger tapping on the rim of it. Tap, tapping away, waiting for something to happen. But nothing really did.

Three. Two. One.

"AAAAUGH!" Pink Diamond had it, and fell onto her back. Her hands were over her eyes, angry. "This is so unfair! Since when did this turn into me on lockdown? I can go out of the tower if I want to. Something happen, please!" In her anger, her fist slammed into the ground, making the entire tower shake! A number of books fell down from the many shelves, one bunch of which landed on her head. And worst part was she read all these books already.
The tremors of this slam did get one Unicorn and Dragon's attention, as she rushed right into the main room, swinging the door open.

"What happened?! Everything okay?! What made that shaking?!" Starlight asked, panicked. Or, she was, until she saw a grumpy Pink Diamond sitting on the floor by one of the book shelves, one of the books still on her head. Without a change in expression, nor change in sight, he picked the book off her head and dropped it nearby.

"No one says a word. And no one gets hurt," Pink Diamond simply said. It was a quick fix though, Starlight getting all the books into the shelves again before she and Spike went over to her.

"Cooped up, huh?" Starlight asked.

"Why should I be? I'm a Diamond! Diamonds don't get "cooped up" in a tower!" Pink stated, with a TON of sarcasm. Pink Diamond getting up to her feet.

"Well can't you try to not go off like that? That's the seventh time we had to restack these books," Starlight said.

"What do you mean we?" Spike commented, who was mostly behind to clean things up anyway. Pink really didn't care for that though, and was more upset of being stuck inside Twilight's tower under word of the princesses themselves. She may be a brat, but she knew loyalty had authority, and they weren't Diamond authority but still enough authority. Who could argue with the princesses that could move the sun and moon anyway?

"I don't care about some stupid books. I could think of a million things better to do than stay here and ready through all this! None of them even involve Gems! I mean, seriously!"

"Everybody okay in here?"

Before her rant could continue, Twilight Sparkle came up into the room to see them. She had calmed down a little bit from the rumbles Pink had made, but she still looked slightly frazzled.

"Yeah. Had to restack the books … again," Spike said. Just for one book to slip off the shelf and land on his head. Only Spike. Twilight levitated the book back onto the shelf in question before looking to the others.

"Bout time you got back, where were you?" Pink Diamond groaned.

"Meeting with Celestia and Luna. They just got their message back from the Diamond Authority, and they wanted me to tell you -"

"Let me guess: that I should be stuck in here because I'm "too delicate" or that it's "too dangerous" for a Diamond like me?" Pink Diamond cut in. Twilight paused.

"... Uh no. Actually, they've been wanting to see you, and are going to be coming by sometime this week."

…

"What? The authority? Coming this week?! Oh no, oh clod, I-I don't have anything to show! I need an empire going, now!" and just like that, Pink Diamond went right off out of the tower, just like that. She didn't use the door, but instead swung open the windows and jumped out. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike stared with blank expressions.

"... O.K."

"K. Uh, Starlight?"

"Yeah, I'll go and watch her," Starlight said, about to go. Her Twilight got to her first.

"No, not just that. Actually I want to start up another friendship lesson for you. And as Celestia will be stopping by later on tonight, she'll see how far you've come in your friendship lessons, and how good a teacher you have," Twilight said, playfully nudging her. Starlight smiled.

"Well, I can't choose. I'm liking all of your friends."

"That's just it: You have to make a new friend!"

… New? Friend? Starlight gulped.

"Uh, new friends? Well, I could just enslave all of Ponyville to do that."

"WHAT?!"

"Kidding, kidding! … I'll get going," Starlight said, heading off out the door. Twilight felt glad it was going to happen one way or another, but just as Starlight had left, Spike began to hear his stomach gurgle, before a burp escaped his mouth to reveal a letter. A bit precise timing for the letter to be dropped off here, and Twilight could recognize the letter as one of the princess's own.

Dear princess Twilight: We've just gotten some word from your friends the Crystal Gems. Namely, the ones who've been off in space to find the missing Gems and "Zoomans". My apologies for arriving a little late, but they've managed to find them, and are currently working their way back home. They've just given us that message earlier this morning. We're unclear when they would officially return, but given how they've just left the White Diamond Space Station not too long ago, it would be some time until they do return. Do take your time to tell the remaining Gems if you could.

Signed: the princesses of Canterlot

~~~~~~

Next thing she knew, Starlight Glimmer was out from Canterlot, and off into Ponyville. She and Pink Diamond were going about the place, and with the idea of being a leader in mind, Pink Diamond wanted to finally get her authority down pact. Topped off with keeping Pink Diamond out of trouble, Starlight was also tasked with making a brand new friend as part of her friendship lessons. It sure left the unicorn a bit at a loss, but as far as the Diamond Authority went, she had to keep proper track of her first.

"Ok, make a new friend. Somepony I've never really met … ok, can't be too hard," Starlight told herself, but she was shaking as much as a bowl of Jell-O with how nervous this was. Twilight's friends warmed up to her after a while, sure, but they were already friends with her "teacher", so that kinda helped her out with it too, but trying to make a new friend entirely was a whole different ballgame. Her thoughts were cut off though when Pink Diamond began her "reign" off with a march through town.

"Attention everypony! Make way for your new leader! Anypony who doesn't follow my instructions are gonna be crying when I'm done!" Pink Diamond said, good and proud. However, many of the ponies … really didn't pay much mind. They've gone through the verses so many times now, this was nothing new.

"... Any of you listening?!"

"We heard you," called one of the ponies, "But we got Twilight already, thank you!"

"SHE told me to start ruling here! Come on, someone bow," Pink Diamond instructed, her hands clapping twice as any Diamond would normally do for their subjects. However, ponies and Gems were not the same thing, and they really didn't bother too much with the giant in their midst.

"Why should we?" called a more disgruntled pony. Pink Diamond marched right up to him, her a giant in comparison.

"Because I'm bigger than any of you!" Pink answered. It did humble the pony a bit, the fact as evident as the clouds in the sky, but as prementioned, it was nothing new. And with Pink Diamond not looking as much of a threat as, say, Sombra, or Tirek, or Nightmare Moon, they weren't really taking her so seriously.

"Hey, get off my petunias!" Pink Diamond turned around, and her foot was actually standing on somepony's flowers, which Pink Diamond quickly got off.

"You're not the boss of me," Pink stated. Starlight quickly got in between her and the other ponies before the situation could've gotten any worse.

"OK, I think it's time for our Diamond to continue on her way," Starlight made clear, her magic moving Pink Diamond away from the place before she could make it any worse. After trotting a good twenty feet away, Starlight placed a grumbling Pink down onto the ground again.

"Pink Diamond, don't do that."

"Why not? I can't rule anything if no one's gonna listen to me!"

"They won't listen to you if you just force them into it. Ponies of Equestria operate a little but differently than Gems on Homeworld."

"How?" Pink questioned.

"Well, for a start, they're not "made" into a role. Look around you, tell me how many look the same?" Starlight pointed out. Pink Diamond looked around at the ponies around her. The more she tried to find somepony that looked the same as another, the harder it got. It was a bit ironic for Starlight Glimmer to be pointing this out to her, with her trying to make everypony "equal" once upon a time. Course, she didn't see that anymore as much, but how else was she gonna get Pink Diamond to see this right?

"Ok, so they're all different, so what?"

"SO, they're not gonna all behave the same way."

"Not the way you're thinking. I'll get my respect out of these ponies, just you watch," Pink Diamond said. Starlight felt herself gritting her teeth on that remark.

"You can't force them to follow you, just try and -"

"A Diamond doesn't put herself at the level of her own subjects!" Pink Diamond cut in, "Besides. I'm sure if an Alicorn like Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight can handle these ponies, surely a being as powerful as a Diamond could handle it in no time."

"I think you're getting a little overboard," Starlight said. Pink Diamond stretched a bit.

"I'll show you what a Diamond ruler can do. Blue and Yellow got their colonies already, I got a LOT of catching up to do - thousands of years worth!" Pink Diamond insisted, not taking any of Starlight's words seriously. Starlight was getting a little bit annoyed with her, but any lashing at someone like Pink Diamond, and she might have to answer to the Diamond Authority. And this pony was not willing to go and anger any of them, so she sucked it up, and simply followed Pink down the road. Besides, she still had to find a new friend to talk to and get started with. But who to start with -

"Afternoon, Starlight. See you're watchin' Pink today."

Applejack. Starlight saw AJ come on into town with a wagon full of apples to drop off, and by the looks of it, there was quite a lot to be had. The orange mare had seen what was going on, considering the announcement … and commotion. Among other things.

"Hey, AJ. Yeah, Twilight asked me to watch her … and something else," Starlight said. Before Starlight could ask what, Pink Diamond was checking out some of the pink flowers off in a nearby bush, the flowers of which belonged to the local florist. A flower pink like her was sure of her attention, and she was happy to see it.

"Somethin else?"

"Well … Twilight told me to try and make a new friend. N-Not saying you guys weren't good enough, but she wanted me to make a brand new friend - somepony I've never met before, and someone who probably, preferably doesn't know about … you-know-what."

"Looks like you're doin fine with Pink Diamond over there. But if a new friend's what you need, I think I can show ya somepony that'll work just as well for ya."

"Is he or she like … well, her?" Starlight didn't want to be rude about it, but as Pink diamond was trying to "persuade" the florist to give her the pink flowers, the point was pretty clear.

"Eh, don't worry, he's as good a friend as anypony else."

…….

Sweet Apple Acres, as it was autumn, it was a high time for apple bucking, and apple picking for cider season, and with much of the apple family busy as bees working on the season's worth, Starlight found herself heading on into the fields of apple trees. Pink Diamond had joined them afterwards with only one flower out of the bunch she wanted (better than nothing). Pink Diamond went along, tall enough to pluck some apples out of the trees if she wanted to, as they went on over.
Over by one of the many Apple Trees around, they soon took some sight over to another pony in the field, Big Macintosh. He was busy bucking some of the trees, the apples falling down with the power of his back hooves slamming against the bark into some awaited barrels. There was a ton of barrels already set up around practically every tree, so they had a lot to go.

"Starlight. Meet Big Mac," AJ introduced.

"Eeyup," Big Mac said. Starlight was a little quiet at first.

"He's not much of a talker."

"Nnope," Big Mac agreed.

"So is this one of those "pony customs" you do? Knock these … things, out of those?" Pink Diamond asked, looking over an apple in her hand, and "those" referring to the trees.

"Eeyup," Big Mac answered, starting to move off to the next tree, readying his back hooves. One swift buck and the apples fell right into the bucket. Pink Diamond looked around and then thought of something, a smirk growing on her face.

"Is one tree all you can do?" Pink questioned.

"Nnope," Big Mac said, his hoof aimed at some other barrels off nearby. There was plenty, sure, but Pink was not impressed.

"That's it? That's pebble's play. Any Diamond can triple that in one go!"

"Really?" AJ questioned, not convinced. AJ and Starlight glanced to eachother, as Pink Diamond moved on to prove herself. There was more than one way to show one's authority. The process seemed simple enough: knock apples out of trees so they'll land in the buckets. But any pony can simply buck one tree at a time.
So, Pink Diamond lifted up her foot, and gave a strong stomp to the ground. This made the ground all over the Sweet Apple Acres shake and shutter, like a miniature earthquake. And turned out, just as effective: as apples began to fall to Pink Diamond's will. It wasn't all the apples by any means, but a good forty barrels were filled up in no time.

"Ha! Well look at that? Now, you can see that I'm truly the superior, you're free to praise and follow me now."

"... You do know you knocked over all the barrels, right?" AJ pointed out.

"Huh?" Pink Diamond looked off again, this time to where the barrels were already filled had knocked over, and the apples were scattered all over the place. She lost as much as she gained, and ended up with nothing in the end of it. Not a good showing.

"... I meant to do that," Pink said. That would've worked if it actually ended good.

"Eeyup," Big Mac sighed.

"Eeyup. Nnope. … That all he says?" Pink whispered to Starlight. Starlight just shrugged.

"That's too bad you don't talk much: I'd love a good conversation," Starlight admitted. Not the best answer to hear for Applejack. The unicorn started to think over what could be done to fix this little issue of hers. She needed a new friend, but how could that work for a silent pony?
The answer was … questionable.

*FLASH*

"... Eeyup-yup-yup-yup-yup-yup-yup-yup-y-y-y-y-you did something! Whoa! What's happening? I feel really weird! I'm talkin' so much! And I'm so articulate! Enunciating with such precise pronunciation!" Big Mac tried to clamp his muzzle shut, but the second he removed his hoof - "Annie Apple awoke and accidentally ate an auburn azalea! AAAAHHHH! Make it stop!"
And like that, Big Mac bolted off in a panic. Not exactly the best idea ever, and Applejack did not approve.

"W-Well," Starlight said in her defense, "I can't be friends with a pony that can't talk."

"True that," agreed Pink.

AJ's expression didn't change.

"... And, I guess my first instinct shouldn't be to magically command him to act how I want him too?"

AJ didn't need words.

"Alright, I'll change him back!"

This was gonna be harder than they thought.

…….

"The trick in making new friends is to render yourself radiant! A first impression counts a great deal, you know."

From the farmlands, to the boutique. Starlight and Pink Diamond both arrived off to Rarity's boutique to see if they could get some help on this subject, though in the end (as with a few other times for some others), they ended up caught up in one of Rarity's fashion practices, with Starlight being the one to place as a standee for the moment. Pink Diamond simply sat crisscross nearby. Rarity looked the same, but she had a pair of looking glasses on, but not those large reading glasses but more of those thin, designer's glasses.

"I'm glad you all got past my first impression," said Starlight, as Rarity was busily working her measuring tape for some numbers. She got it around Starlight's head, waist, and legs.

"Every creature needs a second chance," Rarity said, checking the numbers. It took Rarity a short bit before she came to the proper conclusion.

"I'm thinking pastel silk here and here with a crinoline underneath," Rarity concluded, floating said fabrics around Starlight as if they were her outfit already.

"You really think this would help me get new friends?" Starlight asked. Rarity smiled, walking behind one of the stand-up blinds.

"With the right outfit, you can do anything darling." And as if to prove her point, Rarity walked out from the otherside in a completely different outfit: a pink dress and bracelet of blue jewels around her hoof. Not bad considering she was behind it for a few seconds. Pink Diamond did start to work the gears in her head on that statement.

"Appearance modifiers can do that much for you?"

"Well, one can learn a whole lot by what a creature wears," Rarity stated.

"So … say if I want to look like a leader. You think a more vibrant outfit can do the job?" Pink Diamond asked. Not saying she didn't like her outfit already, but Pink Diamond did see nopony showing her the respect a ruler should get, and if the outfit did have something to do with it, then perhaps a change in appearance could work wonders for her.

"Well, royalty is known for just flashy and magnificent outfits. But, it's really up to -"

"Can you make something for me then?" Pink quickly cut in. Rarity got thrilled on that question.

"Oh my Celestia: a new outfit for a Diamond? Oh, I've been meaning to work some more human designer's outfit lately. I'd be honored!" Rarity beamed. Pink Diamond smiled.

"That's more like it. I'd like an outfit that tells everything that I am one of the Diamond Authority. Maybe something smooth, glittering, and pink!" Pink Diamond said. Rarity still needed some measurements though, so her measuring tape got to work. With her in a sort of poofy outfit already though, mostly in the shoulders and hips, it was a little more difficult to work with (and much to Pink's embarrassment when Rarity got to her hips). But regardless, Rarity started to work the gears in her own head before going for some more fabrics.

"I have a top-notch idea: a garment of red velvet, a diamond mark at the center for your position of course, with … Ah! with a orchid flair around the shoulders."

One look in the mirror on the idea in mind, and Pink Diamond was sold.

"Perfect! When will it all be ready?"

"Three weeks."

And just like that, the winds stopping blowing in their sails.

"Three weeks?! I can't wait three weeks, the Diamonds are going to be coming this week!" Pink Diamond insisted.

"And Celestia's going to stop by tomorrow," added in Starlight. The outfits were a good idea, but they couldn't wait that long. Rarity could easily see the problem, and tried to think of a solution.

"Oh. Well maybe you two can try the … clearance bin?" It was really just leftover designs from previous outfit ideas, but if one could use them for something, then perhaps it could work. Starlight found a hat and levitated it to her, but the second her horn cut through the hat, they knew it wasn't gonna work.

"Maybe not."

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, outside of Equus, the other Gems in question back on Earth were still doing their own thing. Pink Diamond being in Equestria did stay in their minds, but it didn't stress them out that much, for they knew Pink was in better hands there rather than in a well-known Gem location like Earth.
For the moment, there was actually some bit of action going on. Not in a Gem mission, or something of the sort, but instead it was more in a game of tennis, being played out over by the fields of the barn house. Steven and Connie were watching off nearby in Greg's parked van, as Greg and Jasper were going for a round. Jasper was doing alright after getting the rules down, but Greg was having a bit of trouble keeping up with the naturally powerful Gem.

"Phew. K, Jasper, can't we try and do a light volley?" Greg asked, just to rush and managing to hit the ball over the net.

"This is light. You're just being weak," Jasper said smugly. If Jasper did try to go full force, the ball would be across the county by this point. And her hits on the ball were nothing short of light taps, which were just as strong as a full fledged hit. In one hit, Greg sent the ball flying skyward, the hit finally making him tumble from exhaustion sake. Jasper felt like the winner, and all she needed to do was hit it over to Greg's side to win this. One other watcher though had other ideas.

*WOOF!*

And suddenly, leaped high up to catch up, Blue suddenly jumped out of nowhere, and snatched the ball right in his teeth, as if the game was a game of fetch. Such a delicious-looking ball being tossed back and forth, Blue couldn't resist. After getting the ball, Blue moved back to the van, settling down and chewing on it like one of his favorite bones. It was a pretty quick gesture, and it was gonna be game over anyway.

"Blue," Steven said. Blue looked to Steven, and placed the ball onto his lap, followed by a bark.

"Thank you, boo," Steven said, petting the dog on the head.

"Ready for our round?" Connie then said. Steven was more than ready for it.

"Just let me get your "old man" off of the field first," Jasper said, just for them to hear a wheeze escape him. Moving Greg was pretty easy enough, Jasper lifting him like a sack of potatoes, as Steven and Connie went on up to the playing field.

"I'm getting out of shape," sighed Greg.

"Nah, you're just human," Jasper replied, setting Greg down over by Blue.

"You ready Connie? I'm not holding back this time," Steven warned.

"Neither am I. Show me what you got, soldier!" Connie said. It was a joking remark, but still familiar to an old friend.
Soon their game began, starting with Steven hitting the ball good and hard to get the game started.
Pretty soon, the game was given a good kickstart to it, and both sides didn't hold back for eachother in this game of theirs. Steven had enhanced strength on his side, so each hit was very fast to his fellow half-Gem. Connie though, with some bit of her Gem-enhanced senses in gear, was a bit more accurate with her swings, and some hit even made clear with the very tip of her swing. There was one hit that surely was impressive: in one hit, Steven actually went full force and sent the ball flying skyward a good fifty feet! Steven didn't mean to go in that far, nor knew he could hit THAT hard, but all the same Connie took it in her stride and focused. Her own Gem DNA kicked in, and her eyes could see the precise location of the ball even at full height. In a sort of reverse uppercut swing, Connie actually tossed her racket into the air, it spinning for a bit until it actually struck the ball, sending it right over Steven's head. Guess both sides' gem powers got kicked into gear here. As for the ball, Blue was quick to bolt for it, running fast to try and keep up with it. It wasn't all too easy though with how far the ball went, it bouncing a few times on the pavement. Before Blue could get it though, someone else actually caught it in her hand. This made Blue skid to a stop, seeing who (or what) the figure was, as she quietly went over back to the game.
Yellow Pearl. Her, also joined by Blue Pearl.

"You really should watch where your belongings go to," Yellow Pearl said, tossing the ball back to them. It wouldn't be as odd if it was Blue Pearl, but seeing Yellow Pearl off by herself was a little bit different to see.

"Pearl? What're you doing here?" Steven asked, a bit confused. Both Pearls glanced to eachother before Yellow cleared her throat.

"Presenting the luminous Yellow Diamond," announced Yellow Pearl.

"And the lustrous Blue Diamond," added Blue Pearl.

Did they hear them right? It was a bit of a surprise to them as it would be to … well, anyone. They didn't show up in simply by walking though, but instead, the sounds of a warp beam began to ring out from behind both Pearls. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond were now on Earth, much to the shock of the crowd off down below them. Probably good that the Off-Colors were out of the barn for the day, otherwise it would be even more complicated than needed to be.

"D-Diamonds! You're here!" gasped Connie.
Nearby, Jasper gave her respects to the diamonds with the signature hand symbol - taken by surprise that Yellow Diamond would suddenly show up like this. Both Pearls present went to their respected diamonds, the Diamonds letting the others below calm down a little bit.

"Good to be here. I can see you're doing well," Blue Diamond said.

"Eh, you too. Are you two … doing well?" Connie said nervously.

"We haven't been in any catastrophe since our last encounter, if that's what you mean," Yellow said, sounding a bit bored to be honest.

"Oh. Great!" Steven said, thumbs up. Blue Diamond looked over to Greg, who was a bit quiet on seeing such a giant woman with them now.

"Hello," Greg said meekly. Blue Diamond smiled, her hand reaching down, and her finger extended. Greg considered this a sort of handshake (or fingershake), so he did so.

"So … what brings you here?" Steven asked meekly, looking up to Yellow Diamond.

"To check in on Pink Diamond. Though, since you already have Garnet, you probably knew that," Yellow stated matter-of-factly.

"Actually," sighed Steven, "She's kinda been alone lately."

"So she wasn't around to tell you?" concluded Yellow. Steven simply nodded.

"She has been acting a bit more … random lately," admitted Connie.

"Random," repeated Blue Diamond. Blue Diamond knew her Sapphire, and while she can make decisions on the fly at times, being "random" might not be the correct term. Quick-thinker, sure, but Sapphire at least had some decent idea of what she was doing, and some plan with it all. "... How?"

"Well, let's see: she's worked for the Big donut, she went with me and a few of the others on a camping trip, and we followed her to a different universe with talking animals … that sounded so weird out loud." A part of Blue Diamond wanted to ask about that, but another part of her knew better.

"You happen to know where she is?" Yellow asked.

"Garnet's been all over the place, so -" Steven would continue, but Yellow cut him off.

"I mean Pink Diamond. We were going to visit her after here," Yellow corrected.

"Oh! Ponyville probably. She didn't come to Earth since we went to visit Neippon together."

"Good," Blue Diamond sighed. "But, before we do go, Yellow has something to tell you."

"I do?" Yellow questioned. However, Blue and Yellow did have another objective to take care of, and Yellow got the reminder when she saw Blue Diamond seemingly "presented" the others to her. She'll say this: she was glad Steven was present for this. It wasn't all of them, but all the same, still good to see him.

"... Do I have to?" Yellow asked quietly through gritting teeth.

"Yellow."

Yellow groaned slightly, before going over to Steven. The others backed up to give her some space, and it seemed like it was just Yellow Diamond and Steven Universe. Yellow glanced back to Blue before she cleared her throat.

"Steven Universe. … We didn't just come here for Pink Diamond. After some … discussion. I'd want to say … I'm … I uh … I'm s … so …"

"Sooooo … what?" Steven asked, intrigued. Yellow Diamond felt a cringe coming on, but tried to mask it.

"I … I'm … sorry." The last word was quiet and too quick, Steven still not understanding. Blue Diamond moved up to Yellow and while she didn't say anything, Yellow tried again.

"I-I'm … sorry."

"... Sorry? Yellow?" Steven asked, admittedly shocked. Yellow actually flustered a little bit.

"It was suggested that -" Blue Diamond cleared her throat, making Yellow correct herself. "I mean. I may have treated you and your fellow Crystal Gems a little bit uh … unfairly. W-With Pink Diamond … and all that … A-And with her no longer gone, and now we know the full story … I-I can say there's no reason to … put any blame on you, so … I'm sorry. I'm sorry for uh … being so … unfair."
It wasn't really the best apology ever, but hearing Yellow Diamond of all people say their apologies to them was quite something. Seeing her act so … well, so embarrassed by saying this was also a bit foreign for them to see, but with everything, there at least was a good reason for it. Yellow broke the silence again.

"Well. That's all we came to say. If you could go and open the door to Equus for us, then that would be appreciated," Yellow Diamond said, trying to sound formal and important again. Steven paused for a moment or two, before he pulled out his key. That fact was still going to loom over his head for a while yet, but for now, it was one step at a time.

"It's okay. There's no such thing as a good war, right?" Steven simply said, before he walked over to the barn door. It was just big enough for the Diamonds to fit inside. Yellow Diamond didn't answer him, though … a part of it was true, supposedly. Pink's demise was, in the end, was no fault for any of them there. Nearby, the others had their own thoughts about what just happened.

"Boy. I guess Pink was very close to them, huh?" Greg asked.

"Very," sighed Jasper, "… It takes a lot to bring down Yellow Diamond like that."

"I'm very sorry. I know how it is to lose someone you love," Greg admitted, thinking back to another long ago. Jasper paused, and looked over to the other Diamonds, and then to Steven. It didn't take much for this soldier to figure out who it was that Greg had lost before.

"Yeah. Me too."

~~~~~~

Much of the day for Starlight Glimmer and Pink Diamond went on as good as one could imagine it to: they'd find someone in town to hang out with, try to get some progress on either goal, and move on to the next one. Pink Diamond, in her attempts to get some control over her "subjects", and Starlight in her attempts to get a new friend. And more or less, both sides weren't doing so well.
After Rarity's visit, they tried visiting Fluttershy next for a small picnic with her animal friends. The time with them was a bit nice and all, and Angel bunny surely enjoyed his belly rubs Starlight had given him, but however, neither of them really got what they wanted. They were animals. It kinda was self-explanatory.
They went on to try outside of Ponyville after a bit, and did manage to find some of the Gems doing their own things: Steven specifically, so they took a short time to visit Earth. Pink Diamond had only came by there vaguely, and in the end this was no different. There was only so much one can do with seeing Steven's dad, and Garnet doing weekend tennis … as off as that may be.
They even went as far as to try Pinkie Pie for some help, and while the pink mare was willing to comply, it honestly went just as well as the rest of the visits. The try was at Sugarcube corner, but one attempt to give magic to a cake, and they were about done there.

"What is going on? This is Ponyville! If I can't make a friend here, there's gotta be something wrong with me," Starlight figured, as they went along.

"You think you got a problem? Nopony's even bothering to listen to me. How am I supposed to show I'm a member of the Diamond Authority without anypony to serve me?" Pink Diamond asked. It may be different goals, but the feelings' shared between them both. Well, what to do now?

"I don't think everypony's going to just jump at you right away. You're still kinda new."

"So what? Twilight's been telling me stories, you ponies collapse to an overlord all the time!" Pink Diamond stated.

"... And I'll be over here." Starlight went off away from Pink Diamond, a little annoyed more than anything. Pink Diamond was decent company sure, but Pink Diamond was already an acquaintance so Starlight couldn't just go back with her and call it a day. However, good thing for the Diamond and Unicorn, there was one place both sides were aware of that would be good to remove some stress off of their shoulders.

Ponyville Spa.

You can figure where they went off to next.

So, Starlight and Pink Diamond were quick to get an appointment, and sure enough it was just what both of them needed. Pink Diamond felt a lot better for being served to this way with the massages by pony hooves. It wasn't much of the relaxation, but more the fact she felt respected. It was Starlight who felt more relaxation in this massage trip. Starlight glimmer was getting a good massage herself, cucumbers over her eyes and towel wrapped in her mane. Another pony was given the same treatment right behind her.

"This is just what I needed," sighed Starlight.

"Tell me about it," sighed the other pony. Pink Diamond caught wind of this conversation.

"Oh, this is much better. It's hard to find some good help these days. Is it so hard to ask for some service and respect?" Pink asked, as one of the ponies started a massage to her back.

"I know exactly what you mean. Some ponies just don't give you proper respect, no matter how much you try to fix things," the pony agreed. Pink Diamond perked up.

"You're having trouble with that too?"

"Oh yeah. I've been on this tour for a while: I call it "My Humble and Penitent Equestrian Apology Tour"."

"That's a bit of a mouthful," Pink commented.

"It's a working title," she simply answered.

"So, sounds like you're having one of those days too," Starlight said.

"To me, they're all one of those days," the pony stated. The trio shared a giggle, as the ponies of the spa continued their treatments. The other pony sighed in satisfaction.

"I'm going to take a stop here everytime I visit Ponyville," the pony said in a relaxed sigh.

"I'm from around here either. I've been trying to make some new friends, but it's not easy. They won't say it, but I think everypony knows about my past. I've kinda turned … completely and utterly evil?" Starlight admitted. She wondered if that was gonna set the other pony off, but the pony actually didn't act too frazzled by that.

"Yeah, ponies judge me for my past too."

"Finally. Somepony I can relate to."

…….

"Twilight! I got some great - ... what're you doing?"

As this was going on, Twilight Sparkle was busily going about her own business back at her tower. Starlight and Pink diamond were gone for quite a while, so with the quiet time, she and Spike both were handling some of their own bit of pastime, when Starlight and Pink Diamond got back.

"Oh, hey girls. Me and Spike are doing a bake-off! Good time you got back, because we sure could use a judge," Twilight said, who at the moment was wearing a chef's hat. Spike had finished his batch off nearby.

"My cauliflower bites blew her sweet potato muffins out of the water!" Spike said, confident in his ability in baking. Twilight levitated a potato muffin and a cauliflower bite to Starlight for her to try, the Unicorn taking a bite out of both.

"They're both delicious, but listen: I made a new friend!"

"WE made a new friend! Isn't that sweet?!" Pink Diamond added, also excited. This did perk up Twilight a whole lot.

"That's fantastic, who is he? Er, or she, I don't wanna assume here," Twilight asked.

"She's great!" Starlight said.

"Great!"

"She's powerful!" Pink said.

"Wait, powerful?" Twilight questioned.

"Hello princess."

Twilight paused when she heard that voice, and looked passed Starlight and Pink Diamond to find a Pony she had tangoed with already. Somepony that she met three times now: twice as a Unicorn, and once as an Alicorn with the other Gems.
Trixie Lulamoon! Twilight Sparkle could recognize that unicorn anywhere, and Twilight was left a bit surprised seeing her here.

"TRIXIE?!"

"You two know eachother?" asked Pink Diamond.

"We've had our differences, but Twilight's given me a second chance. Isn't that right, princess?" Trixie explained. Twilight glared a little, but Twilight did her breathing practice before going to the situation.

"Right. So, what brings you back to Ponyville, Trixie?" Twilight asked, slightly skeptical. Trixie tossed her cape in a dramatic stance.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to make her grand performance of magic and illusion: The Humble and Penitent Trixie's Equestrian Apology Tour."

…

"Working title?" asked Spike.

"Working title," replied Trixie.

"Oh. Well, congratulations Starlight. It's nice to see that you're making a new friend, but -" before Twilight could finish up another message suddenly went through to them all in the form of Spike's letter from the princesses. It was enough to cut her train of thought on one subject and focus on another. Trixie cringed a little in disgust on the way the letter was delivered.

"Another message?" wondered Twilight.

"What's it have to say?" asked Starlight. So, Twilight began to read it out.

Dear Twilight Sparkle: Just thought you'd want to be aware, that the previous message of the Diamond's arrival has been incorrect. They've actually just arrived now into Equestria, and requesting to see how Pink Diamond has been doing. Our apologies.

Signed: the princesses of Canterlot.

"WHAT?!" Pink Diamond's voice shook up the tower. Since when did "sometime this week" turn into today?! Trixie had to readjust her hat, Twilight following suite with her chef's hat. Her voice had enough punch as that of royal Canterlot of the princesses of old.

"Y-You gotta be tumbling my rocks - they're here already?! I got nothing to show, NOTHING! What am I gonna do?!" Pink said in panic, trying to figure out what the heck to do.

"Hey, hey, easy. Who says you have to show them anything?" Spike asked, trying to bring Pink Diamond back around.

"Stop that! This isn't just some fancy Gem group like the Crystal Gems, this is the Diamond Authority! Yeah, okay, they've been acting more open lately, but seriously, I need to show something to show them my progress while here! If I don't they won't think I'm ready to be back out here! I-I'd be taken back to Homeworld and put under training all over again!" Pink Diamond fell to her rear, clutching her knees in worry. O did this feel familiar.

"Pink, come on. Why would they put you in Equestria if they didn't think you'd be ready to get back to … well, whatever you Diamond do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Because I'm too delicate, and too important to lose. Oh, and I almost forgot: This place isn't even my colony to begin with?!"

"Got him there," Starlight commented to Trixie. Trixie didn't had time to deal with this though.

"Right, well as you deal with your "little crisis", I need to get my show ready for tonight," Trixie said. The performer began to go off to the door, but before she could leave, Pink Diamond suddenly was right in front of her.

"Did you say tonight?" Pink asked, now with a hopeful grin on her face. Trixie stepped back.

"Uh … yeah?"

"PERFECT, YOU'RE HIRED!"

"For what?" Trixie questioned. Pink Diamond's eyes were starry by this point (diamonds in her eyes instead of stars).

"The Great and Powerful Trixie's "Humble and Penitent Equestrian Apology Tour", performed live in front of the Great Diamond Authority! I'll present it as my gift to them, they'll see how amazing it is, and that'll prove that I'm great enough to strike out on my own colony!" Pink might be a little too caught up in the moment there, but she was determined to make this work out somehow.

"My act in front of royalty? It would surely give my act a prominent boost … and spread my apology across," Trixie figured.

"So it's settled then! I'll go find them and tell them the good news," Pink said, and before they could try to stop her, Pink Diamond was off and running to find the other two. Trixie took a breath.

"Well, if my grand show is gonna be performed in front of royalty, than the Great and Powerful Trixie needs to pull all the stops to be sure this is the greatest act they'll ever see," Trixie concluded. While sounding confident, Trixie was feeling put on the spot on this decision. At least before in her tour she had a choice on the matter, but now it was more on her to do so for someone else's sake. It was enough of a surprise performing with Twilight for the horses of Saddle Arabia and Celestia.

"... Any suggestions?"

"Wish I could help. Oh, but I'm supposed to meet Celestia tonight," Starlight sighed. Twilight took a moment to think about this dilemma of theirs, and then the Alicorn found a compromise.

"Maybe you won't have to."

"Huh?"

"The Diamond Authority is going to see the show, right? I can invite Celestia to see it too. That way, she can see your progress, and you can help Trixie with her upcoming act. Two for the price of one!" Twilight felt good for coming up with the plan, and in the end it actually did sound pretty well-planned (if not convenient). Starlight shared a hug with her mentor.

"Thanks, Twilight. You won't regret it!" and with that, Trixie and Starlight both began to go, leaving Spike and Twilight alone again. The alicorn took another look to the letter she had gotten, presumably from the Canterlot princesses Celestia and Luna.

"I hope not."

~~~~~~

And so, things got busy: with Twilight talking to Celestia about the show, and Pink Diamond trying to find her fellow Diamonds, Starlight and Trixie both were doing the big event for tonight. Trixie had a traveling caravan going through town, so she and Starlight Glimmer met up there to try and get the upcoming show together after the stage was set up. As a show pony, Trixie had a whole lot on retainer to sort out and work with: magic handkerchiefs, magician's boxes, a magic hat or two, that sort of thing.

"This is gonna be the greatest show Ponyville's ever seen," Trixie said.

"Let's hope so: there's a lot to build up for this show now. You sure you can handle it?" Starlight asked, as she used her magic to get some supplies out.

"It isn't the first time I've performed in front of a big crowd. The Great and Powerful Trixie's just gotta step up her game," Trixie made clear.
With them trying to get everything together, some other ponies from the neighborhood saw Trixie off nearby, and they actually began to talk amongst themselves, just loud enough for Starlight and Trixie to hear them both. The exact look on their faces, and the overall discussion indicated nothing really friendly, and more suspicious towards the blue Unicorn in question.

"They say they'd forgiven you and will give you a second chance, but deep down, they never forget," Trixie sighed.

"That's what I'm worried about," Starlight sympathized. Trixie simply sighed, and got back to work out her various magic tricks and objects for the big show. Starlight was checking one of the magic hats when -

*psst*

"Hmm? … you say something, Trixie?" Starlight asked, just able to hear the noise. Trixie though was too pre-occupied to make said noise, nor to answer Starlight.

"*psst*. Starlight?"

Now she knew it wasn't her. Starlight looked around for a bit, but then she saw a purple hoof stick out from a bush not too far away, waving for Starlight to come over. Starlight glanced back to Trixie one more time before she moved over to the bush, just to find it was Twilight hiding in there.

"How's it going with your new friend?" Twilight asked in a hushed voice. Was she for real?

"Great. By the way, thanks for asking in a totally not creepy way," Starlight sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry. But, m-maybe if Trixie doesn't work out, I could introduce you to a new friend," Twilight suggested. Starlight couldn't believe her ears.

"What?" Starlight gasped in disbelief.

"Eh, well, I know I said make friends with anypony, but … maybe she's not the best idea for a first best friend," Twilight explained, front hooves tapping together as she tried to say it the best was possible. Starlight though could see past the "friendliness".

"You did say anypony, and I just assumed that you'd trust me to make my own friends the way Princess Celestia trusted you," Starlight retorted in annoyance.

"I know, but Trixie hasn't been the nicest pony. Her last two visits hadn't been the best for Ponyville, just because -" suddenly Twilight felt her mouth being clamped shut by Starlight's magic.

"Twilight! If I wanted to know something like that, I want her to tell me, not you," Starlight quickly made clear. Twilight sighed.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to look out for you," Twilight said.

"Well, you're wrong about Trixie. She's just like me - we have a connection," Starlight insisted, both ponies looking to Trixie, who was fishing out some on-stage rope to get some ideas. Twilight didn't feel convinced though.

"That's kinda what I'm afraid of."

"Seriously?!" gasped Starlight, a bit hushed but still loud. "I know you're trying to help, but I need to make friends on my own if I'm going to become a better pony."

"But do you really think Trixie's the one to help you with that?" Twilight suddenly asked. Starlight had enough of this, and turned away in a huff.

"Wow. Trixie was right. You're not really giving her a second chance. I wonder what that says about how you feel about me." And with that, Starlight moved away, leaving Twilight alone to her bushes. Starlight paused and glanced back, but suddenly found Twilight was gone. Well, so much for a follow-up.

"I heard what she said."

Starlight suddenly stopped and found Trixie had overheard their little conversation there. While it would've been weird to see somepony talking to a bush, Trixie was smarter than that, plus she saw Twilight there already.

"And she's right. I was not the nicest pony, so I understand if you don't want to be friends with me," Trixie sighed.

"You kidding me? You're the first pony I've met who has any idea how I feel!" Starlight insisted. Trixie was glad to hear that, but then she made a quick check to be sure they were alone for a moment or two. Twilight wasn't anywhere, and neither was anypony else, so …

"Can you keep a secret?" Trixie asked.

"What're friends for?"

"The things I've done? I did them because I was jealous of Twilight. She's just the best at everything, and I wanted to beat her at something!" Trixie admitted. Starlight took a moment and looked around the place.

"But that's not true. You're better at magic."

"Only when I'm wearing some soul-sucking evil amulet, so I don't think that counts."

… what?

"long story, don't wanna get into it."

"I'm talking about stage magic," Starlight corrected.

"Oh! Well, yeah of course! Am I great? Naturally. Powerful? Absolutely! But … I'm not the best. I just need to figure out what will work for tonight," Trixie explained, as she continued trying to work out a few different tricks of the trade. Going around the field for a while, Trixie had did her fair share of multiple magic tricks already: rabbit out of a hat, magical snake rope, she even wrapped a rainbow around a Pegasus before. but if she was going to perform in front of royalty from both Equestria AND beyond, she needed something big. No, HUGE. Something that'll knock em' dead and back to life again. But what could work?

"Wait. Was there any magic tricks or acts you didn't do yet?" Starlight asked, getting an idea in her head. She had thought up of one thing, but she needed to be sure it wasn't a repeat act first.

"Oh, I've done A LOT of tricks, there's not one I've missed … well, almost."

"Almost?" Starlight asked.

"Well, there's this one I've always wanted to do, but could never figure out how. That, and it was only performed once in all of performance history! The greatest trick the devil ever pulled …"

"Wait, wait, don't tell me," Starlight said, trying to work out the idea in her head. "Is it the Moonshot manticore mouth dive?"

"The one by Hoofdini? That trick is amazing, yes, but the one I'm talking about is FAR more incredible."

"What could be more incredible than that? Hoofdini was eaten by a Manticore, and he reappeared completely unharmed!"

"I know, he's amazing - my hero! But there was this one act he did that was his ultimate farewell: It's is known as "The Rise of the Equine Phoenix"!"

"Never heard of that one," Starlight admitted, scratching her head. Trixie began to look through her wagon next for some proof of this claim. Starlight heard some stuff being moved around inside for a bit, until Trixie popped back out with the only main evidence that this act even existed at all: an authentic poster for the very show in question. It showed a unicorn seemingly surrounded by fire, upright like a human being with his front hooves out stretched, eyes closed, and the signature bird in the background with wings spread behind.

"It's his most dangerous stunt: high above the stage, he would wrap himself in chains, and place himself inside a chained box, high above a burning inferno. He would enter the box, the crowd hearing him struggle as the ropes holding it up burn away. One rope snapped. And another rope snapped. The box would fall and smash right over the burning inferno, disappearing in a blaze! … Just for the great Hoofdini to appear before the crowd, completely unharmed!"

"That sounds -"

"Dangerous?" Trixie cut in.

"I was gonna say cool!"

"I knew I liked you for a reason," Trixie said smugly, the two unicorns sharing a high-hoof. Well, after hearing that trick, there was no doubt on what kind of act they would be doing now.

~~~~~~

Time continued on by for everyone within Ponyville, and as Luna's well-known night began started to dawn, the show was almost ready to begin. Despite much of the ponies still questioning Trixie's overall state, there was quite a crowd going about outside the stage, which itself had a full up (and surprisingly detailed) poster of Trixie's apology tour for them to see. Many of the ponies were wondering when the show would start, and along with them: the Diamond Authority actually got themselves a seat off behind the crowd. With them so tall, it was probably good for them to stay behind and watch, plus it was pretty easy to see the stage from their position anyway.

"So is this the presentation you wanted to show us, Pink?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Yes, of course! I made sure this all is perfectly presented. My gift, to you!" Pink Diamond said. This was not her idea, but she wanted it to be made out that way. It was something from her time here.

"Well, that's … thoughtful. This presentation going to begin soon?"

"Oh, any moment. … I hope."

"It is a bit questionable in it's title though," Yellow noted. "The Humble and Penitent Trixie's Equestrian Apology Tour?"

"It's a working title!" shouted a distant voice from the stage. Trixie, peeking out from the curtains, had heard just a vague idea of the Diamond's description during the fix up, but seeing them now (after she yelled), Trixie felt more than humbled as quickly went backstage.

"Oh Luna, those are the Diamonds?"

"I told you they're pretty big."

"I thought you meant big as in "Canterlot royal family" big, not "the size of a house" big!" Trixie retorted. In the world of ponies, the Diamonds might as well be. Trixie tried to calm herself down, and both unicorns peeked out to the crowds. They could easily see the Diamonds, sure, but among the crowd also was actually some of the Crystal Gems and Mane Six. Not all of them, but still noticeable there. The princesses apparently hadn't arrived just yet, but it was still a bit of a crowd nonetheless.

"Ok, ok, keep it together. This is gonna be the best night of their lives! And our lives."

"Yeah, I'm glad I could help. We just got to wait for Celestia and Luna to come. They should be arriving anytime now," Starlight noted, taking a look off to the crowds. If what Twilight said was true, then this would be more than proof enough that friendship had done well for Starlight. Still, where were they? Or Twilight for that matter?
It was then both mares heard a sound ring out behind them, and they found the backdoor to the stage wide open. Standing there, much to their admitted confusion, was Twilight Sparkle. And she did not look too happy at all.

"Starlight, there you are! Where were you?"

"I was … setting up for the show?" Starlight questioned, but apparently Twilight was not happy at all.

"I've sent you a letter earlier this morning - several letters: Celestia couldn't come, and NOW she's waiting back at my tower right now waiting for you!"

"W-WHAT?! Wait, I didn't get any letter today," Starlight insisted.

"Of course. This is why I didn't want you to make friends with Trixie," Twilight groaned, very cross. Starlight didn't get it: they made it clear that the princesses would come by, and when would a letter come by? Starlight didn't remember any letter at all since she had left the tower the second time around to get things prepared.

But then came Trixie.

"A-ha! You still don't trust me! But guess what, princess? It doesn't matter if you want to give me a second chance or not. Starlight had to choose between you and me, and she chose me! Your pupil chose me, so ha! I win!" Trixie declared. There was a bit of a pause on that final statement, Starlight a bit confused.

"Wait … you. Win? … That sounds like you made friends with me just to beat Twilight."

"Exactly!"

Well that was the kicker. Starlight's gasp was heard loud and clear, and Trixie actually didn't realize what she just said until she turned and saw Starlight's shocked face. The face quickly turning to sadness.

"W-Wait, Starlight, I got caught up in the moment," Trixie insisted, "I want you to be my friend. Beating Twilight was just a bonus!" The blunt Unicorn quickly saw the words fly out again. "OH! That wasn't the right thing to say, was it?"

"I should've known. Nopony else wanted to be my friend … Why would you?!"
Starlight Glimmer had about enough. So, with tears coming down her face, she charged out the back door, and galloped off out of sight. Trixie came out and tried to stop Starlight to better explain herself, but it took little time before the Unicorn was gone and out of sight. Her only true friend, and Trixie screwed it up over her own need to beat the alicorn princess of Friendship. Speaking of, Twilight stepped out from the stage, and looked down to the blue unicorn.

"Well, Trixie. You won. I hope you're happy now."

"Looks like the Great and Powerful Trixie is back to a solo show," Trixie sighed. Trixie, teary eyed, was about to head off back to the stage. Her show still needed to be performed, partner or no partner, and as any performer knew: the show must go on. No matter how much it hurt.
Trixie was about ready to continue her talk to the friendship princess, but as she turned around, she took a glance to the waiting crowd. She saw the Crystal Gems, the Mane six, the Princesses, the Diamond Authority -

… the princesses? Trixie went off towards the very edge of the stage, peeking around, and sure enough, there was Celestia and Luna and … Twilight?

"Wait a second."

And turning around, Twilight was gone …

…….

Well. There's nothing for it. As prementioned, a show needed to happen, and after calming herself down, Trixie took one more look out from the curtains to the audience. It was a full crowd out there, royalty evident as well. Trixie was in full uniform, cape and wizard's hat included. She felt awful for just jumping in like that, her ego losing the first ever true friend she ever had. But what was she supposed to do? Regardless if that was the Twilight she was thinking of or not, it wasn't that who put those words in Trixie's mouth. She'll have to try and make amends … if she could make it passed the most dangerous act ever, that is.

"Starlight? If you're out there. Please forgive me. Let's be great and powerful together … please?" Trixie said, hoping that Starlight was somewhere in this crowd. Or anywhere nearby at all. Still, an act is an act, so the humble and now friendless Trixie got on her acting face, and went on to begin the show. The curtains opened, and the spotlight was on her, though she didn't feel as much "oomph" as she had earlier, so it wasn't as strong.

"Come one, come all. Come and see "The Pathetic and Friendless Trixie's Way-To-Go-Dum-Dum-You-Really-Messed-It-Up-This-Time Repentance Tour"."

And they thought the first title was a mouthful.

"It's a working title!" Trixie shouted. After regathering herself, she began to work out the act in question. Trixie could see the Diamonds looked a little puzzled too (how could she not?), so she went on and continued with the presentation.

"Raise your gaze to above the stage," Trixie instructed, as the spotlight shown the box in question, which itself looked very locked up, put in such a way that if someone were to close it, it would lock up tight. The box hung up on a few bits of coiled rope, which themselves looked kinda flimsy as it was. Trixie moved aside as the back curtains moved to show what looked like a fire pit.

"For tonight," said the unenthusiastic Trixie, "The Great and Powerful Trixie shall be performing "The Rise of the Equine Phoenix"."
They mention of this move did bring forward some gasps of excitement from the crowd, but very little actually had an idea on what this act even was.

"The Rise of the Equine Phoenix?" Luna wondered.

"I haven't seen that be attempted in … ever," Celestia said. Hearing this made Twilight Sparkle a little nervous, as she continued watching the act being set up.

"I will be bounded down, and locked inside this box, as the ground underhoof will be set ablaze. But save your gasps and breaths, for I will rise from the flames, and defy the grip of the flames of Tartarus when I reappear before your very eyes," Trixie explained, but her tone just wasn't in it. Soon the crowd found out why, as she took off her hat for a moment.

"I was supposed to perform this trick with my great and powerful assistant, who was also my great and powerful friend!"

"Starlight?" Twilight wondered. This was getting confusing for the group, especially Twilight Sparkle. A part of her did figure something would happen, but what exactly she wasn't sure of. Then Trixie started to get herself positioned for the act to begin. With the box itself high above the stage, Trixie used a small bit of magic to create a spark in the pit, the pile quickly turning into a raging inferno, much to the surprise of the crowd. Trixie even felt a little nervous, but she gathered her nerves, and with a ladder placed nearby, she climbed up to the upper balcony to get into the box, the spotlight on her the whole way. The whole crowd was watching her, and when Trixie got to the top, she looked out across the crowd to the hills behind the stage.
And Starlight Glimmer was looking miserable: sitting all by herself. Trixie may not be able to see it, but it seemed the tears coming from Trixie's face was from Starlight as well, as the admittedly reluctant mare got the chains wrapped around her in knots. She balanced herself on her two back legs during this, and with one more look to the crowd below her, fell into the box. The vibration from that alone not only knocked away the ladder, but made the box clamp shut, locking itself.

"She's just going to teleport out of that box," sighed Yellow Diamond, a little bored, "It couldn't be that complicated."

"Oh, do try to be appreciative, Yellow. This is Pink's present to us," Blue insisted. Pink Diamond silently hoped this was going to be more interesting (and not go horribly wrong). All Pink did was smile and give a thumbs up, though she looked pretty nervous for this all being her idea.
For Starlight, she was watching all of this from further away, feeling more alone than ever, and with a droplet of tears being in her eyes. The unicorn was also getting a bit worried about the act, and where this was going. They didn't really rehearse it for too long, nor did it really appear that poor Trixie was going to be getting out of it like this. With the glowing light of the fire able to be seen from her position, Starlight Glimmer could just imagine what Trixie had said, especially about the box collapsing onto the fire and burning away to ash.

"This is a disaster. I can't believe my own friend was just trying to use me like that … Oh, if I knew this would happen," Starlight said to herself, wiping away some tears with her hoof. She sure felt sad. Her first true new friend and it was nothing but a ruse to get Trixie a better cut above Twilight. … Twilight …

"All the same, I never got any letter saying they wouldn't come. … I'm sorry, Twilight, if I managed to figure it out sooner, I -" and then she saw the crowd. She hadn't seen it since going out that far, too sad to really pay much attention, but as Yellow Diamond readjusted herself, she just managed to catch sight of Princess Celestia sitting there with Luna and Twilight! THAT made her spring up.

"They're there?! But I thought -"

Her mind was cut short when, even from her position, she could hear one of the burning ropes suddenly snap! It sounded almost like a gunshot, and Starlight Glimmer could even feel how Trixie was banging about inside, struggling in the heat and trying to get herself out. Even if she could get out of the chains, what about the box? Starlight Glimmer still had a bit going through her mind … but it just didn't make sense with Twilight's involvement lately. That, and why were the princesses there when Twilight said -

*BANG*

Down went a second rope. The box was being held by two flimsy ropes, dangling dangerously over the burning inferno below.
Trixie was really stuck inside it all. Such a tough time within the box, and Trixie could barely move. She squirmed and struggled with the chains wrapped around her frontal hooves, even using her back hooves to try and bust out, but the chains were not coming off so easily. She could smell the smoke, she could hear the wood cracking and the worried gasps of the crowd. She could feel the growing heat from under her hooves, and the swaying of the box that would be her coffin. She had to get out of this somehow before the box would fall, and from outside, the crowd could see the box getting struck from the inside as Trixie tried to buck her way out. No good, locked up tight. What was a performer to do now?

"Starlight? I'm sorry for what I said. I am your friend, I shouldn't of said that before. I didn't just use you to one up Twilight! Please, you're my first true friend I've ever had!" Trixie's words were dulled out by the fire outside, and Trixie felt another rope suddenly snap. One more rope, and Trixie's lifeline. And the fire was swiftly climbing it to finish the trick off …

"... Please …"

*snap*

That did it. In front of the entire crowd, the box suddenly lost its lifeline, and smashed into the raging inferno! The box shattered open at last, and the flames quickly concealed the box in its fiery grip, an explosion of smoke and flame covering the area. The entire crowd gasped on sight of such a aftermath, horrified, and waiting for something to happen. The fire itself began to slowly calm down, but there was no sign of … well, anything. Nothing on the platform, and nothing in the pit. The spotlight tried to find where Trixie was, the crowd holding their breath until …
There she was. Trixie was alright! … sort of. She had no chains on her, no restraint anymore, though she looked a bit weak, tired, and slightly singed from the fire. Still, other than that, she was still on her hooves somewhat, which were kinda wobbly.

"Be-hold. The pait and growerful … triskeee …" And Trixie fell down onto the ground. Some silence hung in the air for a while … and soon, Trixie heard the crowd roar in applause. That was very impressive, though Trixie, who'd normally be taking in all this applause, was still laying there quietly, still downhearted. That was, until one pony helped her back to her hooves.
Starlight Glimmer arrived just in time to save her, and the act ended as it should. Not as gracefully, but still good all the same. All Starlight needed to show was a smile and a wink to tell Trixie that she was still her friend. Trixie simply smiled.

"And now, I'd like to introduce my Great and Powerful assistant! And best friend. Starlight Glimmer!"
And the announcement brought on more applause, as Starlight and Trixie made their bows. It may have been a little rough, but it was successful all the same. The angry fires had all been extinguished.
Starlight Glimmer and Trixie were all smiles when the curtains fully closed up. After that was done, Trixie and Starlight had a moment together.

"Oh Starlight. Look, I know you might still be mad at me, but I'm very sorry for what I said. I didn't become friends with you just to beat Twilight, I-"

"I know, I know. I'm glad you're okay too," Starlight replied. Both unicorns shared a hug with eachother, and took a peek outside at the crowd. Trixie decided to give them a final show trick, and fireworks started to appear above the stage. A well-profound light show for the end of the act.

And the second Twilight was not happy with the end result, as she flew away from the nearest tree.

Author's Notes:

... You know those moments in life when you're going about your day, and suddenly remember something crystal clear WAAAAY long ago? That's what happened here . I was trying to think of the magic act Trixie was gonna do, and suddenly I found myself remembering "The Magic Trick" episode from GoGoRiki. ... Keep in mind, we're in 2018, and I haven't seen this since 2008 . That, and I've tried to find said episode on the internet, but couldn't find anything on the one episode I needed to see so I had to work purely on memory. ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPpcWjCpNx4

It's scary how much I can remember .

Anyway, that's what lead to the new magic act, if any of you actually remember this at all, I applaud you.

... I've been focusing a lot on the ponies lately, hven't I?

All it's Worth

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It had been quite a time with everyone as of late. Even with all of this seemingly cooling pastime ever since getting back from Sector 7, that didn't mean nothing really big had happened. They may not have the Warp Pads made for them nowadays, but with the Keys in their possession it sure did feel like the old days again. They were more free to go back and forth, messages didn't come by as often as they used to be, but even so, things still were a bit different. Garnet was still acting off-putting, the Cutie Map was still something worth exploring since the tree was apparently gone, Pink Diamond was still in their company after the Diamonds' latest visit … all these things they had to juggle around, and in the form of a letter, all informed at one time.

Within the throne room of Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both had been given a good set up in the form of a letter since their last visit to Ponyville. Sure, they've stopped by once or twice, but Twilight had to run off to the Dragon Lands, and their visit to Trixie's apology tour didn't give them much time to really say much on it. But with this information of the Tree of Harmony now a map, and some slight note of Garnet's behavior as of late, this was … quick to take in. Celestia and Luna sure had some catching up to do in both the Gems and Ponies.

"A Cutie Map? What do you make of it?" asked Luna, seeing the letter from right next to her sister. Celestia thought it over for a moment, rolling back up the scroll, and lending it to one of their royal guards.

"Well, it is new. Perhaps we should visit Ponyville more often," Celestia sighed, walking over to the window of her castle to see Ponyville from her view. So much had been going on over there, and now her student no longer lived there anymore. It was a bit daunting how much had happened already, and so quickly too. Celestia just sighed, thinking back on it. White diamond swooped in, got every single member of the Elements of Harmony and then some, and she still couldn't go in to stop her (or even to keep Twilight's home in tact now that she thought of it).

"Easy sister, nopony's going to blame you for any of this. No one saw any of this coming," Luna reassured her.

"I know, but how could it happen? It just happened so fast, and so abruptly! … What if it happens again? What if nopony's here to stop it next time? I know Beach City has done their best on the matter, but -" Celestia stopped herself as her mind started to think of the possibilities. The idea of seeing any of the civilizations of Equestria just be taken from right under her nose was scary to think about, but the idea it can ACTUALLY happen for real was beyond scary. The images flew through her mind: Manehatten, Ponyville, Canterlot, and lord knows what else, just suddenly being taken by the mighty hands of White Diamond and held in her palms like the almighty god she was.
It left Celestia in a cold sweat, a gulp escaping her throat. The guards rarely saw Celestia like this, but that didn't make it a foreign thing. Luna could especially see the trouble, and went up to Celestia.

"Sister? Sister!" Luna tried to bring Celestia around, but it wasn't working. Luna sighed, and -

"CELESTIA!"

Nothing like the ground-shaking power of the Royal Canterlot voice to bring somepony back around. Celestia froze up, blinking once or twice before shaking her head, brought back from her freak out.

"Sister, you're panicking again. Listen, everypony may be looking to you as a ruler of all Equestria, but nopony's expecting you to do everything," Luna reassured.

"I beg to differ."

Now, who said that? Luna looked back in a cold glare, thinking it might be one of the royal guards, but none of them were saying a word. In fact, several of the guards aimed a hoof over towards the door. If they didn't get their attention, the following knock on the door did, and both princesses turned to see who had decided to just show up like this.
Standing over by the door was a pony, Unicorn to be exact. Unicorns were a common sight in Canterlot, but this one didn't have the same sort of appearance as a Canterlot Unicorn would, at least not too much. The Unicorn was of orange fur, and ginger mane and tail, with his mane short and tied back in a tiny ponytail (no pun intended), and his hair parting around his horn in a circular fashion. Distinctive features include ginger side burns connecting to a tuff of hair on his chin, and lime green eyes. The outfit this pony had was a simpler one: a green suit with a light green tie, and white "horse shoes" on both front and back hooves, opening at the front of the hoof. The Cutie Mark on his flank was mainly that of a golden balance.
Now, there was two details that made this one a bit of a different pony. 1.) he just walked right into Canterlot Castle on his own accord, and 2.) he didn't look too pleased to see the princesses that much. At least not enough to bow in their presence on sight, anyway. He didn't waste much time walking in, saddlebags resting on him with his supplies.

"Oh! Uh, can we help you?" Luna questioned. The unicorn began to march right up to both princesses.

"Celestia, Luna. I am Savvy Sagacious. I'm sure you've heard of me," Savvy introduced. Both alicorns turned to him.

"Savvy Sagacious. Oh, of course: the official advisor for those within royalty. I believe we've met one of your ancestors way back when," Luna noted. Savvy rolled his eyes.

"Course you would," he sighed, walking right passed Luna and right to Celestia. He needed to get the ball moving before the two alicorns could barricade him. "I'd imagine you would be busy, so let's just cut to the chase. I believe you owe me a competence test."

"Excuse me?" Celestia questioned, eyebrow raised, as Savvy Sagacious pulled out a rolled up scroll from his bags. This one was distinguished from the others thanks to a crown on top of the main message. Savvy though got the word in on the subject for them.

"My line has been, for generations, responsible for the proper and cooperative process of anypony put in place of leadership, and or royalty. We are -"

"The tutors for those underneath a kingdom's royalty to be sure they're ready for the upcoming throne, I know. But, what does that have to do with me?" Celestia asked, legitimately curious. She had enough on her mind, she didn't need anymore of it. But Savvy didn't see it that way, and looked over the dotted lines of the position.

"Frankly, ever since that one time meeting, there hasn't been a follow-up. Not. One," Savvy stated, his hoof tapping the paper as he levitated it in the air. He rolled it back up and put it away as he explained "And given the fact that it's been THOUSANDS of years, I believe it's time for a new one."

"W-what? Now, not that I'm not fully ready for something like this," Celestia said nervously, "But is now really the best time?"

"How do you mean?" Savvy questioned, his reddish eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"We've been going through a bit lately. Perhaps another time when the state of Equestria isn't so … troubled," Luna suggested. Savvy though wasn't convinced, and brought out another record.

"First off, Equestria looks pretty fine to me. Secondly, you said that the last time I came by here. I only let you off because it actually was a problem."

"I know, but -"

"Celestia?" Savvy stated. Celestia felt her nerves come up a little bit, but she didn't want to freak out in front of Savvy Sagacious.

"Alright," Celestia stated. Savvy nodded in agreement.

"Glad you're feeling up to it. Now, we've gone over this before so I'm not gonna repeat myself. I'll be in town for the next few days to see how well you do, and if you don't come to standard, well … may I suggest a different day job." That last part sounded a bit overly scary, and Celestia could feel herself crumbling, ears tucked back and sweat down her face.
Before he could leave, Luna got in his way.

"Why just her? Why not me? You are aware I'm the princess of Equestria as well!"

"What about it?" Savvy spat, "You're the younger sister. And to the rules of hierarchy, you're not in charge. Besides, didn't your records say you disappeared for a thousand years at one point?" They all felt a cold breeze go by on that statement. This pony sure was being bold for who he was talking to, and apparently, the rules of hierarchy were all that mattered in this case. But the point was still made, and in a way, it wasn't wrong: Celestia had more duties than her sister did when all was said and done, even more so during her banishment to the moon.

"... I think it's time you leave." was all Luna could say.

"I was going anyway. See you tomorrow, Celestia. Hope you're ready." and with that, Savvy Sagacious made his leave. The entire throne room was left kinda quiet, and eyes looked to Celestia, who looked … well, terrified, more than usual.

"Sister?"

"PHEW! Boy, I-is it getting hot in here? I, uh, I got something to do." And suddenly, Celestia flew out, right through the door, and out of sight. Only Luna had seen Celestia act like this before, and with so much already going on, well who could blame her?

She'll need help for this.

…….

"Teacup! … TEACUP! … Come on, TEACUP!"

Well as Canterlot was getting itself ready for Celestia's "big test", Ponyville had it's own brand of training going on. In particular, it was Trixie's turn to give her magic a go. Her magic show was pretty good, but she needed (or wanted rather) actual, proper magic in order to better herself for next time. Starlight wasn't always gonna be there for the next performance of "rise of the Equine Phoenix", and even then it was by the skins of their teeth that Trixie wasn't too badly burned from the act. This little bit of testing was done just outside Ponyville, and nearby some of the Gems were keeping an eye on things as well (Jasper, Lapis, Steven and Amethyst specifically), and the main lesson here was a transformation spell practiced on a lonely apple sitting on a log. … It wasn't the best time ever.

"Why are we here again?" Jasper bored, bored out of her wit.

"We're just keeping an eye in case something goes out of hand. This is Trixie's first time," Lapis reminded.

"And what's the "out of hand" part? Her screaming her head off?"

"TEACUP!" Trixie shouted again, as if to prove her point. A screeching filly in the middle of nowhere was not as dangerous (or as interesting). The more she tried, the more frustrated she got, and it was getting nowhere! Other Unicorns and Alicorns make it look SO EASY.

"UGH! Starlight, I can't put something in my act that doesn't work!"

"There's a bit more to it than just screaming "teacup" over and over again, you know," Starlight pointed out.

"Oh. … Really?"

"Think about what your Teacup looks like. What color is it? what shape? how big? And focus THAT onto the apple," Starlight advised, stepping back and letting Trixie try again. The blue Unicorn focused hard on what kind of teacup she would want out of the apple. Her horn slowly began to glow more prominently, and soon she shot out a single beam of magic right on the object. Next thing they knew, there was now a small purple teacup sitting on the log. Trixie needed a minute, and she was sure pleased.

"WOOO! Starlight, I did it!" Trixie said in glee, bucking and hopping in place, as happy as Pinkie would be.

"Congratulations, Starlight - what're you doing?"

Trixie got a little caught up in the moment again. Seeing she can actually get this spell right, her horn glowed, and she started firing at anything close by! The group tried to keep some distance, as Trixie was basically shooting at a trigger-happy level: a leaf turned into a teacup, a rock turned to a teacup, the log turned into a teacup, a branch turned into a teacup -

*ahem*

AND there was Luna with a Teacup on her head instead of a crown. Luna was trying to find them, and what a time to show up during a Trixie shooting spree. Her unamused look on her face basically said it all. Trixie may have been glee, but she didn't want to cause trouble for the princesses, no matter the case.

"Eh. Oops," Trixie simply said. Luna had more on her mind than just stopping by though, her magic moving the cup off of her head, before she moved out to the others.

"Luna," Steven gasped, jumping up and heading over to her.

"Hello Steven. Everyone. I hope I'm not intruding," Luna said.

"Nah, you're fine. We're just training," Jasper said, glancing back to Trixie.

"And it's working wonders!" Trixie said with a big grin. All Luna needed to do was change her "teacup" back to a crown to humble Trixie again. Luna had more on her mind though, so she didn't push it.

"So I've noted. But, actually, I was hoping you wouldn't be busy anyway," Luna said, "Some unexpected business had come up I'm hoping you'd help in."

"Us? What's wrong?! Is there a threat against Equestria again?" Lapis asked.

"Preferably," Amethyst commented through gritting teeth.

"No, but it's just as foreboding as any attack on the well-being of Equestria. … Savvy Sagacious is staying with us for the week," Luna said, lowering her gaze. Silence hung the air, but admittedly it didn't sound that bad.

"Don't tell me: distant family issues?" Amethyst concluded.

"We're not related, trust me," Luna made clear. She needed to get right to the point, but looking to the group, they all weren't there. "Where's the rest of you? The Crystal Gems, the Elements of Harmony?"

"Half of our group's still in space for all we know, and as for Twilight and company, no idea," Jasper said.

"Well, wherever they are, I need you to talk to them too. I'll need every creature's aid in this endeavor. I'll explain when everyone's here."

…….

"SHE'LL LOSE HER ROYALTY?!"

Luna got the company together after a long day, but as the afternoon rolled over to sunset, the whole team from both sides came up together for Luna's word (Garnet being the exception). Not often they all would get together for a problem, but if it was something with the princesses, then it was something big. Losing a status as a princess was surely something BIG! They got together over by Twilight's Tower for this exchange, even if it was closer to Canterlot Castle than Luna might've liked. Saying the consequences up front though, might've been the wrong idea, as the mere idea was terrifying to Twilight as much as it probably did Celestia.

"I know it's shocking to hear, but if she doesn't pass this competence test, then she won't be given the authority to rule anymore," Luna explained.

"Time out! Why does this "Savvy Sagacious" get to make that call and Celestia doesn't? You and her both founded Equestria, or something, right? I mean, you raise the Moon and Sun, for stars sake!" Fulgurite asked. Luna though shook her head.

"Our positions don't mean we have authority over every single placement in Equestria, as fun of an idea as that sounds. Different associations all over Equus, the EEA for instance, we don't have any say in on terms of operation. In other words, our say won't effect the results of the test," Luna explained, unfortunately, her gaze lowered to her front hooves.

"That's ridiculous! Celestia's a great leader - possibly the best!" Twilight insisted. Though, she quickly realized that Luna, a fellow princess, was also there. "Er, uh, not saying you're not, princess Luna, I-I just mean Celestia doesn't deserve to be, uh, unaccredited."

Luna didn't bother to comment.

"And why does this one pony's opinion matter so much anyway?" Lapis asked, "I've heard so much about the good you and your sister had done already to even start Equestria. Isn't that good enough?"

Luna sighed, and walked over to Twilight's window, seeing it was about sunset.

"I really want it to be. You see, everyone, the royalty advisor is more than just a simple judge over who can be apart of royalty. Everypony may have their opinions on what a leader is, and who would be best suited to fill in the role, but these advisors studied in these roles, and it's their job to be absolutely sure that it's the right choice."
In Luna's explanation, some of the group could actually see Celestia up on the castle balcony, lowering the sun as she did every night. It was just a silhouette of her, but they knew her all the same. Luna didn't want her to know she was gone, so her horn began to glow, and as if she was there already, she began to raise the moon in time with her. Celestia simply stood there, and then started to head in for the night. Luna kept watch to be sure she did so.

"Ponies in the same line of duty like Savvy Sagacious have the final word in if a line is worth continuing. And as Celestia has ruled for thousands of years, he stated that it was time for a follow-up test."

"Now, hold on a minute. So yer sayin that saving Equestria dozens of times and keeping harmony doesn't make you two royalty-approved?" Applejack questioned, not believing her ears.

"Keeping harmony is just one part of bring a ruler and leader: there's taking care of your followers, to keep a brave face that others look up to, solving conflicts amongst your people, making sure it isn't you who starts said conflicts. And that's NOT including the appearances and smaller ideologies you'd have to work with."

"Well that sounds familiar."

The others paused and turned to Jasper.

"You know what it's like then," Luna stated.

"I was apart of a war that lasted for at least a thousand years. Everyone considered me "the perfect quartz", and even if I wasn't made to be leader, many of the other quartzes would come to me. … But then again, all I really have to do was show how strong I am so they could follow me."

"Well, there's more to it than just strength," said Steven.

"I know that. And I know it far more now than I ever did back then," Jasper admitted. It wasn't the same, but Luna found it good someone sympathized in some way.

"Yes, you all had some idea on what it must be like." Luna then smiled. "And that's just why I brought you here: You can help Celestia pass her test!"

"What?! Help the princess of the sun pass the test?" Peridot said, surprised.

"But wouldn't that be cheating?" Steven asked. Luna shook her head.

"No, no, I'm not asking for you to help directly. In fact, it would be best if you didn't help her directly."

"... Say what?" Amethyst asked.

"So do you want us to help her, or not?" Peridot questioned.

"I do, I really do. But it would make it even harder if Savvy Sagacious saw you all just telling Celestia what to do throughout this during the testing."

"Luna's right," Twilight said, after FINALLY calming down. "The whole point of a test is to imply what you've learned and experienced. If somepony else does it for you, then what does that say about the pony that's supposed to do it?"

"Exactly!" agreed Luna, "But there is something you all can do without Savvy Sagacious finding it out."

"And what's that?" Lapis asked.

"The power of instigation!" Luna announced, wings spread, and up on her back hooves. Probably a good thing she didn't go full Canterlot voice mode in the statement, but it was still loud.

"Instigation?" Rainbow asked.

"Wait. … OOOHHH, I get it! We'll just act out what parts of the test there is for her, so she'll come in and pass for Savvy Sagacious!" confirmed Twilight.

"Yeah, that's perfect! I'll be right back," Fulgurite said, about ready to rush off. However, Luna was one step ahead of her, and even with her lightning speed, Fulgurite was stop cold with Luna teleporting in her way, hooves out stretched to pin herself to the door rims.

"NO!"

"Wait, what? I was gonna tell Celestia," Fulgurite said. Luna though got herself together.

"You can't do that."

"Excuse me?" AJ questioned.

"I know it doesn't sound right to leave Celestia out of it, but if she knew what we were doing, then that would have an effect on her entire performance. Something I'm sure Savvy Sagacious would catch. … This is also why I called on you. I can't intervene myself because I'm Celestia's sister. Savvy would catch me immediately if he saw me out there …"

"Don't worry about a thing, princess Luna. We'll be sure that Celestia passes through with flying colors," Twilight promised, hoof on Luna's shoulder.

"Sure. How hard can it be?" added Lapis Lazuli. Luna looked to much of the group with a smile.

"I knew I could count on all of you. Now, as Savvy starts tomorrow morning, it would be best to go over what's on the competence test."

"Lead the way, Luna," said Twilight. Much of the group began to head off.

But not all.

~~~~~~

The next morning came earlier than Celestia would like, even if she waited a few more minutes before raising the sun up for that said morning. Celestia and Savvy Sagacious met up over within Canterlot for this presentation to begin, and while a normal day would have Celestia going through town on her carriage for some of the public appearances, Savvy suggested actual walking to get things started. With the locals looking on, Celestia tried to keep better appearances for herself as she went along with Savvy by her side, and while it would appear like your typical walk, Celestia was struggling.

"Alright, Celestia, nice of you to come by after all. Now, as we're out, what is it you do on a typical day? Best to start with that," Savvy said, readying his notes. Celestia may have calmed down a bit, but she still needed to keep her wits about her.

"Oh, well, I'll have you know I have a very valued to-do list I'm given each day," Celestia said, actualy levitating a scroll for him to see. At first it didn't appear all too much, but the minute she unraveled it, it ended up about a good yard long! Savvy felt a little taken aback by this, as he was given the list to see.

"This is yesterday's to-do list, but I can assure you, they're usually this long," Celestia said, as Savvy took a closer look at what this list even had in mind. However ...

"Cut the ribbon for the opening of the Saddlebag sauna? Judge the plants at the flower contest? Smile for a field trip photo? Celestia, this isn't being a leader, this is being popular!" Savvy scolded, actually shoving the list in Celestia's face. Celestia started to roll it back up again, chuckling nervously.

"Well, when you're the princess, you are known to being adored. I try my best to make sure everypony's happy," Celestia explained. Savvy stroked his beard in thought, as in thought as Starswirl the Bearded.

"Well, that is true. But, there's a lot more important things to keep in mind aside from "contests" and "openings". ANYPONY could do any of those things," Savvy advised, writing it down in his notes before trotting on. Celestia always thought that was plenty good, but Savvy did have his points.

"Uh, yes, naturally! B-But not everyday there's a crisis that effects the entire world!"

"No, but there's still problems a leader has to address. Being popular and being a leader are two different for two different kinds of ponies. And a ruler doesn't focus on the former."

"Uh … O-Of course! Yes, hehehe - Luna, where're you? - hehehe … heh …"

As Celestia and Savvy Sagacious were going along their way, Celestia wondering where her sister had been since this morning, the very sister in question was keeping a calm eye on her close by. She had a cloak to keep her invisible, courtesy of Starlight Glimmer. Neither had noticed them just yet (how could they when they're invisible?) and when both of them felt ready, The cloak was removed, and Luna began to trot over, Starlight Glimmer keeping just out of sight.

"Morning sister," Luna called, going over to them. Celestia and Savvy Sagacious turned to see her, and Luna could already tell that Celestia felt uneasy.

"Ah, Luna, good to see you. You're up early this morning," Celestia noted. But then something else was brought to their attention: a rolled up scroll.

"I tried to get this to you earlier, but when I got to your room, you were already gone. Here's today's to-do list," Luna said, giving the list to Celestia. A bit on short notice, something Savvy was quizzically questioning in his own head. Luckily, Luna had that covered.

"I know it's a bit late, but we've been given some last-minute notifications that we had to put in. That's why it didn't come straight away," Luna explained.

"Fair enough. What do we have here?" Savvy asked, as Celestia began to look over what problems needed to be handled for the day. There was some typical errands just like yesterday, but there was some parts of this list in particular that did catch their eye. Celestia smiled.

"Well, look at that. It appears I have a meeting to attend to discuss matters amongst the Human race. Sounds pretty interesting, don't you think?"

"The what race?" Savvy questioned.

"It's a race outside of Equus we've befriended over the years, Savvy Sagacious. And we've been doing fairly well in our relationship between kingdoms," Celestia said, feeling confident. Savvy paused, and went to his notes, writing down what he had heard. Celestia hoped that it would be a good start to this test of his.

"Well, let's see … OH, look at that, I'll have to go address the problems concerning Timberwolves in -" Celestia stopped herself when she actually saw what was said. "... Ponyville?"
Well sure they're a bit scary, but Timberwolves weren't the most common sight to be found in Ponyville as of late. Luna shrugged when Celestia glanced her way. But then again, weirder things had happened, and Timberwolves were at least a familiar problem to work with.

"Well, nothing I can't handle. Coming, Savvy?"

"I'll meet you there," Savvy said. Celestia rolled up the to-do list and flew off on her way, as Savvy Sagacious disappeared in a teleport. Luna sighed in relief, hoof brushing her forehead, as she turned over to Starlight, giving a wink. Starlight nodded and disappeared in her own teleporting magic, and Luna flew off herself. The ball was rolling, though she could only hope it rolled in the right direction.

…….

And in Ponyville, things were getting a bit busy in getting all this worked out for the presentation to come to play. Celestia would be coming by any moment to handle the Timberwolves, but there was no Timberwolves around to handle. They wouldn't lure any Timberwolves into Ponyville for the sake of presentation, but they did have plenty of firewood and a few notable magic users to make the "Timberwolf" problem a bit more of a reality. Some of the group (AJ, Steven, Peridot, and Fluttershy)

"Twilight? I know y'all wanna help Celestia pass this test of hers, but shouldn't we at least try to talk to her about this?" Applejack asked.

"You heard Luna, she can't figure it out. As soon as we go through this, and if it all works out, Equestria will still have two rulers to watch over it," Twilight explained, as she got the Timberwolf together and in place.

"We know, but this is a bit risky."

"Tell us something we don't know," Fulgurite said, "Luna said we'd be cheating if Celestia was in on the act."

"But aren't we cheating anyway? Making stuff happen for Celestia isn't exactly the same thing as stuff happening for … happening," Steven said.

"It doesn't count of nobody gets caught," Fulgurite stated, a bit of her hair tapping Steven on the head, as she got back to finishing up the model.

"Guys, come on. We don't have to act like this is some two-bit, covert mission. We've met Celestia before - many times," Applejack stated.

"Yes, and that's why we should help her. She'll be devastated if she loses her royalty, and what kind of friends would we be if we just stood by and watch her lose her crown?! She's amazing, a wonderful ruler."

"She's your mentor," Peridot noted, "I think you're acting a bit bias."

"Says the Gem who thought Diamonds were the most perfect flawless beings in the galaxy," Rainbow said smugly.

"Hey! That ideology was shared on every Gem on Homeworld, not just me! And I don't even think that anymore!" Peridot snapped. This was something way long ago (her limb enhancer days), and Rainbow couldn't forget if she tried just how many times Peridot would blabber on during her "little time" watching her.

"ANYWAY," AJ cut in, "Y'all know that telling the truth's an important part of friendship."

"And also is helping a friend in a time of need. Celestia's done so much of Equestria for hundreds of moons, the least we can do is help her go through her competence follow-up test without a hitch," Twilight said. It was still a bit iffy, but by the time that was finished, the group got together their Timberwolf pack. It did look a bit sketchy, even for a Timberwolf, but it appeared convincing enough.

"How's it look?" Twilight asked, presenting it to the others for some approval.

"Looks good to me. Now, how're we gonna get them to move?" Lapis wondered. They've seen Timberwolves before. And heck, they tried replicating it before, but it's gonna take a lot more than some strings and a good puppeteer to get this to work.

"Just use your magic," Jasper stated.

"Timberwolves don't have an aura around them," Twilight retorted. There was a bit of hurtles to go through for this to work. They couldn't use water manipulation by Lapis, since air's only found between the wood, and it wasn't metal for Peridot to manipulate either. Plus, none of them were big enough to just act out the part in costume (they'll see the bodies in the outfit anyway). Fluttershy tapped Twilight on the shoulder.

"Um, Twilight. I know you and the others want to help, but maybe we should try something besides intervening," Fluttershy suggested.

"Are the Timberwolves ready?"

Before Twilight could even answer, Starlight Glimmer was rushing over to them, skidding to a stop.

"We're trying to figure out how to make them move properly, but yes we just got done," Twilight answered. Starlight saw the Timberwolves present, and as there was only three, it looked pretty convincing for a decent-sized Timberwolf pack.

"Ok, great, I'll get it."

"Did you not hear us? We can't move them!" Fulgurite reminded. Starlight knew they didn't have time for it, so with a quick flashing of her horn, and rather quickly, she shot a spell at the model's heads. Suddenly, like robots, the eyes suddenly started to glow, and this pack was suddenly up and alive! The first one shook off the sawdust, as the other two stretched and readied for their hunt.

"The heck, Starlight?" Steven said, a little worried.

"It's only for a while. Besides, Celestia can handle them, no problem. Just you watch," Starlight reassured. That wasn't reassuring. At all. Especially when the three revived Timberwolves began to howl, and rush off towards Ponyville! This … was not a good plan.

The Timberwolves were quick to rush off into Ponyville, ponies scared and bolting for cover as the trio of wolves started to see the place. They weren't there to actually hurt anyone, but more like to scare them to bits. And BOY was it working! The trio of Timberwolves howled and roared, making plenty of ponies rush about for cover from such beasts. And what timing for these wolves to be doing so. For not too far off in the sky, a particular Alicorn had just arrived on the scene. And when she saw the trio of wolves running amok in town, she didn't hesitate to fly right on in, landing not too far away.
Celestia arrived well enough on seeing this horde of Timberwolves arrive, and the trio soon saw their new adversary come up, one of the Timberwolves actually holding a cart in its teeth. Celestia had her wings spread in aggression, but the trio of Timberwolves began to feel a little humbled at first, barking at her like guard dogs. Eventually, one of them jumped at her, and Celestia responded with a blast of magical beams to shatter the Timberwolf with ease, nothing but splinters. The other two Timberwolves quickly began to worry over seeing this happen, whimpering a little bit. Celestia simply needed a glare of her own before the wolves turned tail and ran for it. Starlight didn't program them to go too far in the fight, if any fight, as to show Celestia's superiority. The ponies of Ponyville cheered on her victory, Celestia feeling good about it. Though it was surprisingly easy.

Though, when Celestia looked and noted Savvy Sagacious off nearby, noting the event of bravery into his notes with a satisfied grin, Celestia knew it was good. And same thing could be said for the others who sent the wolves out in the first place. Speaking of, the other two Timberwolves stopped running when they got back to Starlight, who used her magic to "deactivate" the fake wolves, turning them back to wood again.

"There, see? That's that," Starlight said.

"That could've ended bad … VERY. BAD," Applejack made clear.

"Hey, it worked, look. Mr. judge's giving Celestia's good props," Fulgurite said, pointing to Savvy Sagacious. Well, much of the group felt alright, but for those few who still felt like this was just cheating, it wasn't sitting well.

And this was just the first part.

~~~~~~

It felt rather questionable from then on. Time from there was similar to before, but luckily for the well-being of Ponyville not as dangerous. The tasks the to-do list Celestia had on hoof got her going off back and forth from place to place, Equus or Earth all depending, all the while Savvy Sagacious followed her in step to be sure she knew what she was doing. Just as he was, the others of Gem and Pony, were helping in the best ways they could without completely giving themselves away, though with the exception of a few who found it a trouble to do all itself.
Amongst the many things Celestia had done aside from the "Timberwolf incident" included, but not limited to: a visit to discuss with mayor Nanefua about some magical threats against Beach City, handling conflict amongst some of the ponies of Manehatten, putting in presentation for the Dragon committee, and so on. Each one of these events that many of the others tried to contribute and steady along in some way to Celestia, mainly to try and make the princess of the sun a better ruler in the eyes of Savvy Sagacious.
The talk with Nanefua was pretty straightforward: just a meeting with president Nanefua and a few other Gems of some tips and tricks of how to better protect Beach City from any future attacks by either mythical animals, or some sort of Gem emergency. They may have gone over a bit already before, but it wasn't a bother to get some aid from Equestria as well. Those involved on the Gem side were mainly just supporting Celestia's ideas like she was top-notch.
For the conflict with Manehatten, the actual conflict was pre-planned, and the argument was brought on with Rarity and a few of the locals over the possible idea that a warship had been spotted off the shores of the city, suspiciously like a Diamond ship. Thanks to Celestia (seemingly), it really turned out to just be some clouds that had been put the wrong way by some trickster Pegasi.
The meeting with princess Ember was a little bit harder though, but that was mainly thanks to Spike that things went along smoothly, and the main discussion between Ember and Celestia was over the Dragon Lands, and some bit of boundary lines between the two. It was really with aid of Spike and Twilight for that part that agreements were brought together (after a good four hours … time flies by that way).

It was all fun and good, but as each of these things were going on, AJ and her little group of doubters still felt that this was, questionably, a bad idea. They've tried, but they were met with a no to sum it up. And that similar idea still continued on as it began to draw along the afternoon, and they were going over what they've been going along so far at the Ponyville café.

"Alright, does anypony else think that this is a bad idea?" Applejack asked.

"It's is a bit precarious at best. I know they mean well, but let's be real; she's bound to find them out eventually," Peridot agreed, finding this kinda silly herself. In any mission or test, help is only assigned if it's required, not worked into behind one's back.

"Well, maybe she won't find out. They've been doing good so far: solving minor conflicts amongst ponies, reaching resolutions with outside kingdoms, and protect citizens from threats," Steven said, counting it out on his fingers.

"Those Timberwolves were from us, remember?" Peridot reminded.

"AND they were hexed into giving up before the princess," added Applejack, "Even Savvy would've seen that them givin' up so fast was a bit off."

"Welcome to the Ponyville Café. Tell me how may I serve you," said a calming voice.

Garnet? … As a waitress for the café. Steven raised his hand to question it, but Fluttershy quietly shook her head, her hoof slowly lowering his hand. What was the point anymore?

"Oh, hi Garnet. Just some waters, thank you," Fluttershy said. Garnet nodded, and took a short bit to get some cups, and a pitcher of water in little time at all.

"You four seem a bit troubled today," Garnet noted.

"It's Celestia. Apparently there's this pony visiting named Savvy Sagacious who's questioning the sun princess's position as ruler of Equestria, and the rest of our group's stuck trying to "make it easier" for her," Peridot explained, quoting her "make it easier" statement with her fingers. Garnet paused.

"... Really."

"Well, sure, but what can we do now? We're already through most of the list Luna told us about, and who knows what state Celestia's in right now?" Fluttershy brought up. It was a bit of a peculiar situation to be caught up in, and with many of the group still caught up in making this work, it was a bit hard to place an exact answer in for just the four to agree on. As they were trying to think though, Peridot noted that the same unicorn judge, Savvy Sagacious, was actually still in town, getting a few new quills.

"Savvy! Garnet, any of your visions say we should talk to him?" Fluttershy asked. Garnet grew troubled, oddly enough.

"Eh, your call."

"Yes?"

"Don't ask me, tell me," Garnet insisted through gritted teeth.

"Why wait? Come on," Peridot decided, getting up and heading over to him. AJ, Flutters and Steven did the same thing, Garnet left to her other job and it didn't take long until Savvy himself took note of them coming over by the sound of their hooves and feet. They'll get to Garnet when they have time for it, but for now, it was one step at a time, though none of them notice Garnet leaving ...

"Oh? You all were from that "Nanefua" meeting, right? What're you doing here?" Savvy asked, putting the quill in his saddlebags.

"We heard that Celestia was going through a sort of, uh, "test", and we were just wondering how well she was. You know. Doing?" Steven asked, trying not to make it sound too prying in.

"Don't know why you're concerned," Savvy said, starting to walk away. AJ trotted over to his side.

"We're just closer friends to the princess, as all."

"Oh. Well, is that so. I'm not exactly allowed to give the results to just anypony."

"You don't have to. Just a … estimate?" Fluttershy asked, smiling meekly. Savvy thought it over, and admittedly it couldn't hurt. After all, it was just the first day. He got out his notes and looked them over.

"Well, given Celestia's progress as a leader of her kingdom, and her means of compromise do put her fairly well."

That news made them feel good.

"But I'm yet to be convinced."

AND, their smiles were gone.

"Pardon me?" Peridot asked, quizzically.

"The events today were interesting, but handled well. Surprisingly well … as if it was pre-meditated."

"What? No. what makes you think that?" Steven asked nervously. This pony was smarter than he looked.

"Not just that: it's her previous exploits. It's not exactly good enough, if you ask me."

"Beg your pardon, sugarcube? Celestia's been doing a lot for Equestria: defeating Tirek, Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and -"

"AND," interrupted Savvy, getting right into AJ's face, "How many of those exact threats had just shown back up, tried again, and nearly clobbered Celestia in her own horse shoes?! Any real leader knows well that you can't handle problems by simply pushing them aside and forgetting about them, like she did time and time again. Friendship and harmony is one thing, but pacifism is something else."
And with that remark, Savvy Sagacious trotted off on his way, leaving the four with a bit of a cold shoulder, and a bit of food for thought. Any leader would show mercy, yeah, but Savvy seemingly didn't see strictly mercy as a good thing. And it reminded Steven of some acts one other leader had to do for her cause …

…….

"What do you mean he isn't gonna let her pass?!" Rainbow gasped. This information was quick to get over back to the others.

"Just that: he's not convinced that she's even worth leaving as leader."

"But what for?! Didn't he see all the stuff she had did all day? She had good terms with Dragons, for stars sake!" Lapis pointed out.

"We know, but apparently it's less about what she did today, and more of what she did thousands of years ago," Steven said. "Something with her just pushing problems aside just for them to come back later."

Well, this wasn't sitting well, and Twilight began to feel a bit worried, cold sweat down her face as her mind started to wander a bit, pacing off back and forth, as the others looked on.

"Ok then! We tried, and tried, and tried, but we gotta face facts: Savvy won't pass Celestia this way. So there's only one thing to do!"

"Tell her the truth finally?" AJ asked.

"NO!" Twilight snapped. A groan escaped the four on the remark.

"Come on, this is Celestia! If you tell her -"

"Then everything will go wrong!" Twilight said, almost freaking out.

"We're almost done anyway. Let's just get through this final part, and then we'll be good," Jasper suggested.

"But it doesn't even matter, according to Savvy Sagacious! That, and he … he …" Steven kinda clammed up, but they were thinking of what he had to say.

"Oh, don't tell me," Fulgurite said.

"Eh … ok, I won't."

Like he needed to anyway. If Savvy Sagacious was already suspecting this, then what was the point of any of their efforts? This part finally drove Twilight overboard, and she gave a loud groan.

"Oh, just great. Not only did we spent all that time making things easier for Celestia, but we did all of that and Savvy Sagacious still caught us, and he's now no longer convinced she's even worth being a leader! Anybody got any idea to fix this, because I'd love to hear it right now," Twilight said, frustrated in it all. However, the group suddenly turned awfully quiet after that, their gaze focused somewhere.

"I think we did more than enough," Fluttershy finally said.

"WHAT? Fluttershy, this is -" Twilight was stopped when Fluttershy actually pointed behind her. Twilight saw that their gaze was a bit more on the surprised side, and when Twilight turned around to see, her heart almost stopped. There, standing just in the clearing, was Princess Celestia herself! With a saddened, surprised look on her face as well, this princess had heard more than enough from everyone there. She had heard everything.

"P-Princess Celestia! Oh my stars, uh, I-"

"Twilight. If you and the others were doing all this, why didn't you tell me?" Celestia stated, her voice as surprised as the others were. Twilight knew she couldn't hide it any more, and fell into a bow to the sun princess.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intervene in your test, I just got so scared that you were going to lose your throne! … but that's no excuse. You have every right to be upset with me."
Now, typically that would be a good apology, but Celestia didn't look too moved by it, more quizzical than anything aside from anger. She actually felt … betrayed, almost.

"So I'm to understand that all of what happened today: the Timberwolves, the meetings, the dragon negotiation, all of that you all set up because none of you wanted to see me lose the test?"

"Well … um … yes," Fluttershy said.

"B-But with good intentions! I mean, we don't want you gone from the throne. Yes, you're mad because of the test, but we swear we'll fix it," said Rainbow. However, that wasn't good enough for her, her scoffing even.

"I'm not upset just because you intervened with the test."

"You're not?" Twilight asked. Celestia, for the first time since the Gems had seen her, glared down at her former student. And what she said next summed up all the fear Applejack, Peridot, Fluttershy, and Steven were worrying would happen, and broke the others down hard.

"I'm upset, Twilight. Because in all the time we've known eachother. I thought I taught you about the importance of friendship, trust and honesty!"
Celestia, before anyone could explain, then took to the skies and flew away! It didn't matter what was to become of the test anymore, not now knowing that most of what she did today was from a group that didn't think she could handle it herself.

They had to fix this. And Applejack knew just what to do.

"Alright everyone, we got some amendments to make."

"Oh, Applejack. I'm so sorry, I -"

"Twilight, I get it. Y'all just wanted to help, I know, and I understand. Now, why don't you go and fix things with Celestia, while we try to turn things around with Savvy Sagacious," Applejack decided. There was no arguments this time.

~~~~~~

After a good half an hour of flying, Celestia herself had gone off a good well away from the outskirts of Ponyville, and off further into untouched skies and wilderness. Not exactly the first spot where she would go, but if she were to just go to Ponyville she would be found in no time. If she flew back to Canterlot, then the Alicorn would be found by Savvy Sagacious again, and she was in no mood to actually get involved with that for now. Celestia flew along the wind, wings spread for a calm glide across the world. But, regardless of where she was flying, she still felt that this time of solitude wouldn't last for too long. And she was right.

"Princess Celestia! Can we talk?!"

"I'm afraid there's nothing to say, Twilight," Celestia made clear, before flying further ahead. Twilight, out of all of the group, felt the worst of them all. How rare it was that Celestia would actually be upset at Twilight for anything. Celestia looked down and found a solitary perch over by a small pond, Twilight not too far behind.

"Alright, just listen," Twilight said, sorrowfully, "You've guided me since I was just a filly. You've given me knowledge, advice, friendship! … Just once, I wanted to be able to return the favor. To give something back to you."

Celestia glanced back, but didn't feel too convinced. Twilight slowly moved up towards her, though Celestia could hear her friends not too far behind as well. Not all of them, but still a few.

"Did you now?" Celestia questioned.

"Yes! … Celestia, I know what we've been doing was wrong. But I promised to help you keep your position as the princess of Equestria, I had to make it work. Nothing could make me feel worse than knowing I've disappointed you."

"And who did this promise come from?"

"From me."

From the crowd, Luna herself stepped forward, only then Celestia turning around to see her guilty sister.

"Luna?"

"I saw how worried you were last night, sister. That, and I never wanted to see you fail either … that's why I asked them to do this for you. But I was wrong … I'm so sorry," Luna revealed, looking back to the others nearby. It was only about five of them (Steven, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Peridot and Rarity), but the point was still there. Luna still felt a bit guilty herself, her head lowered to her own sister. Celestia frowned, but less anger this time, and just sighed.

"You all had good intentions. But you know that the truth is always better than a well-meant lie," Celestia reminded. Something that a few of the group had been trying to make clear all day. Celestia went over to Twilight, her gentle wing wrapped around her.

"Didn't they remind you?"

"Only a hundred times. And now, because we didn't listen, Equestria will be without one princess …"

…

*arf**arf**arooo*

The silence was broken by a newcomer.

"What was that?" Peridot asked.

"I-I'm not sure. Don't worry, maybe it's just some Timberwolf passing by," Applejack reassured, but the howl did shake her up too. It did not sound any familiar to her at all. Timberwolves had their own kind of howl, but this one sounded awfully low-pitched for any Timberwolf to do.
It took a bit, but eventually they began to see something come up from the other side of the lake. It looked like some sort of canid, though none that any of them had seen before. It was fairly large, dark-furred, and trotting around the lake towards them. And it was not alone either: joined by several other hunters. They looked small at first, but as they came closer, their true size towered even over Celestia, the size of a full grown thoroughbred horse from Steven's world rather than the pony world. Any predator the size of horses is a force to not be trifled with.

"Eh, are those Equestrian creatures?" Steven asked meekly. Celestia spread her wings to try and threaten the hounds, but unlike the Timberwolves before, these huge canines weren't intimidated in the slightest. It was then one of the hounds actually spoke.

"Well, look who wandered too far from home," the wolf growled, his tongue licked his sharp teeth. They weren't sure if these creatures were hungry or if this was territorial, but either way, Celestia wasn't taking any chances, considering they weren't at full strength. Someone like Lapis or Jasper could easily handle the issue. One of the hounds suddenly moved forward, its teeth almost biting Celestia's horn off!

"Hey, nobody hurts the princess of Equestria!" Rainbow warned, flying right in front of the dog's face. While brave, not too intimidating with a small pony to a horse-sized wolf.

"We don't care who you are - GET LOST!" warned one of the hounds.

"Go back to the town, where you belong!" said another.

"Everyone, stay close," Celestia advised, the others following instruction, but armed and ready for any of the large dogs to charge in. They were pretty much surrounded at this point, any attempt to just bolt away no longer an option without getting torn to pieces. One of the hounds began to take note of some of the figures within the crowd, sniffing the air.

"O-Oh my," Fluttershy murmured, but when she turned she suddenly found one of them right in her face, eyes locked onto her. Fluttershy stumbled back a bit, the animal sniffing her along with some of the others, taking in their scents. However, it stopped when it got to Peridot and Amethyst, looking kinda puzzled. It took a deep breath, but oddly still nothing too much on the surface.

"Oi, come and look at this. These two don't have any smell," the hound said, as another wolf went over to them and took a few whiffs herself.

"Yeah. what're they, uh … Golems? Elementals? Homunculi maybe?" Another one nudged roughly against the other two.

"Who cares? Stop negotiating with your food! And as for you, get your carcasses out of here. This is our territory now," one of the hounds said to the group, snarling at them as primal warning. That didn't sound correct though, as they weren't but at least two football fields away from Ponyville. Heck, they could see the town hall from the lake's edge. Regardless, being called food did not sit well with any of them.

"I didn't come here to fight you, but I can not allow you to stay here if you're going to attack my ponies. I have to ask you all to find your hunting grounds elsewhere!"

"Ok then, why don't we eat you?" compromised a wolf, ready to jump at her.

"You can't eat her!!" shouted Steven, just for one of the wolves to jump at them! Celestia, in instinctive response, summoned a shield around them to stay safe. Two of the wolves tried biting into the forcefield, but with no luck. Steven still got up a bubble shield around them, just in case.

"Give us one good reason why not? In the wild, we all have to take what we can get," hissed a female wolf, even licking the surface of the forcefield.

"You hurt a hair on Celestia, and the only thing you'll eat is my fist!" Amethyst warned.

"She's the princess of Equestria, everyone needs her!"

"Come on. What'll happen if we eat her, will day and night just stop altogether or something?" one of the hounds asked jokingly.

"EXACTLY!" they all gasped. Clearly these hounds, whatever they are, weren't convinced at all of these tiny ponies, humans, and what have you.

"Oh gag!" one of the hungry wolves snapped, "Someone find a way in there!"
About four of the wolves started to circle around the shields both sides were keeping up. some tested the shield with their paws, some tried biting into it with their teeth. One even jumped on top of the forcefield, the weight and claws digging in straining them to keep both shields up. After five minutes of trying, they concluded there was no way in.

"They're sealed tight," confirmed one of them. The head wolf snarled: a perfect meal, and it was right in front of her, but impossible to reach. not even tortoise shells were that resilient.

"Oh, fine. There's a lot more to find in this new world. Come on," the wolf instructed. There's no point in wasting energy on something they can't break. That, and any good predator knows that a good meal is a weak one, and none of them looked the part here. As the pack started to go, one of the hounds paused, just to give the forcefield a power-filled back kick in frustration, actually making the whole thing move from force alone, before going off on its way. Celestia kept a sharp eye on the pack, and while Steven brought his bubble shield down, Celestia didn't remove hers until she was sure that the pack had indeed moved away. Celestia sighed, and lowered her shield before turning back to the group there.

"... I think we should head back home now," Celestia decided. This wasn't a safe place to keep their company around in, though there was some thought in what the wolf had said. What were they talking about for this being a new world? Wasn't Equestria the main place of Equus? If not, then where'd it come from?

… This wasn't on focus of Savvy Sagacious though, who was busily taking note of Celestia's behavior here.

…….

"Can you sit down, already? Pacing back and forth will not make this any easier," said Fulgurite.

A few days went by since this little venture, and Celestia had continued her own bit of work through each one, this time without being intervened by the others, as much as they wanted to help her. As the day had come around though, Celestia still was a little bit nervous on the end results from Savvy Sagacious. Whenever that may be. The group had gathered up at the castle for this one, which was where Celestia kept going back and forth waiting for the answer.

"I'm sorry. Savvy Sagacious has been quiet, I don't know what's going to happen," Celestia admitted. It was like seeing Twilight just after test day on an exam. Eventually though, they heard the door open up. Celestia spun around, but rather than Savvy Sagacious, instead came in one of Celestia's guards, levitating a letter.

"Here's your results, princess," said the guard, bowing as Celestia quickly took the letter in her own magic. That was all they needed to hear, and Steven opened it up to read it.

"Well? what's it say?" asked Lapis. Steven cleared his throat.

on behalf of the royal advisors' committee, I -

"Uh, we don't need the accent," Luna cut in.

"Oh, sorry," Steven said, trying again.

On behalf of the royal advisors' committee, I will say the Celestia is more of a countrywide celebrity than a true princess.

Celestia blushed a little, as Steven continued.

Still, after some rather interesting events, she does still hold an honorable code to protecting those she cares over, in facing old threats or new. The score has been cut down drastically due to the previous attempts on getting rid of the adversaries, but she still has proven care is a powerful quality.

Final score: 63% C+

Right at the middle. Not too low, but not too high according to Savvy. They weren't sure of the exact system of what a ruler needs to have to keep her place, but eventually Celestia's expression slowly turned into one of relief and joy. She began to laugh, and actually started to prance around in joy!

She had passed.

A Promise is a Promise

View Online

An autumn overcast day. Weather in Delmarva was steadily going on a colder path, and as the weather was indeed fall, the colors of the season were as strong as they could ever be. It may not be too noticeable over in Beach City itself, but further off, Garnet was taking some time to actually relax a bit over all her random antics. It had been quite a time for her: jumping from one profession to another, getting herself into situations she'd never caught herself in prior, and who knows what else. She even visited another universe in this time, visiting Hoppy and Hopper, but even with that, it's nice to relax.
She found herself by a similar apple tree. With it being later in the year, the tree was barring its fruits and the lovely colors of orange, red, and brown. Much like the trees of the Celestial Lake. It wasn't all shiny and sunlight, but at least Garnet had some time for herself. It gave her time to reflect on things. The cool wind brushing against her skin, the sound of the breeze in the leaves of the trees, not to mention a small snack of an apple plucked right out of the tree. The only company she had was both beings that made her up, but in that regard, it was good enough for her. She may be quiet, but in her head, Sapphire and Ruby were in a bit of conversation. Though, they were reaching the end of it here.

Please, Sapphy? Just one more time? Maybe you'll get something?

… I think it won't help, but … alright.

Garnet gave a long sigh, and brought her hands to her head. With so much time jumping around the place, it actually gave her little time to actually see into the future. Working with so many other things (movie props, donuts, pizza, camping trips, and recently Café water glasses), she finally can figure out what kind of vision she could see on ahead. Her eyes were close, and all she could see was the screens of her mind eye. It took a bit before something came about, but she didn't really see … well, anything. At least, not right away. But eventually something was heard loud and clear, and something did begin to show ...

The best elements within us can spread light and virtue, and I know ponies who represent them all – strength, bravery, healing, beauty, hope, and sorcery. Myself and these Pillars of Equestria were gathered together by another to maintain and share the light of these powerful ideals. But we soon came to believe the pony who brought us together only wanted that power for himself. Cast out and alone, this power-mad pony turned to darkness to satisfy his thirst. Transformed into a Pony of Shadows, he returned for revenge – to extinguish the Pillars' light and rob the world of hope. To stop him, the Pillars and I must make a grave sacrifice. But we shall leave behind a seed in hopes that one day it will grow into a force to stand against the darkness for all time. We must now face the fiend with the only plan we have. I only hope it will be enough. …

Garnet shot back to life with that little speech, jumping to her feet as if just waking up from a dream. Not often did she get visions like that, but she got herself back together after a bit. not even when just sitting down can she calm down. However, the more she thought of the possible idea, the more it … didn't make any sense. Who were half of those ponies anyway? And what's more, where can it exactly fit into any of the timelines she was thinking of?

"Not again. … What's the matter with me?" A question Garnet wished she didn't have to keep asking herself so much. This vision didn't look anything typical for her, and more like something out of a storybook presentation over much else.

*arooooooooo*

"Oh, come on." she groaned through gritted teeth.

What could be the problem now? Of all things? Well, a problem's a problem, and she had to fix it … whatever it was. She only hoped it wasn't anything too bad.

---(one hour earlier)---

"Okay, Trixie, what kinds of spells did you want to work on next?"

Starlight, Trixie, and Pink were handling some more time for themselves. Trixie was having a hoot with learning these spells, and with her transformation spell down pact, it was on to the next thing. The trio had been hanging out quite a bit together, though most of it was just hanging around Ponyville or doing some magic practice, and now it was the latter.

"Well, every self-respecting magician has a disappearing act, so maybe we could start with that?" Trixie decided. Starlight though felt a little bit unsure about that one.

"OOOO, you mean like that "camouflage" spell? That'd be sweet," Pink Diamond said, imagining how high of an advantage one could use such a thing for.

"Nothing just disappears, so that's technically a teleportation spell, and those are pretty hard. Maybe we should start with something smaller," Starlight suggested. Trixie though was not up for anything simple since she turned a ton of items into teacups.

"No-no-no-no. The Great and Powerful Trixie either goes big, or not at all! Just tell me how you do it," Trixie said, confident as she'll ever be.

"I'm liking the attitude," Pink Diamond commented. Trixie smiled to her, as Starlight tried to think.

"Well, I've always found magic is tied to my emotions. Whatever I'm feeling fuels whatever I'm doing, and the stronger I'm feeling, the stronger the magic."

"Right. Like when you were so upset that cutie marks took away your friend, your magic was strong enough to enslave an entire village," Pink Diamond said, bringing up what she thought was a good example. Starlight felt s shiver on the rather bad memory of her older days as dictator.

"Yeah. … Thanks for reminding me."

"Hey, I'm complimenting you," Pink Diamond insisted. She didn't see any problem in finding a easy way to keep one's followers in line, but Starlight felt otherwise no doubt.

"You know, uh … maybe you can teach me a trick like that?"

"Not a chance," Starlight immediately answered, deadpan almost. So much for that. Anyway, back to Trixie.

"Well, I'm totally up for it! If there's anypony who can teach me a disappearing spell -"

"Teleportation spell," Starlight corrected.

"Whatever. We can do this 'cause we are amazing!" Trixie said, with a wink and a nudge. Starlight smiled.

"Well, I suppose we can give it a whirl. Now we just need something to teleport," Starlight said. The three weren't too far from town, but didn't have very much to practice on. Before Starlight and Trixie could think of something, Pink Diamond got a little something worthwhile to do. And one that was eerily peculiar.

"I got it!" Pink Diamond said, before bolting off passed the two unicorns, a gust of wind behind her launch.

"She sure moves fast," noted Starlight. Just moments later, Pink Diamond got back, and skidded to a stop, having the object in question: A glass window.

"Well, it's not living. So, I guess it can work," Starlight said.

"It's not as entertaining, but alright. Teach away, mini-Twilight," Trixie said. Starlight groaned a little on the remark, and as Pink Diamond sat down not too far away, Trixie and Starlight took a look to the window presented, which was propped up on a stick so it wasn't just laying on the ground.

"Okay. What you want to do is concentrate on the object that you want to teleport..."

"Challenge accepted," Trixie said, eyes locked onto the window. It seemed a bit easy enough, but then -

"Concentrate on the object. Doin the spell."

"Wait, not yet!" Starlight insisted, but it was too late. Trixie, confident at an all-time high, made the teleportation zap directly onto the window. Now, what should've happened was that it would at least teleport the mirror away, but instead of that, off the glass surface, the spell bounced off and aimed directly at the three! You could probably guess where this was going.

*FLASH* … *FLASH* *thud!*

Whelp. Trixie did it. Picking themselves off the ground, Pink Diamond, Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie Lulamoon were no longer anywhere near Ponyville. At least, not by the looks of things. From a small area outside of Ponyville, they were now off in what looked like a forest of sorts, thick like the Everfree Forest, though with it so thick and the odd shapes of many of the trees, one couldn't be too sure. When Trixie realized what happened, she was stoked!

"OH CELESTIA! The Great and Powerful Trixie just got even MORE powerful! Which I thought wasn't even possible!" Trixie beamed, close to prancing she was so happy.

"Eh, yeah, great but … where did you teleport us to?" Starlight asked, looking around at the landscape.

"The Everfree Forest I think, but, who cares? I did it! My first actual teleportation spell! Now, let's pop right on back and -"

"I'LL DO IT!" Starlight quickly said, stopping the trigger-happy Unicorn before they could be teleported anywhere else. She wasn't gonna have a repeat of the teacup spell on something like this.

"Why? I am a master," Trixie said smugly.

"First of all, no you're not. Second, this is your first time doing this! Maybe we should just let me teleport us back before we end up who knows where else."

"Oh, fine," Trixie groaned. But, Starlight had a point, and they didn't need to be in anymore -

"Er! Er! Look what I found!"

Trouble. … Oh clod. The voice surely didn't sound familiar to any of them, and all three looked around a little bit to try and find the source. Pink Diamond, being taller, had a better sight over much of the bushes than the other two did, so she could see that something was coming their way. And they were not alone either.

"Oh! HEY, I see you over there!" Pink Diamond called. All that did though was make whatever was over there rushed forward, quickly going around them so they wouldn't get away so easily.

"Uh, Starlight?" Trixie shuttered, hearing the notable sounds of growling and snarling. They were hidden off in the shadows.

"Don't worry, they won't dare attack a member of the Diamond Authority," Pink Diamond reassured them, though they all look ready to jump at them any second.
And then they started to come out. Not exactly the same ones, but the same type of wolf as the ones that confronted Celestia herself back at the lake. They've went off from said lake as said by Celestia, to find some other parts of the "new world", and apparently they hit gold when finding a trio of delicacies out in the middle of nowhere.

"Spies already?" groaned one of the wolves.

"Oh! You can talk, great! Listen, uh, we didn't mean to just pop up here. Just practicing some magic," Starlight said humbly, trying not to cause anymore trouble. However, these hungry hounds weren't convinced. Pink Diamond stepped up to plate next.

"I am the luminous, and almighty Pink Diamond! Member of the Diamond Authority, and I'll have you all reported if you attack any of my subjects! I command you to stay back!" Pink stated, strong as what the other Diamonds would do to their people.

"Subjects?" Trixie spat, looking quizzically at Pink. However, the hounds ended up going into hysterics, laughing like hyenas at her "authority" over them. Pink felt like an idiot.

"Pink," whispered Starlight, "I told you, just saying it doesn't always work."

"I know but it's my process," Pink Diamond stated quietly, before the hounds started to advance onto them rather quickly, the largest one almost biting her gemstone! These animals were more than hungry, and they got their food right in front of them.

"AH! Ok, ok, Teleportation spell GO!" Trixie shouted, trying to get it to work. But saying the spell and actually doing it, are two different things, and it didn't work.

"Teleportation spell GO!" Trixie repeated. Still nothing. A snarl echoed from one of the hounds again, as the whole pack moved in closer, but then she saw the eyes of the largest one.

"AH! TELEPORT ALREADY!" The largest one moved in right up to them, and in a panic, Trixie actually zapped the lead wolf. A small yelp later, and then came the sudden flash which admittedly surprised everyone there: the lead wolf was teleported away! The rest of the pack quickly were humbled by the attack, and quickly scattered, disappearing within the undergrowth.

"Uh … where'd he go?" Pink Diamond asked.

"Trixie? What were you thinking of before you made that spell happen?" Starlight asked nervously. Trixie took a moment to think.

"You mean aside from being a wolf's lunch?"

"Wherever that thing went was the last place you thought of, that's how the teleportation spell works. So, what were you thinking?" Starlight asked. Well, made sense, since Trixie was thinking of trees when doing the first spell as he saw them in the window's reflection. Trixie took a moment to think.

"Well, the wolf's eyes did remind me of Sapphires, how they're so blue and all. And it looked kinda magical, so …"

"Y-You don't mean the Crystal Gems … do you?" Starlight asked meekly. Trixie took another moment.

"Um … yeah, pretty much."

Starlight fainted.

"... Ta-da?"

~~~~~~

"AAAHHH!"

"Steven!" gasped Jasper. Back down at the beach, there was quite a danger indeed. Jasper, hearing the cries good and loud, rushed on outside from the Temple. With time came problems, and with Jasper the only one on guard at said temple, it was a bit troubling to hear, and then see, Steven rushing up the beach as fast as he could, seemingly in a panic as he bolted in. Jasper was armed up, as Steven jumped up at her, climbing up into her arms.

"Save me, Jasper!" Steven called.

"What's wrong?" Jasper asked, urgent and ready for whatever would come their way.

"They're gonna get me!" Steven replied, worried.

"Them? Them who?!"

"Here I come!"

… huh?
Looking up along the beach, she did end up seeing Steven's adversaries, but they … well, she was prepared for many an attack, except for this one: a group of differently-colored Steven's were rushing up the beach, and catching up fairly quickly. There was a purple one with a single eyelash, a orange one running around like a dog, a blue one apparently flying in the air, and a yellow one with some notable cleat boots. The only one who wasn't Steven was Connie, and all of these "Stevens" ran around Jasper in circles, the tall Quartz trying to avoid falling to the ground with Steven keeping distance from these look-alikes running around her.

"Tag, you're it!" Steven suddenly said, poking Jasper in the Gem nose. Well, the fear was gone, but she was still puzzled.

"... And you all look like Steven, because …"

"Steven tag! Steven tagged you, now you have to turn into Steven," said Amethyst.

"We just made it up. Now come on, Jay, Steven-fy!" Lapis said, hovering nearby Jasper's head. Well, they did have more time to relax supposedly, so she might as well play along, as she placed the little nugget that was Steven down on the ground.

"Maybe later. I'm trying to talk to Garnet, but she's nowhere in the temple. Any of you seen her?"

"Who knows anymore?" Tiger's Eye said, scratching her ear, "She's been here, there, and everywhere since we got back from that Jungle Moon."

"I know. See you later," Jasper simply said, before going along the beach towards town. Well, so much for a Jasper!Steven for their little game of Steven tag.

"So. Guess we're out of players … get ready for Steven Tag," said Amethyst, her eyes set on Tiger's Eye. With everyone done, they changed back, with the exception of Steven himself (obvious reasons), and Amethyst for being it. Still, the speedy Gem already made a bolt for it

"Onward!" Fulgurite shouted, rushing off to join the Calvary, along with the others. However, with this running, they went in the same direction as Jasper, and Tiger's Eye ended up actually jumping up on top of Jasper to avoid capture!

"HEY! Get off!" Jasper demanded, but not only did it get Tiger's Eye caught by Amethyst, but by extension Jasper as well.

"Gotcha," Amethyst said smugly. Tiger's Eye just groaned, and turned into her version of Steven. A bit quick, but they still wanted Jasper to play along with it. Now, she would just go on, but it looked like she wasn't gonna just get out of it anytime soon. So with a sigh and a smile, she began to change her body too, into a more reddish-orange version of Steven.

"SWEET! Get ready."

Jasper was more than ready though, so before Amethyst could jump her, Jasper grabbed her by her shirt and swung her up high. All Jasper had to do was jump up, and slap her in the back to slam her into the ground hard! Hard enough to make a crater on the beach.

"Jasper wins."

And not a moment too soon. Up the beach, Garnet had managed to get herself back to the group, landing down from above as if she herself came from the sky. She wasn't deterred by all the other stevens, but seeing her did make Amethyst, Jasper, and Tiger's Eye change back as the others looped around back to her.

"HEY Garnet! What's going on today? Fishing with Yellowtail? Painting classes with Vidalia? Oh, OH, how about some racing with yours truly?" Fulgurite said, trying to take a wild stab at what she wanted now. It could be anything at this point. Garnet stayed calm, and got to the point of the matter.

"We have a problem coming to Beach City."

~~~~~~

"This sure looks promising."
Oh, if only this was going to stay as simple as it was brought on to be. With the Crystal Gems getting one warning from Garnet, there was still more trouble taking effect just on the outskirts of town. Something was eyeing the place. Scoping. And a few whiffs in the air made the creature more willing to venture closer to the seaside settlement. Meat. And a good amount of it.

*AROOOOOOOOO*

The signal HOWL to kick off the assault. He was alone, but there was more than enough food to get a good sized pack a good meal. Fearless, the large hound raced right down from the upper hill, down to the town in little time at all. A bad time for it to be rush hour for Beach City, and the large animal was quick to be spotted as it moved in. Many human who saw him had to bolt aside, the primal beast looking for any stragglers amongst this group of hairless apes. Some bolted in the buildings, some just stayed still and clinging to the wall, but regardless, this creature was out for something to eat, and it had quite a selection all around it. Practically most of the Beach City residents were all over the place here, in some way or form. It snarled, and snapped its jaws at any that was close enough, but all it could manage was some cloth in his teeth at best. Humans can be quick when they had to be. And it didn't take much time for the town to begin raising alarm.
The large animal skidded and bolted side to side, trying to get at least one of these animals, but by himself it was a lot harder to get any of them like this.

And it was enough time for the Gems to arrive.

The group skidded to a stop when they saw the creature, it snarling and barking at them.

"Only one," Connie said, finding it a little relief. But she spoke too soon: Soon, another jumped out from one of the building's sharp corners, fazing right through it like an opened door.

And another

And then another.

Suddenly, twenty canines were around them! The first hound looked directly at Garnet, its eyes deep blue and almost appeared glowing. These were no ordinary hounds: four ears ending in points and two tails, with the edges of its mouth light grey and looking almost slit. These hounds were also huge, the largest one the size of a Clydesdale horse. And the lead creature felt a lot more confident with the pack behind him.

"You think you can clobber us? Come on Garnet, let's show them. ... Garnet?" Amethyst looked to the fusion, and she was frozen still at the sight of these creatures. All these details were eerily familiar. Too familiar.

"... No ... n-no ..."

"Garnet?" Steven asked. It didn't help that these creatures were slowly starting to close in on them, snarling and growling.

"T-These are Tindalos," Garnet said in a hushed tone, one of the dogs barking good and loud. The group began to back up, the pack slowly coming in on them.

"N-No. I just made them up. They were only supposed to be for that story I made. T-This isn't right! I-It's not possible, they're not supposed to exist!" Garnet shuttered. No amount of future vision, no matter what, could prepare her for any of this. These were Tindalos, and they were real. Just like how she described them, and she made that all up! The Tindalos snarled and growled, as the pack of creatures started to move in on her, Garnet frozen still.

"I-I'M SORRY!" Garnet cried, and to their horror, her body suddenly started to unfuse! It was THAT bad. This was a bad time for her to become undone, especially with such vicious creatures standing right in front of her.

"G-Garnet, no, calm down, you're coming undone!" Steven gasped, but that didn't help much as a Tindalos took its chance and rushed forward, right for the fusion! It moved lightning fast, and like a knife cutting bread, it literally split Garnet in two! Ruby and Sapphire formed up and landed off not too far away from eachother. While Ruby landed on her feet, it was Sapphire who was left laying on the ground, her body already partially frozen stiff. She was shivering, shaken, and unable to fully comprehend anything properly with what was going on.

"MOVE!" Fulgurite yelled, grabbing Sapphire and everyone quickly scattered as the pack charged through! Rather than continue forward though, much of the pack jumped into the corners of the buildings, portals for the otherworldly canines making them disappear in a split second. They were far from done though, as the same hounds just appeared out of other corners and launched at the Crystal Gems, two grabbing Jasper at the shoulders in a surprise attack. The hit caught the orange Gem completely off guard, and made her fall head over heels into the road. Steven and Connie tried to rush in to help, just to be stopped by another Tindalos jumping out of another corner, grabbing Steven by the neck and running straight into a nearby wall!

"STEVEN!" Connie gasped, just for a Tindalos to grab her too, shake her up, and throw her right at a nearby streetlight. These hounds weren't going to let up so easily, but before the one could grab her again, Jasper sprung to life and whacked the hound into the second one, sending them to the wall.
With the fight roaring off not too far away, Fulgurite and Sapphire found an area just off. Sapphire was completely still now, and they couldn't help at all if Sapphire was simply stuck like this.

"Sapphire, come on girl snap out of it," Fulgurite said urgently, trying to bring Sapphire back around. Sapphire was still frozen, but Fulgurite finally got back when she gave her a whip to the head.

"I ... I ... T-The Tindalos ..."

"I know, look, there they are! Sapphire, it's not you're fault."

"But ... I created them," Sapphire said, referring to her campfire story.

"Ok, maybe you did, maybe you didn't, surely you thought of something to, oh I dunno, get rid of them?"

"I-I didn't say how to get rid of them entirely!"

"Well go on then, think of something!" Fulgurite insisted. But they didn't had much time to even consider anything before a Tindalos had found them, snarling and rushing in towards them. Fulgurite quickly got Sapphire and made a mad dash away, the Tindalos's teeth narrowly missing them. They can't think on the fly like this.

…….

The whole town of Beach City was under siege by this point. The hounds were going around practically everywhere, with the corners of the buildings giving the hounds easy access to everywhere, constantly cutting off paths for the evacuating humans and tearing everything apart down to the roots. Nanefua's plans for safety areas were completely useless against these things as they kept cutting them off, and constantly keeping em in town. The Crystal Gems were surely trying their best with these hounds, but the hounds were more interested in the humans than some talking rocks.
The humans fought, sure, but these fast-runners were much larger and stronger than any simple wolf. In the crowd trying to get away, a Tindalos grabbed hold of the weaker adults, starting with Vidalia. Vidalia slammed her fist into the snout of the animal with little success as it sank its teeth into her arm. Yellowtail rushed for his wife, but a second Tindalos jumped him, and both Tindalos actually threw Vidalia and Yellowtail at each other, knocking them out so they could be easier to handle.

"Get off them!" shouted Sour Cream, blindly running towards his parents. The Tindalos gave Sour Cream what he wanted and threw the weakened Vidalia right at him, Sour Cream strong enough to catch her without falling over. Both hounds didn't release the larger Yellowtail, and the first one took off into town with him. Onion, enraged, charged off after the creature. No way was he going to watch his dad getting eaten, not by these things. However, the largest Tindalos, the pack leader presumably, stepped up to bat and stopped little Onion in his tracks, almost killing him on the spot with a downward bow, jaws wide open. Onion had never felt so angry at anything in his life, and his gaze said it all. But while any normal creature would turn tail by such a demonic gaze, the leader aimed his fangs at Onion, Onion meanwhile only being saved by Buck, who pulled him out of the way.

"Leave the onion child alone," Buck demanded. The only response the Tindalos gave was a roar to the face.

"Yellowtail!" Vidalia yelled, but the Tindalos had already made their shortcut and slipped through a crack in a building. Sadie rushed in and grabbed hold of the Tindalos by the tail, pulling back hard, but she was just as easily pulled through when the Tindalos yanked her through, much to the horror of everyone watching.

"No you don't!" Lars grabbed Sadie by her legs, and pulled back hard, just for the Tindalos to give them both a back kick, sending them flying back. To the eyes of everyone there, Yellowtail was gone, but with other Tindalos closing in, there was no time to comprehend anything. Except for Onion, who charged in rage off into town.

"Don't just stand there, get out of here," Lars yelled.

"What about you?!" called Jamie.

"We'll be fine, just go!" Lars yelled. The group were forced to go when a Tindalos lunged down from the rooftop, splitting up the party of humans, most of the adults forced out of town. They had no choice, and were forced to run as those that remained rushed on back into Beach City. It was supposed to get after Onion, but they were soon running for their lives instead when the Tindalos targeted them. No Tindalos was going to take any prisoners.

Lars and Sadie both got themselves back into the midst of the attack, and the Gems were still holding strong against these horrifying beasts of burden. They saw hounds fly in the air from throws and hits, but brushing them off like it was nothing, and Gems getting knocked around from being slammed by the hounds teeth and claws. Onion frantically tried to look around for his dad amongst this fight, but he didn't see him anywhere. The same Tindalos was eventually spotted, hidden off in an alleyway with Yellowtail locked in her jaws. Yellowtail shouted for some help, in deep pain, and Onion was more than willing to answer it. But the Tindalos saw him first.
Onion wasn't going to be denied, not with his father on the ground like that. Onion rushed right towards him, fast as he could, but the father was already getting his neck bitten into. And that's when Onion went berserk: he jumped directly on the Tindalos and bit down on its face, teeth on the eye! That was just enough to make the Tindalos screech and rear back, Sadie and Lars pulling Yellowtail out of the way before Onion got thrown off. It just had a meal, and now they won't let it get near him. But it found another target and rushed for it instead. He had his shield up in defense just in time, him seeing the others for one moment, just for a second Tindalos to jump from behind and grab him by the head.

"STEVEN!" almost blindly, Lars and Sadie rushed in right towards the Tindalos, and this time none of the hounds had time to stop them, Lars making the first hit right in the wolf's eye. It was strong enough to make it let go, and Sadie grabbed the injured Steven to quickly drag him away to a safer distance, bringing him into a building before any Tindalos could get them. Yellowtail was put inside the same place too.

"What're you guys doing here?" Steven asked. Steven was lucky that the only thing that did cut in that bite was his cheek - he could've lost his right eye otherwise.

"Trying to get you! Well, and Onion," Lars said, Onion standing not too far away. His rage was still high up, but after seeing the carnage, even he had to get himself together to keep Steven out of danger. A short bit later, and in entered Amethyst, Peridot, and Connie after throwing another Tindalos passed the front window of the shop. Connie made sure to lock up the door tight so they could get a breather, Connie herself looking kinda beat up with cuts and scratches all over her.

"Sadie?! Lars?! Onion?! Hold up, you can't be here!" Amethyst asked.

"We tried to get away, but we were cut off," said Sadie, still trying to catch her breath from the run here. Steven could see just how much damage those hounds did to her, and despite his own injuries, went over to help her out.

"You ok, Connie?" Steven asked urgently, getting his healing spit ready to help her out. She may be part Gem now, but she was still human like him, and as such she still needed healing.

"Just a few bites," Connie sighed, tired, as Steven got his healing spit to work, starting with a cut in her leg. The healing quickly began, and a few shines showed on Connie's body, the cuts fading away like they never were there at all.

"What's with these things? Not even the dogs from the pound were this hot-headed," Lars said, taking a breather as the battle continued outside. They all even felt the building shake as Jasper was swung at another building not far away.

"How should we know, they just popped up out of nowhere!" Peridot said.

"But don't you deal with Gems like this?" Sadie asked.

"Ready for this? These aren't Gems!"

And suddenly a CRASH right next to them, as a weakened light pole fell down in front of the building, making the glass crack. This wasn't something they were familiar with, nor something they would know about to begin with. It was this noise then did another Tindalos saw them inside, and rushed forward, only to be stopped by the glass itself. Thank the stars that this one ended up distracted afterwards after seeing Lapis swoop in and whack it with a water bomb, soaking it. They took a look outside, seeing the others of the team, except for one.

"Wait a minute. Garnet, where is she?" Lars asked.

"I don't know what happened, she suddenly came undone and split apart! She looked panicked," Steven said, as he healed up Connie completely. THAT was especially shocking to hear.

"Wait, wait, wait … GARNET? The fusion."

"HEY, she can panic, she's a living being like you guys! … kind of," Amethyst said. With all of this danger and chaos going on all over the place, it was then, when the sound died down slightly, that they soon heard the most unlikely noise.

*meow* … *meow*

Meow? A meow? Of ALL things they could've just bumped into, they would end up running into this. They looked off to the back, and what do you think they found crawling out from the back corner of the register?

"B-b-b-baby kitten!" Steven squeaked. They couldn't believe it. The tiny little kitten walked out from her hiding place, a bit timid of the fight outside, but not too timid to avoid these humans coming in. She looked fairly young, small body with white fur and cobbled spots of dark grey and orange - typical pattern for a calico cat. And despite being so young, this little cat had only one eye, the right eye cut in a single slit. A Tindalos could've got to her already, but as the cut didn't look recent, perhaps not.

"And we almost left you behind," said Connie, the kitten at first happy to see them. However, as a shadow started to loom over the shop, the kitten quickly backed up. A Tindalos had found them, and he was the leading member of the pack. The largest one. And he was not letting any of them get away, snarling. The group slowly started to back up, but the Tindalos moved off out of sight from the window. Rather than just change in to alert the other Gems outside, the pack leader slipped in through the corner of the building, right by the door, slowly stalking as he filled in. Soon, the beast was in between them. And their way out. Onion, completely enraged and protecting his dad, charged forward, but all the Tindalos had to do was swat him away like a fly, him crashing into the wall much to their horror.

"Prey animals can be so desperate."

"You can talk?" Amethyst asked.

"Course I can. I just don't talk with my food," the Tindalos snarled, moving ever closer as he barred his teeth.

"Food?! Y-You can't eat us, it's not fair!" shouted Steven.

"Law of the wild, cub. It's the law I live by. And it's never fair." The pack leader had them all at the wall, and the only thing that was holding the Tindalos back was which one he should eat first. Connie held the kitten close, which to their surprise was actually hissing at the giant dog. A canine the size of a Clydesdale, and this kitten was attempting to threaten it. The Tindalos though snarled good and loud, his jaws big enough to swallow the kitten whole if he wanted to. But why waste time eating a kitten when there was plenty more meat right in front of him? Still, with death standing inches away from them, they were scrambling to think of a way to get themselves out of this mess. Steven then felt his hand touch another, and turning, he saw it was Amethyst's hand … and that's when it clicked for both of them.
The Tindalos was ready to jump in, but however, everyone was suddenly caught off guard by a sudden flash. Since the Tindalos was teleported there already, he quickly jumped back in case of a beam shot at him, but instead it was the signature sign of a signature fusion, finally coming around to play after WAY TOO LONG.

"Smoky's back, baby."

The Tindalos roared at the sudden, larger animal, but Smoky Quartz grabbed the wolf, with her double-arm locked into its mouth like a rod, not allowing the wolf to close his mouth. With a smug grin on her face, she lurched forward, knocking the Tindalos off his paws, before she got enough room to summon her Yo-Yo. One slam of that Yo-Yo sent the pack leader flying to across the street, exploding out of the glass windows, and into another building!
Naturally, this caught the attention of everyone else, including the rest of the pack, as Smoky stepped out into the playing field.

"Aww, what's wrong, pooch? Kicked out of your own doghouse?" Smoky joked, much to the Tindalos's anger, and now pain. Despite being thrown right at a wall, the pack leader shook off the dust and howled good and loud. Smoky was the biggest target, and with a human scent on her, it was easily a week's worth of a meal.

"Duck your heads, gang," Smoky warned.

"Clobber them, Smoky!" Peridot encouraged.

And clobber was just what this fusion had in mind. Readying her Yo-Yo in the midst of snarls and barks. Everyone had to get out of the way, either ducking down or flying high, but the Tindalos didn't get the warning (as she hoped), and soon she began to spin fast like a spinning top. The pack rushed her, but the rapid spinning made her untouchable, knocking hounds off at high speed, and high in the air. The Tindalos stopped charging after eight hounds, many of them left just barking at her. The pack leader could see how much trouble this actually was being in the grand scheme of things, but they've come this far, and he wasn't leaving without something - ANYTHING. But at this point there wasn't anything to grab that would be the least amount of trouble. Even a sentient predator knows that the easiest kill is the weakest one, and if the risk outweighed the reward, well, what's the point?

And Smoky Quartz just made the bar a little too high after her attack. The lack leader growled, but no meal was worth getting his skeleton crushed.

The leader roared. That was all the pack needed to hear, and just like that, everything stopped. No more fighting, no more hunting, and the pack members turned tail and ran for it, some limping away a bit. Only one of the Tindalos was hesitant to leave, growling at the now impossible odds presented before him. No matter how hungry though, it knew it was NOT a good idea to rush in. One glance back, and it rushed away to join the others.
The whole town was left in devastation. sure, it wasn't as bad as some events prior to this, but still showed just how much could be done so fast. When everything had calmed down, Amethyst and Steven came back. …

And NOW did another, more familiar door portal opened up nearby. Finally finding somepony with a key, Twilight got Starlight and Trixie right into town. Too little too late though, but they didn't realize that yet.

"GEMS! Gems, are they here?! Please tell me you didn't -" Starlight's rambling quickly stopped when they heard another pole slowly fall to the ground, cutting her short.

"A little late. The pack of Tindalos just left," Jasper said. And the evidence showed up everywhere with all the debris and what not. However, while this was a bit of trouble, nobody appeared to be hurt too much, and as for Trixie … well …

"The wolves. The giant wolves? They were here!" Trixie asked.

"Wait, you met them too?" Steven gasped. Trixie though got a little too caught up in the moment, suddenly all giddy much to their confusion. And then …

"HA! Teleportation between worlds! The Great and Powerful Trixie's beyond the best! And you doubted me," Trixie said smugly, nudging Starlight.

Three. Two. One.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU BROUGHT THOSE MONSTERS INTO TOWN?!" Jasper had her anger spikes before, but this was a bit high, and Trixie's ego was shot down extremely fast.

"Uh … It was an accident?" Trixie said. Jasper was ready to clobber her for putting the town in danger, but she let out only a rough sigh, holding herself back. Onion had no such problem, finding a pan and whacking her in the head with it. He got a good three hits until Fulgurite grabbed it from him … just to hit her one more time.

"Alright, I get it!" Trixie shouted, using her magic to throw the pan away.

"Everyone okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. Most of the people got out of town," Connie said. Seeing Lars, Sadie, Onion, and Yellowtail nearby, they were very lucky they didn't get into too much of a fight themselves.

"More or less in one piece," added in Amethyst, stretching a bit.

"Thank Celestia for that. Sorry, Starlight just told me what happened," Twilight said.

"Don't worry about it. The important thing is that we're all here," Lapis said.

"... What about Garnet? Where is she?"
Peridot's question wasn't met with an answer. Where was Garnet? With the fight over, Ruby and Sapphire would've met together by now, and even then she would at least come out to check on everything, but she nor her counterparts weren't anywhere here. Considering their fight with the Tindalos, that was not a good thing to note. They needed to figure out where she went off to.

"Steven, you and your friends try to find her. She can't have gone off too far. We'll get the other townsfolk back," Jasper instructed. Steven would go and do that anyway, so the humans went off to do just that. Twilight joined in as well, but Jasper had another little something for Trixie.

"And as for you … get to it."

"Get to what?"

"cleaning up this place," Jasper firmly stated. Trixie froze up, seeing the area she apparently had to get.

"Why do I have to do it?" Trixie asked.

"Because you teleported the Tindalos here, because you're obnoxious and annoying, and because I'll pummel you if you don't!"

"... And I'll get started," Trixie said meekly. It'd been a while since Jasper had been this upset, but she wasn't gonna tolerate this kind of "accident", no matter what the case may be. Hopefully this wouldn't take as long as the last time. So, the Gems left one way, the Humans and Twilight the other, and Starlight and Trixie left behind to clean up the mess.

Oh boy.

~~~~~~

Pretty soon, it was off to the forests nearby town, closer to the Watertower as they searched for Garnet. Steven, Connie, Peridot, Twilight, Sadie, and Lars all were off and trying to find the fusion in question. They may be tired from the fight, but things could've been a lot worse, and they were hoping the worst of it didn't happen to either Ruby or Sapphire. Twilight, being the only one in the group that could fly, served as the eyes up in the air for any sign of her, as the rest took their look along the ground. She did land eventually to join them on the ground, but didn't have much luck.

"Must've took a lot to make that fusion freak out. She's always so calm," Sadie said, as she tried to find her passed some bushes.

"I know. Hope she's okay," Connie agreed.

"Garnet! They all left, you can come home!" called Steven. But nothing showed. Wherever Garnet was, she was either completely gone, or just wasn't up to talking. Both options were too odd for her, even with all she did lately.

*meow*

"Again?" Connie said. And sure enough, with a rustling from the bushes, a familiar little kitten came on out. She must've slipped away when Smoky Quartz came out, and she stopped briefly to see them, one blue eye open and looking to them.

"You okay, little guy?" Steven asked. The kitten went right up to them, meowing all the while, and almost as if it was going back and forth between them and the bush, as if confused.

"Oh, you poor thing. Maybe Fluttershy can help you," Twilight said, ready to pick up the poor kitten. However, the cat then began to go off, running off into the bushes again where it came from. And it was then that they started to hear more meowing from more kittens. Was there more cats nearby?
Steven and Connie looked into the same bush the kitten came from, and there they were. The one eyed kitten wasn't the only one: four other kittens were with her. A orange striped one, a black tabby, a sleeping white kitty, and a speckled tomcat. Five kittens all alone, nothing but an empty tin can. It was both cute, yet sad, to find them all here.

"Oh, Steven, there's more of them," Connie said, saddened by the sight of the meowing kitten, the black tabby trying to find any scraps inside the can, only to find nothing.

"And there's no food," said Steven.

"Guys, we're looking for Garnet, remember?" Peridot reminded.

"I know, but we can't leave these kittens. Look at them," Steven said. Peridot, Sadie, and Lars looked themselves and had a similar reaction to seeing the kittens. Well, Sadie and Peridot did, Lars tried to be a bigger man for this situation.

"Here, how's this: we'll help the kittens, after we find Garnet. Deal?"

"Deal," Connie replied. The kittens weren't going to go anywhere anytime soon. Well, that's what they thought, but as if the one-eyed kitten knew who this Garnet was, she jumped up again, and began to move away, this time in a different direction. She stopped and meowed a little bit, making sure the others saw her, before she began to move off again. The group followed her through a patch of foliage, and -

"Garnet!" gasped Steven.

Garnet, back together, was sitting quietly nearby the Watertower, the one-eyed kitten seemingly trying to either get them to her, or Garnet to them. Either way, the fusion did end up noticing them after a little bit, turning to them.

"Hello everyone … sorry for worrying you like that," Garnet said, as the kitten moved on back and letting them see her.

"No, no, it's okay, at least you're alright. We thought the Tindalos might've got you," Sadie said. Garnet felt a shiver run through her, but before they could ask what, the one-eyed kitten actually had Steven's pant leg in her mouth, the kitty tugging onto it to bring them back to the other cats. This wasn't just simple playing, she wanted their help.
Pretty soon, they were back by the same bush again, Garnet sitting back, as they started to check in on the cats.

"Who knows what would've happened to them if we didn't find them," said Steven, as he began handing the cats over to the others. "Everything's gonna be fine, we gotcha. … Here's the last one - no, wait." Steven then reached down for the last kitten, the one-eyed one in particular. Sadie, Lars, Twilight, and Garnet each had one cat at this point. Steven took a moment to think, and considering he had at least some idea on why Garnet was acting the way she did, he spoke first.

"Ok, I think we gotta stop being random, and figure out what we can do for these kittens. Garnet, can you use your future vision? what should we do next? … Garnet?"

Garnet was dead silent, her gaze shifting to each cat.

"... S-So many … cats … so many possibilities."

"I-It's too much. Ok, can you focus on one? What's this one's future?" Twilight asked, levitating the one-eyed cat up front so Garnet could focus. Garnet had reached her breaking point.

"I ... I ... I DON'T KNOW! I don't know anything anymore!"

Now it was out. Garnet couldn't keep it to herself any further, not anymore. The group around her were left a bit stunned by this answer. Sure Garnet had been thrown for a loop before, but she never admitted this. She truly didn't know.

"Garnet?" Twilight asked. Garnet was quiet as she sat there. As if her voice had finally gave the greenlight, the rain only then started to come down.

"... Listen. Lately I felt … lost."

"Lost? Beach City's just down the hill," said Lars.

"No, not that. So much has happened. White Diamond taking the Crystal Temple. Pearl going missing on the Space Station. And now with these Tindalos. The future that was created grown so improbable, I didn't see any of it coming at all. And now I don't have any idea where this timeline's going." Garnet paused for a bit as the rain continued to come down around them. She then brought her fingers down into the dirt, starting to make out a path as if it were a tiny stream.

"Timelines always flowed in rivers, streams, all going in some sort of direction I can work with. They can take a sharp turn, sure, but if I wanted to go in one direction, I simply steered the ship down a bend in the path and it would flow in that way, with no trouble at all." Garnet explained this, her fingers making another path in the ground off from the main timeline. However, the rain made that stream overflow, branching off sporadically. "... But now we're trapped in a ripple of time, going off and flowing to who knows where. ..."
This was a bit of a odd analogy to put it in, but presentation made them all understand as Garnet looked off to Beach City and the Crystal Temple.

"This is nothing new for you, though. You couldn't have predicted ALL of those adventures we've gone through, could you? Those fusions, the mystical creatures -"

"Stop." Garnet suddenly said, hand raised up. Peridot did so, but it still didn't really make Garnet feel much better. "The future we've gone through already may have been more erratic. But it still had a sense of direction. The improbability of any Alicorn, Pegasus, Unicorn, even Earth Pony, to step out of their world and into our own was probably the most improbable event that could've happened. But even then, there was still a flow in which our timeline would follow." Garnet looked over to Peridot.

"And you. I saw so many probable futures aiming to Sapphire losing her life after her capture by White Diamond. I knew Ruby would be devastated afterwards. So while I couldn't save Sapphire from White Diamond, I thought I could at least make sure that Ruby had someone else to look to. …"
Peridot stayed quiet especially on this: her training with Ruby, her and Ruby left together at Homeworld, Sapphire isolating herself with her with Ruby. … Peridot, while flustered, got back to the situation.

"Ok, you saw those, you still can see where we're going now. … Right?" Peridot asked. Garnet looked off to the clouds above her.

"I thought it did. But none of my future visions prepared me for what happened with White Diamond. The second time, not the first time, I saw that. … It's so hard for me to exist in the first place. I want to love being alive, I want to love that there're so many possibilities … but I'm the one with this ability, so all of you look to me for answers. I have to be the guide. … I thought that if I could work this timeline into improbable futures, I could be better prepared for the next big change. I could better help everyone, better help you …" Amongst the raindrops, they actually began to note some tears coming down her face.

"But I don't know what I'm doing, I can't stand it! I can't tell what's probable anymore! Anything could happen! Anything could happen to these cats!" Garnet cried, showing the cats in her arms, them all meowing in response. Garnet was broken. None of them could guess on what they were seeing would be true: such a level-headed, calm and caring leader broken down and almost paranoid. Garnet wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for anything. One of the tiny kittens started to move over towards Connie, meowing a little bit. She went down and picked up the little guy. They all took a look to eachother as Garnet simply sat there, and Twilight stepped forward.

"Just because you can't prepare for some of these things, it doesn't mean it makes you a bad person. We can't be perfect all the time," Twilight said.

"It isn't about being perfect. How am supposed to -" Garnet stopped when Peridot got her hand over her mouth.

"How's this: instead of worrying over what could happen, why don't we just pick one thing we want to happen and … do that?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, just like how you did when we built that Galactic Ray," added Steven, "You saw that one vision and worked so hard to make it happen, I don't think I've ever seen you so determined before. So what is it you wanna happen now?" Steven added in. Garnet paused for a minute, and the only sounds they heard aside from the tapping rain, is the meowing of the kittens.

"... I want … to get these cats out of the rain."

Next thing she knew, she looked up, and saw a small forcefield being made around them, enough to make the rain stop coming down on them, thanks to Twilight Sparkle. The kittens were out of the rain. What Twilight asked next simply left Garnet smiling.

"And then what?"

…….

Meanwhile, Starlight glimmer and Trixie were still trying to clean up the bit of mess. It was a bit of a long time, a bit harder thanks to the rain, but it was still something that had to be done by someone. Trixie wasn't enjoying it at all, but at least she had someone else helping her out as the time was going along. Starlight levitated a street light back in place as Trixie swept up some broken glass.

"Worst. Day. Ever," Trixie groaned, trying not to get too wet in the rain. She didn't have a method to make a shield to get the rain off like Starlight did nearby.

"Don't beat yourself up too much, Trixie, these things happen. And we got to pay for it one way or another," Starlight said.

"Easy for you to say: you enslave an entire town and you got to become Twilight's student because of it," Trixie said, unimpressed, as she knocked her hoof on some debris, cringing from the pain.

"And deal with a VERY, VEEERY long discussion with the princesses afterwards. And deal with the guilt," Starlight said. How could she forget the troubled talk with Celestia and Luna after she got back around. she could go over it from heart by now.

"Yeah. real horrible," Trixie groaned. That sounded like a cakewalk compared to this. Starlight trotted off a little bit to handle some more debris, putting them in one of the town's garbage cans (whichever wasn't wrecked, that is). The humans were gonna come back around soon, so they had to get most of this handled. During this, Starlight went down found an empty can off in between one of the buildings, and trotted down to get it. She could use it to get this handled.

"Hi there."

Starlight's ear flicked, both up and at attention on the noise. A bit of a casual voice for what had just happened to the town. The Unicorn turned around and found that another Tindalos was suddenly behind her! This one looked a bit different though from the other Tindalos they've seen. He looked a bit smaller, the size of a regular Pony, no splits on his jaws, and he didn't look as intimidating as the other Tindalos before him. Starlight turned to face the Tindalos as the hound started to walk forward. Starlight began to glow her horn.

"Don't come any closer," Starlight warned. And surprisingly, the Tindalos stopped moving.

"Is this close enough?" the Tindalos asked. So the voice was from the hound then.

"Eh ... yeah, just stay there," Starlight simply said. So the Tindalos did. Strange, but Starlight wasn't gonna drop her guard just yet, especially after the fight she had just been involved with.

"What's your name?" he then asked.

"Um ... Starlight. Starlight Glimmer."

"I can see why," the Tindalos said, looking over the Unicorn from where he was. Starlight slowly started to calm down a little bit.

"What's yours?" Starlight asked.

"My friends call me Sniper," the Tindalos answered. Pretty casual of him to answer like that. Sniper took a step forward, but Starlight backed up a few more steps.

"Now, don't blame me. I didn't choose my parents. Neither did you," Sniper stated. Starlight began to relax a little more, the Unicorn looking to the adolescent Tindalos, the hound looking a bit more humble.

"So you're a Tindalos, too?" Starlight asked. Sniper moved closer to her, but Starlight didn't really force him away this time.

"Feel like one. By the by, had you happen to see a Tindalos pack go by here? Sure looked like they did to me," Sniper asked, looking at what damage they've left to everything in Beach City. Both pony and dog flinched when they both heard a nearby sign fall to the ground, the sign having a few notable bite-marks, and even a tooth in it left behind.

"They've ... been and gone. Don't know where they went," Starlight admitted, though she wasn't sure if telling Sniper about what was going on was the best idea, not in the town's shape.

"Were they ... your family?" Starlight asked. Sniper nodded.

"More or less. And looks like my hunting wasn't good enough."

"What do you mean?"

"We're starving!" Sniper stated, "My homeland is very low on food lately, barely a scrap anywhere. I've already spent days trying to find some sort of prey, and when I finally come back with something ... well, I don't know what happened. Some light suddenly opened up and everything was crazy trying to get to it. I don't know why." Starlight had to really ponder about this one, though she really wasn't sure how, or what, even happened. Equestria and Earth was one thing, but what world did the Tindalos come from? They weren't from Earth clearly, and Equus didn't see such creatures before either.

"Where did you come from?" Starlight asked. Admittedly the question went out faster than she could process it in her head. Sniper turned back to Starlight.

"My pack just calls it our homeland. Now that I've took a jump here, I can see why they'd be so driven. So much game to hunt here," Sniper noted.

"Game? Your pack was everywhere; they've attacked Beach City, they've nearly slaughtered my friends!" Starlight stated.

"Sorry about that. My dad can be very headstrong when his blood's revved up."

"D-DAD?!" Starlight gasped. Scary enough seeing a Tindalos again, even more so seeing the son of the pack leader. Sniper nodded.

"Yeah. He's been in charge of my pack in particular for a good while," Sniper said casually, as if it wasn't some big news, or anything new.

"Oh. … Well, if it makes you feel any better, they didn't uh … end any of them."

"You mean kill. Good, I guess," Sniper said, starting to trot on out into the street, sniffing the ground for some scent. It wasn't easy though with the rain coming down. Starlight felt a shiver run through her, though was a bit intrigued that the Tindalos was so casual about it.

"You know, they could've ended him."

"In some ways ... it would've been better if you did."

"Whoa, whoa. You're his son, and you can say that?!" Starlight gasped.

"Yeah. He's a bit hard-headed, but he's still my father. And well ... I think it would've been better. For him. You know what I mean?" Sniper explained. Starlight wasn't sure what kind of creature she was talking to. Nopony had to handle life the same way this hound had if he could talk like this so casually. As if it was nothing more than an everyday thing.

"I don't know. ... Listen, I'm sorry about driving the pack off, but they would've taken out everyone else otherwise. The Gems weren't going to stand for that."

"Ah. The Harmony Gems. I've heard about that: you all swear to protect one another," Sniper stated. Well, not exactly the right namesake for it, but he got the main idea down right, so Starlight nodded as correct.

"Well, surely that's just your entitlement."

"They've been protecting Earth for thousands of years, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't stop for your sake."

"Point taken. Well in that case, there's no point in staying any longer. You know where my pack even "been and gone" to?" Sniper asked once more.

"I ... don't ... know?" Starlight shrugged. They disappeared as crazily and mysteriously as they came, so who knows where they were now? Sniper sighed, and aimed his snout to the air, sniffing a little bit.

"Well, you can't get anything standing around. Have a good day." and with that, Sniper began running towards a corner, and disappeared from within it, leaving the Unicorn alone again. Some food for thought.

~~~~~~

"Oh, thank you so much. … Tomorrow? … Wonderful."

Now back in town, the group had gotten themselves out of the rain as Garnet wanted, and gotten themselves over to a safer place for these kittens to stay at for the time being. Kept inside a cardboard box, they got them over in Vidalia's garage, the women happy to let them stay in the place. With everything calmed down at this point, the residents were starting to head back home, Vidalia already back with her family altogether, and Twilight got fluttershy to come over to help out the kittens for a bit. Peridot, Sadie, and Steven were keeping an eye on the kittens themselves as Connie was making the phone call, one cat sitting on a counter next to her.

"Good news everyone. The shelter has a foster program: they can pick up the kittens tomorrow," Connie announced.

"Thank goodness," sighed Fluttershy.

"Glad to hear it!" Vidalia added.

"Look at you all. Anyone need to use the bathroom? Make a phone call?" Steven offered, a gentle hand reaching into the box, which one kitten started to lick. It sure was a nice thing to see, Fluttershy gently stroking a little kitten in the head. There was nothing as innocent as a cute kitten, even if one had one eye. The one-eyed cat began to get a little nervous when Peridot reached in.

"Why's this one so skittish still? We just brought her here, she shouldn't be scared," Peridot wondered. Connie sat down next to her.

"Peridot, you keep reaching for her blind side. Here, watch me," Connie said, gently reaching out her hand so the kitten could see her. The one-eyed kitty cat took a minute to sniff the hand, before she actually started to warm up, rubbing her head in Connie's hand. Connie gently rubbed the kitten's head with her finger, the cat purring all the while. Peridot slowly brought her hand out next, this time so the kitten could see. This time, the kitten meowed and licked Peridot's hand. Peridot's eyes twinkled at the accomplishment.

"You're all going to be just fine," Connie said.

…

"I think I get it."

The whole group turned over to Garnet.

"Get what?" Sadie asked.

"Why my Future Vision's been so off. I have to change the way I think about you. You and all the other humans that live here."
It was a intriguing statement for Garnet to say, as a little kitten pawed its way out of the box, over by Garnet, who in turn rested the little creature in her lap.

"How so? I thought you liked humans," stated Peridot.

"I do. However, I always saw humans worried about what we deal with: the corrupted Gems, and recently the mystical creatures. I look into the futures that show humans scared and vulnerable against these situations, and for us as the Crystal Gems to come in and handle the situation for them."
Well this sure sounded a bit prejudice of her, but Garnet was quick to continue before they could put a word in, with a smile on her face as she gently stroked the cat in her lap.
"But that's not true at all. … When we all were captured by White Diamond again, I thought for sure that it was the end for all of us. But then you came in and changed all that: Connie. Sadie. Laramie. Jamie. Even Onion and his friends. You all came together and used your own natural abilities, and force of will to save all of us. … And that's not the only factor I've neglected."

Garnet then turned to Steven.

"Steven. I've been looking into probable futures where you act like a child. I keep expecting you to run from responsibility and to turn to me for help, but you don't do that anymore. The futures that lack those factors aren't probable at all. There's nothing wrong with this timeline, or my Future Vision. I just have to factor in that humans brings are as adaptable a race as any. And Steven … I also have to factor in, that you've grown up." and she ended her statement with lending the small kitten back to Steven.

"I guess I have," Steven said with a humbled chuckle. In a way, they've all grown up in some way. "But that's because I'm trying to be more like you. You always know what to do."

"Not always." … she said as she lifted her hand to catch one of the kittens, who which jumped off the nearby counter. "Ok. Most of the time."
Garnet placed the one kitten back into the box, but then her eyes went back to the one-eyed kitten again, looking up to her. Garnet smiled, and decided on one choice.

"I wanna adopt this one. There's something about her."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Fluttershy said.

"That a probable future?" Lars asked smugly.

"It is now. Besides, I miss having someone cute and vulnerable to take care of. I think I'll call her "Steven"."

"Aww … but isn't that gonna get confusing?" Steven asked.

"Alright. Nora then," Garnet decided.

Good enough for their books, as Nora purred contently with Garnet gently petting her. Welcome to the team.

"What, you're adopting one?" Vidalia asked with a smile. "Too bad I couldn't get her in your portrait. Which I've finished, by the way."

"Really? what about our "essence"?" Steven asked.

"Well, I fudged it. But I think I got it."

And the two were more than happy to keep it. That, and their newest member to the team.

…….

"It's as I was told. … This is getting problematic. Time Jumper. Quetzalcoatl. Mushussu. The Lost One. And now this. But they're still not all here yet. … There's no choice. I must speak to them all personally."

Team B

View Online

It had been a very long day, and now with nighttime finally coming around to Beach City, it's a time to finally sleep. Amethyst was more than willing to get her sleep on, as she went on back to the Temple through her Portal Key. Even with weeks since coming back to Earth, Amethyst still found it a little bit weird on seeing the entire Beach House no longer present anywhere. A mix of nostalgia to her early days of the Temple, but some dismay for Steven no longer being so close to her home. With her encounter with Tindalos, Amethyst was worn out. Amethyst only stopped to look up at the full moon above her head.

"G'night, Steven," Amethyst simply said. She could just hear him say the same thing in her head, as she went off to her room. Steven may not be too far away from her, but still farther than she was used to.
Amethyst went on to the back, and opened up the Temple door to what room she had left. It honestly wasn't much from before, but that didn't mean Amethyst didn't try to build it back to its former glory. That was years on years of collection Amethyst had managed to do, and now it didn't look touched at all. Sure, Amethyst had gotten a few things, but the largest thing in there now from her collection was nothing but a old couch. That was small compared to the dinosaur bones she used to have.

"Nothing to do now, but sleep," Amethyst yawned, throwing herself out onto the couch. It wasn't the most comfortable compared to the couches they used to have, but it'll have to work. Amethyst sighed, and began to drift off to sleep …

*BANG**BANG**BANG*

"AMETHYST! AMETHYST!"

So much for that.

"Oh, what now?" Amethyst groaned, bemused as ever. She got up off the couch with a very tired expression, and moved up to the door where the yelling and banging was coming from. Her magic opened the door, and there stood a more excited (and comparatively, more awake) Ronaldo Fryman. Odd with him coming to the Temple, but Amethyst was too tired to question it.

"You do know it's the middle of the night," Amethyst groaned.

"Amethyst, you have to come to the Lighthouse! I found something weird," Ronaldo stated, whispering on the final word.

"So what? You've found something weird everyday since you got that telescope," Amethyst questioned, rubbing her eye.

"I know, I'm amazing. But you won't believe my latest discovery. There's something at the moon!" Ronaldo stated, pointing to the full moon. Amethyst though could care less about it. She walked back and went to shut the door.

"HEY! Don't you wanna see?!" Ronaldo called.

"The moon's not going anywhere, man, go bother someone else," Amethyst replied, leaning on the door.

"There's no one else to bother, and I'm told you don't need any sleep so you can't possibly be tired at this hour!" Ronaldo insisted.

"Oh, you'd be surprised."

"But this is HUGE!"

"Can't you call Nanefua?"

"Not a fourth time!"

… fourth time? Really? They must really regret giving him that thing. Amethyst just groaned and opened the door again.

"If I say yes, then can you quit bugging me?"

"You have my word as an investigator!" Ronaldo said, hand to heart and the other raised in a solemn promise. Some reason Amethyst doubted that.

Next thing Amethyst knew, she was out of the Crystal Temple, and up at the Lighthouse. Ronaldo had his telescope aimed right on the moon to be sure Amethyst didn't miss anything from what Ronaldo had seen. Amethyst still wasn't at all too thrilled by any of this, but Ronaldo was excited to show someone something about this. The zoom lens on the telescope was actually very good, and gave Amethyst a surface perspective as if someone were flying a plane over the moon. All Amethyst saw though was the Moon Base.

"That's the Moon Base, it's always been there," Amethyst said tiredly, rubbing her eye again. This sure got Ronaldo freaked though.

"YOU HAVE A MOON BASE?! I have so many questions!"

"Of course you do," Amethyst groaned, rolling her eyes.

"One: Why didn't you tell me you had a moon base? Two: Take me to your moon base. Three: why does it look like an arm?"

"I didn't have to, NO, and it doesn't look like an - ..." Amethyst wasn't sleepy anymore, and she quickly took another look at the telescope. A Gem's experience told her that could only mean one thing, but she just had to find it. However, looking all over the surface, she didn't find much of anything outside of the Moon Base.

"I don't see one," Amethyst said, no longer as enthused, and walking away. Ronaldo quickly gave it a lookover himself, trying to re-find this arm he saw on the moon. Amethyst leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and it didn't take very long until Ronaldo found it again.

"There! There! I see it!"

"Yeah, yeah, the human who cried wolf. Let me know if there's any flying pigs too while you're at it," Amethyst groaned, starting to walk away.

"I'll tell you that, of course! But come and have a look at this. It's all … white."

WHITE?!

"What?! Let me see!" Amethyst insisted, moving Ronaldo aside to see it herself. The view wasn't on the moon anymore, or at least not on the surface anymore. Indeed, there appeared to be a spaceship flying through space, a Gem Warship to be exact. And just as the moon was, the Warship was as white as the winter frost, and possibly just as foreboding. Amethyst wasn't even close to falling asleep anymore. Seeing that kind of ship only meant one thing. And the color meant it was under only one Diamond.

"Oh no," she stated gravely.

…….

As the large white arm began to move closer towards Earth, all of the Crystal Gems were quick to get up once they got word of the threat. It was kinda hard for the giant arm in the sky to not be noticed by said Gems, but then again, it was surprisingly quiet as it approached towards the place. It was FAR too big to make any proper landing (like it had any landing gear anyway), so it simply had to keep itself properly floating.

"So, White's finally coming back," Jasper said.

"Arm the cannons," Garnet instructed through a walkie-talkie. This was a bit nostalgic for some, but the cannons weren't the same as they were before, and this time armed up with modifications courtesy of Peridot and Fulgurite. The four cannons lined up, aimed directly at the white arm ship. With the signature saying of prokchops and hotdogs spoken to the machines by Garnet, all four cannons began to spring to life. Several shots were launched directly at the arm ship. The shots went a lot faster than before, like a gun shot, but they all bounced off the reflective surface of the arm.

"Garnet, that's not gonna work, we need something bigger," Lapis insisted.

"We do. Fulgurite, Combine," Garnet instructed.

"Got it, G," Fulgurite answered, her hair stretching out and connected to all four cannons. She said the same saying again, and this time the shots were electrified by her to bring a combined beam. The town oughta be woken up by THAT sound, if not from the rapid fire. The warship was struck good and hard, actually stunning its movements. Electrical sparks shot off from the underbelly of the object, but then it started to become more active again, the hand aiming directly to them. They thought it was going to slam on them, or aim a laser beam or something, but the ship instead "flicked" what looked like an escape pod, about the size of a bus. It moved very quick, and landed off just by the shoreline, into the water. As if the ship was on autopilot after that, and flew off inland. All of the Gems turned to the escape pod, armed up and ready for the second that any of the Gems would come out at them.

"You! Reveal yourself!" Garnet ordered. The hatch opened up, everyone waiting for -

"WHOA WHOA, STOP! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

Thank the stars someone actually said something before jumping out. The first person to jump out to see the group was the last person they would want to just jump at and attack, so it was good she came out of the hatch first. The moonlight helped reveal who came out of the hatch, and the moment they saw her, they began to calm down.

"Hey, Bismuth! You're back!" gasped Lapis, seeing the blacksmith Crystal Gem in her pride once everything calmed down, walking up to the beach.

"Told you they'd freak out," said another, less familiar voice, "This is what happens when you don't listen to me."

Aquamarine! She flew right out of the hatch, joined up by even more of the team: Star Quartz, Diopside, and Jade being brought out on Flint's shoulders.

"WOO! The team's back together!" Amethyst said, super psyched to see them return. Bismuth picked up Amethyst, and playfully gave her fellow Crystal Gem a fluff of the hair, Amethyst laughing.

"Welcome back," Garnet said.

"Good to be back. Hope you enjoyed your "time off"," Flint said, going out of the water as Onyx and Topaz came out as well and joined them at the beach.

"Oh yeah, we got a lot of catching up to do. So, how was your trip?" Lapis asked, eager to hear them.

"Eh, not to be a poor sport, but can we wait until morning? We just got back, and we've been through a lot in our flight," Flint suggested.

"That's just fine. Steven and the others would want to hear you out anyway," Garnet figured. It was good to hear, but there was one small detail that they were quick to catch up on, at least for those who were looking to the hatch.

"Where's Pearl?" Amethyst asked. The other group looked back to the hatch for a moment or two, and it was Diopside who went back to get her. Or, her gemstone rather. Well, it was better than finding her shards behind, though they'll have to wait still for Pearl herself to come back around.

"She's been through more than we have. It'll take some time before she'll come back around, though it's probably for the best we don't rush things," Diopside explained.

"Agreed. We'll pick this up -"

"The beach house!" gasped Jade. They all looked over to the Temple in question, Jade as shocked as she could be. Aquamarine flew over herself, unimpressed.

"This is the Crystal Temple? Hardly anything worth talking about," Aquamarine said.

"White Diamond took quite a bit from it. It's all we got," Lapis Lazuli said.

"... Fair enough."

As the rest of the team were trying to rekindle their relationship with the Crystal Temple, Team A was more curious over just how much had happened. They heard little to nothing of their adventure off back at the station. Well, they're sure they'll get their answer in the morning. And hopefully, Pearl too.

~~~~~~

The next morning can't come soon enough. Just an hour after the sun had risen, news of the team's return hit everyone else faster than Fulgurite could ever do (even if she was the one who told them all about it), and they were more than awake to check in on them all. It may have been just weeks, but it was far too long since the whole team had finally been together.
The entirety of the Crystal Gems, Team A and B, went off right to the Barn House to present themselves properly to all of the group. This gave the Gems, ponies, and humans enough room for a full presentation, as if readying themselves for a movie. Fluorite, laying comfortably on her side, was a bit of a seating arrangement for quite a bit of the group (Jade, Padparadscha, Emerald, Connie, and Fluttershy particularly). As they were involved too, Sadie, Jamie, and Lars also came by to see what they had missed, and the pets of the team were off nearby: Blue listening in attention as Lion was curled up sleeping, little Nora sleeping on top of his mane. Guess they were getting along well. The last to arrive was Steven himself, and he was more than happy to see them.

"Steven!" Diopside said, being the first to met up with him as they met for a hug with eachother.

"Diopside! You're all okay," Steven beamed, so happy to see them all back.

"Good to see you too, buddy. I was worried something happened to you without the Beach House at the temple."

"No, everything's cool. My dad's letting me live with him until the house is rebuilt. Or until we find a new place, whichever comes first," Steven explained.

"Well I hope the house is built first. I like it when you're right next door," Diopside said, fluffing his hair a bit, Steven chuckling a bit before he was set down. Steven went over to the others.

"So what's your story? How was it back at the White Diamond Space Station," asked Amethyst in anticipation.

"Was White there too?" added in the Rutile Twins.

"Not while we were there. If you ask me, I don't have a clue why White Diamond would get back onto the Space Station the way we found it," Flint said.

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.

"You're kidding. That place is crawling with corrupted Gems, experiments, and stars knows what else! It's a madhouse right now," Bismuth answered.

"Don't tell me you tried fighting those things," Rhodonite said, shivering a little bit, but Diopside shook her head.

"No, of course not. We tried keeping out of their way as best we could," Diopside stated. With this stuff explained, Pinkie started to become a bit more hyped up.

"I feel a LOOONG story coming on!"

"Oh, well, guess it's story time. Sit back, and get comfy," Bismuth said. Next thing they knew though, Steven actually had a pillow with him, courtesy of Pinkie Pie (Pinkie logic strikes again). "Not that comfy."

"Story time!" beamed Pinkie. Well, they might as well get through the full story for them all, if they truly wanted it. Bismuth had the honors of starting off this big story. The tale of the Crystal Gems, and their return to the Diamond planet.

---(Start Flashback)---

Since the big escape had occurred, the White Diamond Space Station had been awfully quiet. A shell of metal simply floating around the vastness of the cosmos with no exact sense of direction. This did make it difficult for one to keep track of where it was going, but even so, one ship did manage to retrace its steps back to the station, flying around to find a docking station to enter. With much of the Crystal Gems and Mane Six now dropped off onto Earth, the station was now the main objective for Team B. With no falters, nor any patrols this time, the spaceship found a similar docking station, and settled down easy. It didn't look as familiar though since lights weren't as evident this time around.
The doors opened up, and out stepped Team B: Flint, Jade, Star Quartz, Bismuth, Topaz, Diopside, and Onyx.

"You sure this is the right station, Onyx?" asked Diopside, as they were looking around.

"Of course," Onyx replied, "If you're looking for the Human Zoo, this is the closest you're gonna get."
It was probably good, for it hadn't even been a minute since they've arrived, and yet they were already hearing growls coming from the upper halls.

"Well, it's the best we got. K, here's what we're doing: find Pearl, find Aquamarine, find the Zoomans, and get outa here. Got it?"

"Got it," replied the others. It was a simple goal, and there was no need to get side-tracked. Flint didn't waste anytime in arming himself up with his pistols. The others basically did the same thing, and they started to head on in.

…….

From the docking station, the group started to march right on into the inner halls of the Space Station's sanctum. Many of these halls, at least in much of their latest experiences in the place, were foreboding on their own. But with the power on low throughout the entire place, it was an even more disturbing sight for many of them, keeping together and keeping a sharp eye out for any dangers that could be roaming around the place.

"I hope the others are okay. Who knows what Pearl, Aquamarine, and the other Zoomans are going through right now," Diopside said.

"Aquamarine might be alright," stated Star, considering Aquamarine had a wand that can basically halt everything. Probably not that far from the truth.

"I hope so," Topaz said.

"Everything will be alright, let's just try to find that Human Zoo first. Onyx, where do we go from here?" asked Flint. Onyx tried to look around a bit, but with the dimmer light, it was a bit harder to figure out where they exactly were. This part in particular was only illuminated by some small lines of neon light on the corners of the hallway. No, it didn't exactly help in the location all too well.

"I think … um … that way? No, uh, that way I think."

"Didn't you work here?" asked Bismuth.

"Yeah, but it's kinda hard to tell in the dark," Onyx replied.

*hisss*

"Get back," Flint quickly ordered, grabbing Onyx and pulling her back into the shadows as they all began to hear something coming their way. Everyone else quickly got to the wall, and before any of them could realize it, they soon saw a large beast suddenly show up. By appearance, it was similar to a typical corrupted Quartz, but it was still a troubling slight. They all stayed quiet as the animal took a moment to sniff around, before slowly staggering off down the other hall. They were about to go out, only to tense up and stay still as another corrupted quartz suddenly raced by to join the first one.

"Well, Onyx, the longer we stay in here, the more time given for one of those corruptions to find us. Just pick a way to go!"

"Alright, alright. That way," Onyx said, pointing off to the other hallway AWAY from the two quartzes. The group started to do so, but Diopside paused and looked down the other hall for a brief moment. The quartzes weren't in normal view, but Diopside could see them easily, and they both were on their guard as much as they were. Who knows what could be lurking in these halls? Diopside eventually went off to catch up with the others. Good timing too, as the lights were becoming very dull here. The whole group paused for a moment.

"Can any of you see?" Onyx asked.

"Looks like we're heading to a four-way crossing up ahead," Diopside said, though the group could barely even tell that as they kept moving. Diopside kept in front, and stopped right by the center of the four way.

"K, so, what do you got now?" Flint asked. Diopside actually covered her normal eye, allowing her Gem eye to fully adjust and take in what they got. With it all quiet though, the four-way section gave Diopside a bit more than anticipated, the distant sounds of various creatures echoing in her head as she tried to figure out where to go. She may have found the zoo before, but that didn't make going through this place any easier for her.

"Um … Ok, to the right is uh … another hallway. To the left is … a hall curving left. And in front is … a T-split," Diopside informed. It really was little to go on, and Onyx tried to think about it. This was something she should know, and it was on the tip of her tongue.

"Hold on. Hold on … Got it! Ok, follow me," Onyx instructed, starting to go off ahead, passed Diopside. This was a bad time for the group to be split up, so they had to move quick to keep up with Onyx. Onyx just needed a bit of barring to actually figure out where the heck to even go, but this Gem was a bit overly-eager, and didn't exactly slow down for the others to keep up with her. Star Quartz was probably the only one who didn't have any issue with keeping with Onyx, but the others were not as fast as her.

"Onyx, get back here!" Flint called.

"We're gonna be fine, just keep up and we'll find them -" While Onyx wasn't looking, suddenly she ended up slamming into what felt like a wall, making Onyx tumble back into the others.
A bad time to be off your feet, especially when they discovered what exactly they ran on into. The object rumbled and groaned slightly, as if it just woke up from a nap or something. It seemed to turn around, and it turned out to be one of the many corrupted Gems around the station. It appeared as a grey mole with a green shell on its head to covered her eyes, its gemstone on its forehead. The strike Onyx accidentally did on it startled the beast, as it turned to "see" what it had for company. The mole roared at them, arms raised, but before it could even do anything, Bismuth quickly jumped in the way, hand already a hammer. With a hit of her own, she knocked the Gem Mole off its feet with a good uppercut, but rather than continuing the fight, the corrupted Gem quickly bolted away for it, digging under the floors with its claws before they could get to it. Well, that was that, though a bit forceful.

"Teach you to try an attack the Crystal Gems," Bismuth said smugly, her hammer turning back into a hand.

"That was quick," Star simply noted. Diopside nodded, though felt humbled as to how quick Bismuth was willing to just attack like that. but, Bismuth was Bismuth, and Diopside knew they had more worrying things to get to.

"Yes, we don't have time to fight everything in here. Onyx, you were guiding?"

"Oh right, this way," Onyx said, starting off again. The group began to go, but Diopside paused to look down the hole the Gem Mole had done.

"Sorry." she simply said, before she took one extra look, and moved on to rejoin the others. If this was gonna keep happening, than they were in for a rough time.

…….

Much of the run through the station was rather similar to this, with Onyx guiding the way and Diopside being the main eyes for the group, just to be sure that there was no repeat incident of what just happened. It was still troubling to go through the Space Station with distant growls, roars, and lord knows what else echoing in the distance. But lucky for them, and probably any other corrupted monster going through, they began to reach what some of them considered familiar territory, and a similar door began to present itself: the door to the Zoo's main chamber.
Seeing it now though, with no one to exactly take care of it, there was signs that this door had been through better times before. One moment it was durable and strong, but now they could see marks left on the door of what it had to endure.

"Here goes nothing," Flint said, taking lead and getting the door open. Typically the door would be sealed tight, but with no power to have it do so, the door only needed some forceful strength in order to actually open.
Once they all got inside, they saw … well, what could they see? Not even the so-called sky held much light for them to see anything. The skies for the Human Zoo would normally be lit up with the sun, or at least show stars and moon, but now the skies were empty with a blank rooftop. There wasn't even any blue to the sky above, and it would seem that the stars had been shot down, and the moon turned off. The trees and vegetation still looked pretty good, though they too were showing some signs of neglect, and didn't look as lively as they were.

If the Zoomans were anywhere, it would be in here. Unfortunately. Without a word, Flint signaled them all to come in and began to venture around within this seemingly empty dome, the door slamming shut behind them. The door slamming echoed throughout the dome a long way. And the echoes themselves stretched for a good ten seconds. The only sign anything was in here at all were footprints along the ground, about the same size as the Gems' feet.

"HEY! ANY ZOOMANS IN HERE?!" call Diopside. Her voice carried on in the air for a bit, at first not really being met with much, if anything.

"Geesh, can you scream any louder?" Onyx said, her ears ringing.

"But they have to be in here. They're bound to hear that!"

"AND whatever else is in here. Besides, what makes you think they'll come out from screams?" Flint questioned.

*rustle*

Suddenly, the answer came up from the bushes, jumping right at Flint like a pouncing cat! Flint was caught off guard, and tumbled to the ground, but he used his momentum to grab whatever got him and swinging it over his head, and landing on the ground! Everyone else armed up, but then they actually saw what it was.

"Haha! Cannon ball!"

"What the - Zooman!"

Well, they found one of them in here, and this one Diopside actually recognized from the last trip down here: J10. Despite being thrown head over heels, J10 wasn't too ticked off about it. In fact, she didn't look very fazed about the blackout at all. J10 got up from the fall, a little battered but fine, and soon they began to hear more rustling not too far away.

"J10! Did you tag one?" called a voice, turning out to be Y6.

"Y6. Look! I've found some new friends to join us," J10 said, presenting the others of the Gem group. Y6 and J10 didn't look like anything different happened at all, even with the stars, sun, and moon gone from the sky.

"Greetings!" they both said.

"Uh. Hi. … Uh, you two the only ones here?" asked Flint. He may be aware of the Zoomans to extent, Onyx too, but with what the state was, they might as well ask anyway.

"Nope. All of us are still here," said Y6, before leaning in and whispering "They're hiding."

"Hiding?" quizzed Bismuth.

"The ritual of hide-and-seek! What's your names?" Y6 said.

"I'm Diopside. This is Flint, Jade, Star, Bismuth, Onyx, and Topaz."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you all. I am J10, and this is Y6. Have you come here to play our activity with us?" J10 introduced.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Listen, we gotta go," Flint said.

"But why? We're still playing our activity for the day," retorted J10.

"How can you even tell? There's no sun, moon, or stars above you," Star asked, looking at the empty space above their heads.

"Oh, the voices in our heads told us that the sun, the moon, and the stars are tired now, and they are sleeping. They told us they will wake back up soon, and until they do, the voices will tell us when day and night occur."

"... What?" Jade asked, dumbfounded. Admittedly, yes, some of the humans hadn't been the most clever, but were these two for real? Onyx nudged her.

"They're Zooman, they're not like those on Earth. They don't even know what "Earth" is," Onyx reminded quietly.

"You never mentioned that they were like this though," quietly stated Bismuth.

"Stars, Suns and Moons don't fall asleep. Those are things, not creatures … unless this is Celestia and Luna you're talking about," Star said.

"Who?" asked the zoomans. Well that confirmed it.

"Oh, nevermind that. Listen, we have to -" before Flint could finish his sentence, they all then began to see the earrings on them start to glow. None of the Gems could hear any instructions, but Y6 and J10 heard the voices in their heads speak up again. The earrings stayed glowing for a bit, both smiling and eyes closed, and when the glowing stopped, they both looked very happy.

"Everyone, the choosening will start soon!" J10 said in glee.

"Come with us, it's finally time!" added Y6.

"What? Come on, can't it wait?" Flint insisted.

"Why would you want to wait for something so wonderful?" J10 asked innocently.

"We'll meet with you in a minute," Topaz suddenly said. Y6 and J10 were very happy for that answer, and they actually started to move some of the group along. Guess "in a minute" was not apart of the event, whatever it was.
They really weren't too sure what they were talking about too much, but eventually they got their in short time, with the rest of the Zoomans present, just as happy and oblivious of the situation as Y6 and J10. They all were surrounding some sort of double ring on the ground, everyone on the outer ring, side-by-side.

"Topaz, the heck are you doing? We don't have time for this," Flint said.

"But look at them. They're so … happy. I don't wanna upset them," Topaz said humbly.

"They won't be happy at all if -"

"Fa-lint! Please join us in the ring," J10 suddenly cut in, holding Flint's hand gently and giving him a sweet smile. This was such an innocent face. It was actually enough to make him fluster a bit, as he actually followed her to the circle.

"Jay-ade, please wait here until the ritual is complete," said Y6. Some of the other Zoomans were happily getting the others into the ring too, and the only ones that remained were Jade, Star Quartz, and Onyx. Bismuth, Flint, Topaz, and Diopside.

"Ok, what're we doing?" Bismuth asked.

"The choosening is a very special event for us," said J10.

"We're glad to have you with us at such a wonderful time," added Y6.
Soon, the earrings glowed again, and all the Zooman grew excited and awaited whatever instructions their "little voices" had in store for them. It was much like waiting to win a prize for a contest, and the anticipation that came with it was just as enjoyable. Of course, the Gems had little idea how to exactly do this, except for Onyx perhaps and she wasn't even involved in the "ritual" herself.

"What're they doing?" Jade asked.

"You'll figure it out in a minute," Onyx simply replied, arms crossed and waiting for it to continue. Jade and Star glanced to eachother, unsure what'll really happen next in this "choosening" thing, but the Zoomans clearly knew, and soon one of the Zoomans actually stepped out towards the inner circle. Shortly afterwards, then stepped out another Zooman, and joining the first Zooman at the center of the circle. This didn't look too bad, but then the two Zoomans gently held hands, and then kissed.

"W-Wait. Is this some match-making thing?" Diopside asked, worried.

"Dio-side. Whoever is choosened for you, will be very lucky," said J10. The heck was she talking about?! Then her own earrings began to glow, and J10 then went out to step into the inner circle. Guess it was her turn, but the Gems didn't come here to get married!

"Oh boy. Guys, help me," Diopside meekly said, looking back to those not taking part.

"Just roll with it, it doesn't last too long. Besides, the odds you'll be chosen is zero to none," Onyx informed. Unless someone messed with the coding on how this is supposed to work, there was no way, no how, that any of the Gems will be ending up "choosened", as the Zoomans put it.

"Well, this better end soon, we don't have time for this," Flint said. It was then that the earrings glowed again, and they all waited for whoever was choosened to go to the inner ring. However, this time, no one stepped forward, and instead they all were looking over to … Flint.

"... Uh … Can I help you?"

"Fa-lint, you've been choosened! You're so lucky to be choosened on the first day," said Y6.

"W-WHAT?! No way, there has to be a mistake!" Flint said in shock. What were the odds he would be picked again? Zero to none? How the stars was this even happening?! The other Zooman cheered in joy for him, but Flint was freaking out on the inside, the only outer clue being him shivering. J10 smiled sweetly, waiting for him to come forward but Flint was kinda frozen, trying to find and work out some explanation on how this was even possible.

"Topaz, I blame you for this," Flint managed to say.

"Eh, sorry," Topaz replied. She didn't really mean for any of them to get hooked up, or even expected them to admittedly.

"Go on, Fa-lint. J10's waiting for you," Y6 insisted.

"Eh, yeah, no."

"Huh? OH, I get it. You're just being shy! Do not worry about it," Y6 said, only infuriating and frustrating Flint even further, as Y6 actually pushed him over to the center circle.

"Oh no, this could be bad," Jade said. She knew Flint better than anyone else here, and seeing him in THIS situation was not anything worth continuing. Jade began to actually go in, just as Flint and J10 were in front of eachother. This was a bit too far for them to go on with.

"Uh, excuse me?" Jade said, actually getting in the way between J10 and Flint. She sounded friendly, but the physical actions were more stern.

"What're you doing? the choosening picked Fa-lint."

"I know it did, but … maybe this isn't such a good idea," Jade said, trying to keep herself together as much as Flint was. J10 looked very perplexed, though Flint was thanking his lucky stars SOMEONE said something.

"Why not? Don't you want to be choosened?" Y6 asked. Jade took a breath before speaking.

"J10, we're from somewhere where choosening is, well, by us. Not by some little voice. You can't just be told to be with someone, you have to … you know. Get to know them," Jade explained.

"Y-you're not making any sense. …"

"It's hard to explain. But the point is: if you want be "choosened", then it's you who'll have to do it, not someone else. People are choosened where we're from because they want to choose eachother."

"Thank you," Flint silently stated, his nerves calming down. At least they could -

"If that's how it works … Then I choose Jay-ade!" Y6 suddenly said, taking one of her hands.

"And I choose Jay-ade!" added in J10, taking her other hand.

"Alright, THAT'S IT!" Flint snapped, finally having enough. He wasn't gonna watch his Jade become wives to two different Zoomans, and he even shoved them away. This was his breaking point.

"Ok, I've had enough of this, look! Forget what that "little voice" is telling you, we gotta get out of here, and we gotta go, NOW!" Flint ordered fiercely.

"What's the matter, Fa-lint? The sun, moon, and stars will come on eventually," Y6 asked, assuming that was the main thing worrying him.

"You know what, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE IF YOU STAY HERE! There's monsters roaming around all over this place, and as far as I'm concerned, they're finding their way in here! So unless you WANT to get eaten, then get out of this place, and come with us to the ship! UNDERSTAND?" Flint's voice was really giving Y6 and J10 quiet a scare, along with the other Zoomans. This was NOT how the choosening was supposed to go, not at all, and they weren't sure if any of this was even true at all.

"... O-Ok, but … what's a monster?"

Flint's eye twitched. How dense were these zoomans?!

"Someone PLEASE talk some sense into them before I blast them," Flint growled, trembling and itching to just slap some sense into them. For some countermeasure, Bismuth actually picked him up and carried him away, though she understood his frustration.

"W-We're really sorry. He's just a little on edge right now," Jade said humbly, seeing them all a little humbled themselves. The group of Gems moved away from the Zoomans, and only then did Flint end up placed down. He'd been frustrated, but this was just painful.

"I swear to the cosmos, how dense are these people? Yeah, they've been spoon-fed, but they couldn't be THIS naïve to everything," Flint groaned, trying to keep from just going off completely.

"Why're you so surprised? I thought it was you who introduced us to the Zoo," Star Quartz pointed out.

"YES, but at least the other animals in other zoos on Earth have instinct to work with. Shouldn't these humans have some bit of it too?" Flint retorted.

"Sorry to tumble your rocks," Bismuth said, "But they've been in here their whole lives. Things like pain, monsters, or zoos isn't something that they're programed with, unlike those on Earth. How would you feel if everything was told to you your entire life, and you didn't have to think for yourself?"

"... Ironic, but true that," Flint sighed. But this meant things were going to have to be played a little differently. The typical warnings and concepts were not going to work on these people, and eventually, Topaz got an idea.

"Maybe I can talk to them?" Topaz suggested. She didn't want anyone else scaring them any further.

"Whatever works," sighed Flint. With the greenlight, Topaz and Diopside joined up and began to head back to the startled Zoomans. If they were going to cooperate, then they had to at least get them on a more comfortable state of mind beforehand.

"Is Fa-lint okay?" asked Y6.

"He's fine, but we do have to get going soon," Diopside said.

"But why?"
Topaz and Diopside glanced to eachother, trying to think of something they could understand properly. Eventually, they took a glance up to the sky again.

"Uh, because … Oh! The Sun, Moon, and Stars! Anyone of you notice that there's none of them up in the sky?" Topaz asked.

"Yes. They'll wake up soon," said a Zoomare.

"No, not true. A mean force has taken them all away, and moved it all somewhere else."

"W-what?! but where'd they go?" asked J10, startled. Looked like this was the lure they had to work with, so both Gems went on with it.

"Don't worry, we and the others over there know where they are. If you come with us, we'll take you right to -"

"What're you doing?" Star asked, suddenly standing right behind them. Her sudden voice made them both jump.

"Just play along," Diopside quietly said, giving her a wink.

"We don't have time to play though, do we? And did something get in your eye?" Star questioned. This clearly wasn't helping them out at all. This whole situation was just troubling to say the least: they had Pearl and Aquamarine to look for still, and the more time they spend here the more trouble they'll be stuck in. And things were about to get even worse for the groups …

*GRRROOOWWWLLL*

"O-Oh my gosh, what was that?!" shuttered J10.

And then they began to see it. Flint's warning had come to life, as a monstrous figure began to walk out from the forest, its eyes glowing red. It shambled a bit to balance itself until it fully got out into view of them all, the light of the circle of choosening showing them all the monstrosity that has come to their presence. It had the body of a human, but the torso upwards looked almost cartoony, extremely huge and more fitting that of a crocodile! A set of large jaws gave the upper half the appearance of a giant alligator gar, and it looked just as scary. How it was even able to balance was anyone's guess, as its head looked fitting an animal ten times bigger. A true demon of White Diamond's experimentations.
All the Zoomans had never seen such a creature before, and were absolutely terrified. The creature opened its jaws, lined with teeth resembling archery arrows, and gave another loud guttural grow.

"Everyone. Back away, slowly. Follow me," instructed Diopside, quietly as to not set off the monster. This time none of the Zoomans retorted, and slowly began to move away, terrified. The monster watched them all move in a slow motion, staring them all down. As they were going though, one of the Zoomans couldn't move, paralyzed in her own fear as she stared at the beast. Something the monster was noting, as it began moving over towards her. Each step the monster made was like a balancing act, and all the Zooman did was back up a little bit, as the beast opened its mouth, leaning forward.

"Look out!" shouted Bismuth, tackling her aside before the monster could eat her. All it got was a chunk of ground, which it tore apart and shook like crazy, tearing it to pieces. That there could've easily been one of the Zoomans or Gems right there. some stray bit of the "grass" landed nearby them. Now the Zoomans were all a panic.

"I-Is that a monster? SAVE US, PLEASE! I don't wanna be apart of this event anymore!" cried J10, clinging onto Bismuth like a scared child would. The monster heard them loud and clear, and gave a spine-chilling roar that sounded almost robotic.

"I'll hold it off, get to the door!" Bismuth instructed.

"What's a door?" Y6 asked nervously.

"Here, I'll show you!" Bismuth said. Her hands came together, and became what looked like a huge concave shield. Rather than using it to block off the monster, she used it to push the Zooman along towards the door, Diopside ahead of them and opening it fast. Bismuth got the Zoomans through in no time at all, if not a bit roughly, as the rest of the Gems rushed through. Diopside however was the last one to try and get through, and the monster grabbed her by the leg, yanking her back hard, and throwing her back into the enclosure! Diopside stumbled and ended up flung so far, she landed in the water of the place, the beast somehow catching up to her before she could even shake off the hit. For some an Illy-proportioned beast, it still was able to move around well enough, even if it flopped right into the water. Diopside managed to get up, just in time to see the animal almost on top of her.
Now, in the place they were standing, the weight tolerance wasn't really so good. A human at a time, or a group of humans or ponies wasn't much of a problem, but this monstrosity was a LOT heavier than the average human. Snarling, and going right onto Diopside, the green Gem started to hear something that shook her to her core. The sound of straining, hollow metal.

*RRRAAAOO -* *CRASH*

…

"DIOPSIDE! YOU OKAY?!"

Well, this surely was something that happened. Diopside was completely soaked in the purified freshwater, every drop of it poured out of the enclosure and into … well, wherever she fell into. The monster that fell with her was reduced to a single gemstone, uncracked and laying on the ground next to her. However, the stone was not any similar gemstone she would know: the lines edging the surface were too thin and "rooty" for a normal pattern, and didn't match the greenish color of the gemstone at all. Diopside picked it up, and began to check her surroundings, finding herself in what looked like some sort of mechanical room, the typical pipe leading up to the Human Zoo now reduced to rubble, as liquid seeped from it as well onto the dark room.

"DIOPSIDE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! SAY SOMETHING!"

"I'm okay! No clue where I am though!" Diopside called, looking up to the prospectively tiny hole she and the monster had fell through. It was easily a seventy foot drop.

"OK, DON'T! MOVE! WE'LL TRY TO GET YOU! TRY AND KEEP YOURSELF IN ONE PIECE IN THE MEANTIME!"

"Will do!"
Easier said than done. Diopside had little to no light at all here, everything pitch black. It was a good thing she had her own brand of night vision to help her out with that, as she took a moment to figure out what was even going on in there. While it would seem like Diopside fell into nowhere, she found that this room actually had a route out already, through a small door. Probably a place for maintenance or to keep track of humans going in and only in. Well, at least Diopside wasn't with anyone else in this place, though with the gemstone in hand, she took the time to actually study up on it.

"What kind of Gem are you? … You're not a Star Quartz. did any quartz have this kind of pattern?" Diopside's eye adjusted again to better examine it. Was this another hybrid Gem? As she held it, the stone felt oddly warm, as if something inside it was heating it up unlike a real gemstone, and what else … something felt more alive about it. As if even when poofed, the monster was still active somehow.

"What did White Diamond do to you?" Diopside wondered. If only she did have an answer for it. Well, as the Crystal Gems would do (as much as it did bother Diopside), she had the Gem creature bubbled and, while hesitant at first, sent it off on its way. What else could she do? Flint and Jade wouldn't agree to try and heal the corruption, if that was what this even was. She'll just have to stomach it, and try to get the main issue addressed. And that was to find Pearl and Aquamarine (the team wouldn't ditch the Zoomans, not after the attack). But there was still the matter on where to even go. Should she wait there as told, or be part of rebellion the group was known for and strike out to find the rest? Honestly, it was hard to get a grip on it.

"Okay. On one hand, the others will be worried sick. On the other, Pearl and Aquamarine could be getting tortured in here. What would Flint do?"

*peck**peck*

Diopside stopped her train of thought on the odd sound. It wasn't exactly a noise from any animal, but more of a creature tapping at the metal walls. Now, it would normally take some time to find something like this, but Diopside's gem eye made short work of that, and quickly found it off just outside of said door. There was a opening on it, kinda like that on a ship's door, and Diopside could see a sort of familiar face peering in. … Well, it looked familiar, but Diopside, even with her Gem eye vision, had a hard time making it out entirely.
And then the door opened.
Diopside's hope was swiftly dashed. Coming into the room to investigate the noise, was a tall yet thin-bodied animal. Though, "animal" may not exactly be the correct word, as it appeared a lot more human than one would like. Its entire body, from the strands of its short hair to the tips of its fingers and feet, were wrapped in a thick color of black. The exception to this rule was the bright white eyes, and outline of cyan blue, like a aura around its body. Its head appeared bird-like, with a jagged beak, protrusions along it closely resembling teeth. It stood fairly tall in comparison to the green Gem, but it wasn't the foreboding size or spooky appearance that startled Diopside to her core. It was the object at the center of the animal's forehead …

"... P … P … P-Pearl … Oh, Pearl …" Diopside just stood there, staring at this creature for a moment as a tear began to show from her normal eye. The animal didn't seem to understand her pain, simply staring at her. At least "Pearl" didn't act as violent as the other ones they met so far. Diopside gathered herself, trying not to just scream at the sight of this thing.

"Ok, ok. Calm yourself … Find your center." Diopside took a deep, calming breath, before she grew better enough to deal with the problem at hand. Nothing was gonna be gained by crying … well, not this time, anyway.

"Alright, Pearl, we can fix this. Uh, ok, how do we fix it … um … C'mon Dio, think - wait. Wait. Nephrite!" Why didn't she think of her earlier? Still, despite things, the corrupted Pearl was still a little bit confused on what she was talking about. All the same, Diopside didn't feel as worried anymore. In fact, she actually grabbed the Corrupted Gem by the hand, much to the animal's curiosity, which itself was not dissimilar to a chimp.

"Don't worry, Pearl, we'll get you back to the others and they'll reform you in no time! Just stay close to me, I'll get us back safely," Diopside promised, walking ahead while holding the creature's hand. The Corrupted Gem was still confused, but still followed anyway.

Well, that was one Gem down, but apparently that was half the battle ahead.

…….

After getting out of the room (something the others told her NOT to do), Diopside began to move about the area with Pearl behind her the whole way. Diopside may not be familiar with the place as much as Onyx, but that didn't mean she felt completely lost either with her night vision. They both heard plenty of sounds echoing throughout the place, and it was more prominent throughout this selection of halls, making danger a bit more prominent. Diopside kept a level head though, especially when her friend was right behind her.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Pearl. Nephrite has been known to actually heal corruption, so soon as we get to Jade and Flint to see you, hopefully they can try to fix you," Diopside said. The only response she had got, and what she had been getting for the last twenty minutes in her conversations were some groans and the occasional "chirping" sound. This time it was a confused chirp.

"I know they'll try to. They managed to help me when I came back. I know they'll do the same for you," Dio said. If it wasn't for Nephrite, Diopside would probably still be trapped inside that Gem bubble as a corrupted centipeedle. … And, in the events of this story of theirs, end up in the Space Station like every other catch. Kinda funny how some things would end up the same way when one thought about it.
Suddenly, the Corrupted Gem stopped altogether, Diopside not realizing it until after she was slightly pulled back. She wasn't seeing anything in front of them that would make this Gem stop.

"Pearl, what's wrong?" Diopside asked. Pearl had its attention somewhere else though, down another hallway away from where Diopside was trying to get her moving to. It took a little bit before the corrupted Gem started to move again, Diopside trying to get her to the right direction.

"No no no, hold on, this way," Diopside insisted, but Pearl wouldn't listen, and in the end, Diopside was simply dragged behind the corruption, her feet skidding along the smooth surface. Whatever this corruption had in mind, it wasn't a straight line back to the group. The halls the corruption was going down grew dark, and no light was visible at all. It was all just a green-light night cam view for Diopside by this point, but seemingly Pearl knew where it was going, and as they went down at least two to three hallways, the Gem got Diopside over to one of the O so many rooms of the White Diamond Space Station.

"Pearl, come on we gotta - … join … the others …"
It was quite a sight when she got there, enough to leave her a bit quiet. The room in question was probably the largest of the rooms in the station, the main lobby as it were. And while it would normally be the main place for the workers of White Diamond to congregate and go through, now it was infested with all sorts of differentiating Gems, Corrupted Gems and Clustered Gems being the most common.

"Oh my stars," Diopside said in a hushed gasp. She knew the Crystal Gems had gathered quite a collection of Corrupted Gems over the years, but this was sure a lot shown here, each Gem distinctive and different in its own way. Some were flying around, some crawled on the walls, some clambered on the floor and others mixed the three options up depending on what they can do. The Clustered Gems and Corrupted Gems seemingly kept a bit of distance between eachother however, as they would threaten one another if one side got too close to the other, much like how different animals would react to eachother within the same pen.
And then Diopside accidentally released her grip of Pearl, the corrupted Gems taking the moment to turn the tables, and grab Diopside's arm instead, and gripping hard. Diopside could only yelp before the Corrupted Gem threw her down into the slaughterhouse! Some of the gems scattered when she landed. While the Corrupted did hesitate in this, the Clustered Gems had no such problem, and immediately found their next target. Diopside got up just in time to confront the group of clustered projects now surrounding her, the experiments stopping themselves and taking note of her.

"All of you. You're all … forced together," Diopside noted. This sight would be enough to even make Garnet shiver in both fear and disgust, though more on the idea someone out there (guess who?) took the time to force shards together to make this work. She looked on passed them, and to the Corrupted Gems too, including the Corrupted Pearl. Corrupted, Clustered, but they were all Gems either way.

"Now, hold on a minute! I get it, you're all confused. Scared. I don't blame any of you for thinking that, really -" Diopside was cut short by a roar from one of the clustered Gems, making her jump back. Despite getting a jumpscare, Dio regathered herself.

"We're not here to hurt any of you. In fact, I want to help all of you … I just wish Nephrite can do all of the miracle work," Diopside said. Nephrite was a good shot, but she knew the chances just as well if it didn't work. And they weren't going to get a 100% in this huge crowd. Besides, what would that do for clustered gems? Diopside looked to the Corrupted Pearl again, seeing the Gem take a perch down over by some other corrupted Gems.

"I know you all have your original selves somewhere in these uh … forms. We're just here to find our friends, we don't want to hurt any of you. Had any of you seen an Aquamarine flying around here? Or some stray Humans maybe? Anything?" For the other Corrupted Gems, this sure was a first: a normal Gem chatting with them like they're nothing different to her. Still, like any animal, there's a few complications to worry about and there was only a few main rules to follow. One of which - kill or be killed. And as far as they were mainly concerned, she was a threat. Some of them began to snarl at her again.

"No, no, I swear, I won't hurt any of you - wait, WAIT, I-I'M NOT A DANGER!"

*RAAAHHH*
No good: the clustered Gems charged her. Diopside was in no mood to fight them, and she quickly made a bolt to the side to avoid the first charge. Apparently it didn't matter at all, these creatures were out to get her. The Corrupted Gems kept to a safer distance, but the clustered Gems were just charging in abandon like zombies (which they might as well be when you think about it). Diopside only dodged and blocked whenever she needed to, but she couldn't bring herself to just rush in and attack back. She only did that before because her friends were in danger, but none of them were here. Too bad the others didn't see it that way.
So first, Diopside was doing alright: she jumped out of reach from the clustered and corrupted Gems time and time again, jumping here and there. However, one sly cluster Gem jumped in from behind, and got her mid air, bringing her down to the ground. Diopside was spun around so her gemstone was for the clustered Gem to see, two others coming at her. Diopside had little time to actually think anymore.

Harsh on the cluster Gems. Suddenly, her Gem eye was grabbed, but Diopside ended up releasing a huge amount of acid right on the three! The blast was quick, and forceful, and each one of them screeched as the acid basically was making them melt until they poofed altogether ...

*crack*

shattered. Just like that. All three of the clustered Gems ended up split up into tiny pieces, each one of the pieces apart of a shard on each clustered gemstone. The sound of this shattering echoed throughout the room, and Diopside could barely grasp what even happened, staying frozen still on that horrid noise.

"DIOPSIDE!"

The corrupted and clustered Gems all began to freak out and scattered, both from seeing a Gem basically get killed in front of them, and the fact even more of them were coming their way. Diopside didn't even realize the others were coming back around, her eyes fixated at the crime she had just committed. The other Gems soon found her just sitting there in the room.

"Diopside, there you are. I thought I told you to -" Flint stopped himself when he saw what had happened, the shards scattered around.

"W-What happened?" asked Topaz, gulping nervously.

"... Gem clusters … They … I …" Diopside's gaze was locked onto the gems on the ground, not exactly thinking straight. Flint went over to her though, hand on her shoulder.

"Diopside, come on, get up. It'll be fine. You did what you had to."

"B-But Flint. T-They were suffering."

"Exactly," Flint said, charging up his pistol again, "And now their troubles are over. Now come on, Pearl and Aquamarine have to be somewhere."
It was a rather cold thing to state, but Flint always had some way to make his points across. Diopside looked to the clustered shards again, thinking over what he just said. Clustered Gems never had a good time in their life, but Diopside still felt as torn as the gemstones before her.

"Hey, maybe you should try being more tactful, huh? She's your friend," Bismuth stated firmly. Flint turned back.

"Look, I know she is, but we got a lot more to worry about than just -"

"Quit it!" Bismuth suddenly snapped, getting right up to him. Flint thought Bismuth was gonna hit him, but instead Bismuth brought his attention more closely to Diopside. Flint didn't need to be told much further, and he simply sighed, going back to Diopside again.

"Hey. You wanna continue, or do you wanna wait back for us?" Flint then asked. Diopside was too torn up to think properly, but she didn't want this to happen a second time.

"... C-Can I wait?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you can. I'm sorry," Flint said.

"Ok then," Bismuth said, taking charge for a moment. "Whoever wants to wait for us can go to the docking Station with the other humans. Whoever doesn't can come with me."

…….

Well, decisions didn't take much time to figure out. Soon some of the Gems went back to the same docking station where they came from as the rest went on and continued searching for Aquamarine and Pearl. Diopside obviously went back to the Docking Station, alongside Topaz and Jade. It was a bit packed inside the docking station with the Zooman tribe and all, them talking amongst eachother. Since they left the docking station, their "voices" had been oddly quiet, and it didn't really tell them what would be happening next, what could happen next, or for that matter … well, how the heck they got here. They were still perplexed by the concept of "doors", not to mention everything else. Even with this though, it wasn't just Diopside that was feeling down. In fact, much of the Zoomans were worried and sad at the sudden change in their lives, J10 the most. Her chances of actually being "choosened" for someone else had been brutally cut short, and as far as she could understand, that meant she didn't get picked for a partner. Topaz kept her company, allowing her to weep in her lap.

"I'll never choosen again," J10 said, heartbroken.

"Sure you will," Topaz said, trying her best to be a bit supportive and comforting. It wasn't easy though all things considered, topaz not having much experience with humans of any kind, let alone Zoomans.

"But what if this happens again?" J10 asked, tears freely flowing from her eyes.

"It won't, it won't. We'll get you all a nice new home, and everything will be alright again," Topaz reassured.

"You really think so?" J10 said with a sniff.

"We'll get that going the minute the others come back … Jade, you know how long they'll be?" Topaz then asked, looking to Jade who was trying to handle some of the zoomans herself. It wasn't easy, but they were getting some progress with it. Jade took a bit to speak up.

"Well … if I know Flint, he would be focused on getting the task handled, so … it might be a while," Jade said, though to be honest who truly knows. The White Diamond Space Station was a big place, and two tiny specs Gems are compared to it, it could take upwards of months to do that alone. She then heard some of the zoomans start to lose more hope on this ending well.

"B-But I know they won't give up!" Jade quickly added, "W-We promised we'll help you, and we'll do that."

As they were trying to handle them, Diopside was simply laying nearby, quiet and alone, with only the small shards for what company she got on hand. She didn't had enough motivation to get them bubbled and sent off like the first one, and even if she did, it wouldn't really cover up what exactly happened. In fact, it might make the others back at home a bit more scared if they saw a bunch of shards suddenly appear. Jade and Topaz of course could see Diopside's troubles.

"Do you wanna talk to her?"

"I think I'd better." And with that simple decision, Jade began to go over to Diopside. The Gem didn't really react too much, but she knew who was coming anyway.

"What is it, Jade?" Diopside sighed.

"Dio, listen. I know you didn't mean to go through that … incident. But, no one's going to blame you for trying to defend yourself."
Diopside glared back to Jade, but she didn't have anything to say. she didn't need any words: all she did was turn around, on her knees, brought out her hand, and dropped the shards for Jade to see.

"These were Gems just like us, Jade. I can't just say that it wasn't bad to KILL THEM."

"I never said it was a good thing, but nobody's going to blame you for -"

"Why not?!" Diopside cut in. Jade was silenced by just how rough Diopside felt about it, as they both looked down to the shards amongst the ground.

"And I just said I wanted to help them, too …" Diopside sighed. Some help she was.

… But then both Diopside and Jade got a better look at those shards. Or at least, Jade did. She may have not seen the Clustered Gems first hand like Diopside did, but when looking to what remained down on the floor she began to notice something. It wasn't the size of the gem shards, they all were kinda small in their own way. It wasn't the shape, since they were kinda in pieces. No, there was something with them that Jade was putting together that did strike as … intriguing.

"Diopside? How many did you say attacked you?"

"Not that it matters, but, three," Diopside replied, wiping away a tear or two. Then Jade got to her knees.

"And you said they were clustered Gems, right?"

"Yeah, what're you getting at?"
It was Jade's turn for a "show, don't tell" deal, and she actually started to examine each one of the pieces on the ground a bit more closely. Diopside didn't get what Jade was trying to do, but bit by bit, as Jade started to work with the pieces, Diopside was actually starting to work out what was going on.
Little by little, both Diopside and Jade actually started to move about the remaining shards and pieces in these particular gemstones off into separated piles. It was the color of these shards that was a bit interesting to note: some were pitch black, some were red, and some were orange. None of them seemed to go on further than that, and once more, as they were getting all the pieces, they seemed … closer. Like pieces to a puzzle. They seemed disjointed and crazy, but as Diopside finally got round to fully examining them, the cuts where they split apart look more connected than she realized. Jade began to see this too, and in fact she was already trying to work with her set of pieces to place them together. Some of the Zoomans and Topaz eventually took more note of their actions, watching them from afar in curiosity to what they were trying to do. Eventually, Diopside and Jade both finished up their tiny project, and got their product in front of them.

Three different gemstones. All the pieces put back together again. One of the gemstones was perfectly circular, and colored a mixture of yellow and a strong vibrant orange. The second one is hexagonal in pattern, and orange-red in coloration. The third one was a bit more complicated, seemingly a stone split in three to resemble a rex's foot, and colored a deep black. Not exactly too weird, but in the end they all appeared normal all the same, lines cracked of course since they had to be mish-mashed with eachother. The top one was a bit of an oddball in comparison, but Diopside can confirm that it was how it was supposed to be to be whole.

To be whole. Like what the cluster Gems would've wanted. … Well, almost.

"They had all the pieces the whole time. … So, now what?" Topaz asked.

"We uh … wait, I guess?" Diopside said, though this bit of false hope was really all they had left here. Exactly what else could they do for these three, if they were still alive in their respected pieces. If they were normal Gems, than that was impossible, but clustered Gems were a bit more … complicated.

"Hold on. You're not thinking of …"

"Well," said Diopside, "It's a long shot. But Cluster Gems aren't the same as regular Gems - all their components are of multiple Gems. So, with them together, maybe -"

*grrrrrrr*

Another reminder of how dangerous this place was from the depths of this Station cut them short, and made the Zoomans a bit nervous again. If the first one was any indication, they didn't want to know what else could be roaming about this place if they could help it. Topaz stood up and armed herself, despite the nerves they all have from the ominous noises.
And then came the trouble again. Coming in from the entrance to the docking station was yet another danger in the form of a corrupted Gem, this time the creature looking a bit more alien. A slug-like monster with a set of large arms pulling it along. Each arm ended in huge claws, each one the size of a sabre sword, and twice as thick. The head ended in what looked like a curved, crescent beak. The bulk of the Gem itself was twice the size of Topaz, and it had some difficulty dragging itself through the opening to get into the docking station, much to the horror of the others.

"I-It's coming in through the walls!" gasped one of the Zoomans. Technically not true, but they still didn't have full concept of the doors yet. Not that it was the most important thing to worry about anyway, and soon the dagger-clawed Gem monster dragged itself inside completely. This gave the others some worry, and while Topaz armed up immediately, Diopside got in between the group first before they could just jump at them.

"It's alright. Everything's alright," Diopside shivered. Not only were there Zoomans to watch out for, but also the delicate gemstones right by her feet. The Corrupted Gem moved in closer to them, its forearms dragging it closer to them, as it eyed for an opening in this wall it found them in. Topaz readied to rush in, but Diopside got in the way.

"W-Wait, don't hurt her!"

"Huh? Why?" Topaz asked. The corrupted Gem began to move in closer, face-to-face with Diopside before they could explain anything. Even in sight of the beast, Diopside knew what it was like being corrupted more than anyone. She can't just attack her on the spot, could she? There was a bit of a pause, the Corrupted Gem simply looking into the eye of Diopside, both her normal and Gem eye.

"Careful, Diopside," Jade quietly said, not trying to set off the beast either. The Gem beast sniffed a little bit, despite not having a visible nose or snout on her face. Diopside was quiet.

"I-It's okay. We're not going to hurt you. I promise," Diopside said, gently bringing out her hand. The Gem beast backed up a little bit, but eventually Diopside's hand was gently placed onto her face. Topaz and Jade waited for some sort of reaction, but the Gem beast didn't. The only thing that came up a contented moan, almost like that of a cow. It was probably the first time in a long time this Gem Beast had been treated like this, but then her eyes began to look around a bit at what else was there. A bunch of humans, three Gems, one of which had … a weapon.
The Gem Beast suddenly bellowed, backing up on sight of it. Guess being captured by the Crystal Gems had some lasting effects on her memory. Oh, wasn't that familiar?

"Topaz, put that away! You're scaring her," Diopside quickly said frantically.

"What?" Topaz said, but then she looked to her weapon, and a bit worried herself quickly removed it from sight. "There, there look see? nothing dangerous here!"
But even if corrupted, the Gem was not stupid: they were armed, they attacked her before, and as far as she knew, they were gonna come after her again. The creature then raised one of her clawed arms right at Diopside. Jade acted quick, and pushed Diopside aside before she could end up cut into pieces, the claws landing dangerously near the gemstones on the ground. The Gem beast gave a threatening posture, both arms raised to show her large claws in case any of them tried getting close. They'd keep themselves back, but the gemstones were right by the Corrupted Gems' claws! One step though, and the corrupted Gem rushed forward again, rushing over the gemstones, and almost crushing them underfoot. The Zoomans though suddenly began to panic, and scattered, freaking out the corrupted Gem even further.

"No, no, stop! stay together - oof!" One human accidentally ran into Diopside, falling to ground level right by the corrupted monsters' feet. This made the beast rear back and jump over them (as well as a legless monster could), before finding itself right by the ship they arrived in. One look at its reflection and …

*RRAAAAWWW!*

The beast went berserk: she started slashing and tearing into the ship like crazy. Everyone kept far distance away, seeing the Corrupted Gem lose it on her own reflection, soon bringing the ship to nothing but ruin. no way they were going to fly out of here in that thing. Once she was done with that, she turned attention back to her adversaries, beginning to move closer again. However, as she moved in, a strong light right in front of the animal made her panic again, and run off out of there.

But where did the light come from?

~~~~~~

"PEARL! PEARL, AQUAMARINE! WHERE'RE YOU?!" called Bismuth.
Deeper inside the station, the others of the group kept up their search for their missing Gems. With Diopside waiting off behind though, this made searching around a little bit more difficult, especially since none of them had a natural night vision. But while Flint wanted to avoid this, he did have a light from his gemstone to help them see (what else would attract attention other than a beaming light?).

"This is getting nowhere, where would they go?" Onyx asked.

"I don't know, you tell me. They wouldn't be out in the open, surely," Flint replied. As they continued along, the others were still hearing the distant noises, Bismuth left on edge.

"Oh, I can't wait to get out of here. If we ever come back again, it'll be WAY too soon," Bismuth sighed. The only who wasn't on edge by the noises was Star Quartz. In fact, she was pretty content with their walk around the place.

"What's there to be scared about?" Star then asked.

"You did not just ask that," Onyx said, looking back, "There's monsters crawling all over the place."

"But they're Gems too, aren't they?" Star questioned.

"No. Well, technically yes, but they're all corrupted, clustered, and who knows what else," Flint said, glancing back to them. This made Star a little confused admittedly, tilting her head as she went up to Flint's side.

"But Diopside said she was corrupted, but she looks just fine," retorted Star.

"That's because Nephrite cured of her corruption, that's all," Flint stated, continuing on ahead as Star Quartz paused on the idea. The others stopped as Star simply stood there, thinking. Diopside did mention a vague idea on Nephrite; a fusion of Flint and Jade, though Star Quartz didn't have any exact details on how they could. However, Star began to get an idea.

"Maybe we can help them."

"What? Star, no."

"But Nephrite can cure corruption … right?"

Flint just groaned, and then explained "Well, yes, but first off, Nephrite's success rate in curing corruption is very low, and she can't try again if it doesn't work the first time. Secondly, we got more than enough trouble - Pearl and Aquamarine are in here, we don't have time to deal with that now. Now come on." with that explanation, Flint started to go off again.

"... Is that what you tell yourself?"

Flint then stopped altogether.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It doesn't sound like you even want to try," Star pointed out. For flint, this was not the time to be going into questioning anyone, especially with danger around every corner.

"Star, just quit it. Look, let's just find where Pearl and Aquamarine are before they end up crumbled into dust," Flint reminded. That was their main goal right now, they didn't have any time for any extra corruption work to handle. Though, this did seem a bit of food for though Star Quartz. They could cure the corrupted Gems, so why weren't they doing it?
It was at this point that the group found another room off further down the halls, lucky to not have run into any more of the corrupted Gem monsters. The room in question, upon getting the door open, looked like one part of the Space Station's science chamber. With so little light though, everything ironically didn't look as scary as it would be when in full operation, with many of the cages free of any experiments and testers. Honestly, they weren't too surprised that the odds would bring them right in this part of the station.
The group started to head on into the Science chamber's inner sanctum, eyes and ears open for any sort of danger that could still be in this place. Though, there were some doubts about that, as the further they went in, the quieter the distant animals were. Seemed even the corrupted and clustered had their limits and enough of sanity to know where not to go.

"This place never looked better," said Onyx.

"Not a fan of it either, huh?" Bismuth asked.

"NO WAY. Pearlis calls it "progress", I call it creepy, you're NOT gonna convince me otherwise," Onyx answered.

"A-Anyone there?"

FINALLY some progress in this game. The voice was very faint, but it was just loud enough for the four to actually hear. However, despite the beaming light, they didn't really seem to see anyone or anything that could talk to them in this room.

*SCREEEE*

Sneak attack! Bismuth got tackled down to the ground fast by a seemingly unknown assailant, and they were in presence of another Corrupted Gem. The appearance of this one though was what made them all shutter, and forbade Bismuth from shattering her on the spot. This was the Corrupted PEARL! After another screech, the pearl was forced off by one of Flint's shots, hitting her square in the head. Bismuth was alright, but seeing Pearl corrupted rocked her to her very core (no pun intended).

"Oh lord no. Pearl!" Bismuth gasped. The corrupted Pearl got up to her feet, only for Flint and Onyx to jump in the way so the corruption wouldn't attack her again. Star Quartz than moved over to Flint.

"Can you try now?"

"Is now REALLY the best time?" Flint snapped, keeping his pistol raised. The corruption moved forward, and Flint suddenly opened fire a few warning shots keeping the corruption back, dangerously close to the gemstone.

"Flint, watch what you're doing! That's Pearl you're shooting at!" Bismuth yelled.

"Yes, that's a Pearl, but is it the one we're looking for?" Flint questioned.

"REALLY?!" Bismuth snapped. The corrupted Pearl rushed forward again, making the group split in two: Flint and Onyx to one side, Bismuth and Star to the other. The corrupted Pearl took targets, and aimed her sights directly to Flint, who still had a weapon up and aimed directly at her.

"Stay behind me, Onyx," Flint instructed, just as the corrupted Gem started to move in. One screech, and Flint gave another shot to keep the Gem back. Bismuth and Star Quartz almost got crashed onto. The hit made the corrupted Pearl collapse into Bismuth, stunned and conflicted actually. Both corrupted and warrior looked eye to eye, the corruption squawking loud in her face before Bismuth pushed her off. The corrupted Pearl tried to attack Bismuth now, both on their feet and in battle mode, though Bismuth needed to get her mind together. What were they supposed to do now?

"Star, try and find Jade - we need Nephrite more than ever," Bismuth instructed. Star Quartz rushed off out of the science chamber in a few silent steps, leaving Flint, Onyx, and Bismuth with the corrupted Pearl. The corrupted Gem found herself surrounded with little escape, each one willing at the least to keep her still. She squawked at them to keep them away from her even slashing at them with her "claws", but she was the target of interest and their main reason to even be here.

"Pearl. Easy girl, easy. We only want to help you," Bismuth said, trying to keep her calm, but the erratic Gem was about as skittish as some of the others were, the Gem spinning back and forth between each one of them for any assault on her.

"Ok, not too bad, just hold her here until Jade comes back. Nephrite can fix her up."

"Will you stop putting so much hope in that, Bismuth? What if it doesn't work?" Flint retorted.

"Well, what if it does work?" Bismuth retorted back. The corrupted Pearl saw her chance, and decided to make a bolt for it, much to their surprise.

"No you don't!" Bismuth couldn't have her just run off, not after everything. The warrior rushed over to her, and managed to grab her in the back They had to keep her here to -

*RRRRIP*

… This changed everything. Bismuth stumbled back, and the corrupted Gem fell forward head over heels. However, what Onyx, Flint, and Bismuth saw was the large rag of skin left in Bismuth's grip. But when they were looking over it, Flint's light adding to it, the skin turned out to be part of some form of suit. Looking over, and there she was. Pearl. Unconscious and weak.
This was a wired suit. What suit did remain on her had some sort of wiring inside, connecting to her body like tree roots, but now with the suit split apart, the connections were not as evident as before, leaving Pearl with little to comprehend on what even happened.

…….

"A simulation suit?" asked Topaz. Naturally they would go back with Pearl to the others, Pearl herself far too weak to react to anything, as she was being carried by Bismuth. Some of the other Gems weren't there (Diopside mainly), leaving only Jade and Topaz with the other Zoomans. The broken ship was more than evident on their arrival, and with some time to actually think, Onyx actually had the answer properly (kind of).

"Eh, something like that. White Diamond's Chrysoberyls have TOO much time on their hands sometimes, and this is something that came out of it," Onyx answered.

"And what is it, exactly?" Jade asked.

"You seen the corrupted Gems all over the place, it basically puts you as if you're a corrupted Gem yourself. It's like a VR experience."

"But why did Pearl attack us if it was just a simulation?" Flint questioned, annoyed that Onyx didn't say the idea until AFTER they figured it out.

"Hey, there's a reason why it didn't fly so well. What you got there messes with your gem DNA, and makes you think you really are corrupted. It's being corrupted … but not being corrupted."

"You know, I'd call this contrived as all heck if White Diamond didn't leave after we did. She's laughing at us right now, I know it," Flint sighed, looking over to Pearl. Flint had never seen Pearl look so weak. The experience really must've messed her up, however it happened, and by the looks of it too, the Gem looked exhausted by said experience.

"Diopside, wherever you are, get yourself back here soon."

~~~~~~

Off within the Space Station, whatever life was roaming around within the place was trying their best to better adapt to the situation. Amongst these roaming monsters, there was a set of corrupted Quartzes moving along through the many halls. Much of the members of this pack of quartzes ad already been victims to the other crawling beasts within this place, and the foreign terrain it was so hard to just figure out where to even go. With their movement through the halls, one of the quartzes paused and looked into one of the rooms, quickly starting to growl menacingly at whatever was inside.
The quartz however didn't have much time to even do much, as a tractor beam suddenly covered the corrupted quartz's body, and in a sudden flick, the quartz was launched off down the hall! Both quartzes immediately bolted for it as the combatant walked out …

"Seriously! How dare White Diamond just leave someone like me behind. Does she not even know who I am?"

Aquamarine. As many of the Gems in here were either clustered, corrupted, or cautious as they could be, Aquamarine was actually more annoyed than anything. Her "deus ex machina" wand had kept her well out of trouble - just a flick of the wrist and she could send any of these mobsters flying out of her sight, but in her wandering around said Space Station, she had yet to actually find any way out of this place. Escape pods from all over had been and gone, and even if there was some warship somewhere in this place, she could barely get her bearings together going around this kingdom-sized space station. All she had to talk to was her thoughts, and the only company left on this bloody ship was trying to kill her. Not the best time ever, she had to admit. Which she did on a regular basis.

"First thing I'm going to do when I leave is have this place properly terminated. Yeah, that sounds about fair. And then White Diamond will regret the day she ever turned back on Aquamarine … as soon as I find a way out of here."

She was really in no mood for anything too good. White will feel her wrath, one way or another.
As she flew along though, the flying Gem was stuck with so many calls around her, she could barely hear herself think, covering her ears.

"Can you rockheads keep it down?! I'm lucky to hear my own thoughts over your racket!" Aquamarine complained.
Speaking of rockheads. As Aquamarine began to head off towards another four-way cross, she soon came across another of the O so many Corrupted Gems. Aquamarine wasn't threatened by it though, and as for appearance who would be? The corrupted "monster" looked more like a terrapin at first glance, with a rounded body, and staying still doing … well, nothing.

"Another one? How long is this going to take?" she griped, before getting out her wand once again. She was lucky the bow wasn't completely destroyed by White Diamond, and as such she could get her wand back, but that didn't make going through all of these monsters any more enjoyable. Shocking, I know. The gem monster bizarrely didn't react too much to her. In fact, it looked as bemused as she did.

"Oh, mock me huh?" Aquamarine said, feeling insulted. The least it could do was run away or something, but it didn't move. No matter, Aquamarine could do that for it, and the wand's aura wrapped around the thing. Now, what would happen was that it would be lifted and tossed aside, but something went wrong. The wand could move sure, but the object didn't move. Was the Gem attached to the ground underneath, or was it not even a thing to be picked up? Aquamarine tried over and over again, but it didn't seem to be working for whatever reason.
And then the creature started to move, disturbed by Aquamarine's involvement. The ACTUAL body starting to appear.

"Come on! I've moved thousands of items, why can't It -"

*snort*

Aquamarine found that this item was actually just part of the Corrupted Gem. The body of the creature was a lot bigger than Aquamarine expected it to be, looking much like a sort of hybrid between a ram, and a human. The plate Aquamarine was trying to move was on its head, and she wasn't going to budge it anytime soon. Aquamarine groaned and just changed from the head plate to the entire body, lifting up the body, and -

*SNORT*

In comes another corrupted Gem, of the same type, and managing to ram Aquamarine so its buddy wasn't stuck in mid air. Aquamarine got herself upright, shaken but finding even more opponents to contend with.

"It works alright. I really don't have time for any of this. Go bother someone else," Aquamarine said, readying her wand to send them on their way. If she could put an entire team of both Crystal, Equestria, Off-Color, and ruby squad in one try, two corrupted Gems will be no trouble at all. She raised her wand and got both of the Gems in her aura, before throwing them away out of sight. Barely even worth her time.

"Well, alright. If only I can actually control these bloody things …"

The two monsters were quick to come back around though, but Aquamarine simply zapped them for a second time, keeping them still. Aquamarine felt in power again over these things, and went on down to them with a smug grin as the monsters tried to move.

"When will you animals figure it out? I could pummel you all with one simple wave of the wand, and you still think you can stop me. How sad." She said, even pointing to her gemstone on her face. Even if the creatures understood her, they'd rather tear her to pieces than listen to what she had to say, but eventually, the two monsters started to relax a bit, and Aquamarine launched them away. Seemed the talk did something, as the two gem monsters raced away.

"Was there ever any doubt? I do wonder if this will work on the others back home? I could almost rule on the same level as the Diamonds!"

It works alright

"… Ok. Whoever is mocking me my mimicking my voice, when I turn around you better be begging for your mercy."

And she turned around. Next up was another monster of the Space Station, and this one looked GIGANTIC! The head itself, ending in a toothy beak, looked big enough to cover the hallway in of itself!

"... Well. Ok then. Off you go." Aquamarine readied to send the thing away, but this thing was NOT going to move, it was just too big. For the position it was in anyway. Aquamarine tried and tried, but the end result was simply nothing, and the Gem beast began to push itself forward right to her. Well, what's a small Gem pixie to do other than try to fly away? The small Gem flew as fast as her wings could carry her, but it was a losing battle, the Gem monster closing the gap behind her and it, jaws wide open, and ready to grab her. Aquamarine tried cutting corners as tight as she could, but it was homed in on her, and she wasn't getting away anytime soon. With the beast right on her tail, Aquamarine flew right out from the hallways and into a far larger room, giving the beast more room to maneuver. It was revealed to be an eerie resemblance to a Centipeedle, only with no legs, and the body more pinkish instead of green, and no eyes were evident.

"Oh WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?" Aquamarine yelled in frustration.

"I could pummel you all with one simple wave of the wand, and you still think you can stop me. How sad," the beast replied, mimicking Aquamarine's voice like a parrot. No, it didn't help much either.

"Very funny." Aquamarine groaned, readying her wand again. With more room, perhaps she could best the giant worm yet, as her wand got hold of the animal's body … then came the problem of actually figuring out where to put the thing. The position of the animal didn't make that possible to just slip it into a hallway or anything, so that didn't work.

"Well … at least you're in one place. Now I can actually think on what to do … What room is this anyway?" Aquamarine took a moment to look around the room for a bit more. The room turned out to be a separate docking station, and looking about the place, she hoped that this one wasn't another docking station she had come by already, but this one didn't look familiar to her. She looked around more and more, and then (probably the most contrived bit of luck ever) a Gemship.

"FINALLY!" Aquamarine beamed. … Then she saw her wand.

"... I just moved my wand away."

"How sad." said the Gem monster, before its beak was above and below Aquamarine. The pixie had to bolt away for the gemship, but the creature already got in her way, its tail hitting her hard enough to send her flying back towards the back wall. She was left dazed, and at the mercy of the monster but with all the noise and racket echoing throughout the place it began to get some more attention off through the halls.

"Attention! Attention! All non-corrupted and/or clustered Gems arrive to the docking station 712. There's a uh … tiny Gem, in trouble by a giant Gem corruption. Thank you."

"TINY?" Aquamarine strained through her gritted teeth. Sure she wasn't the biggest Gem in the world, but she didn't like getting that pointed out all too much. Still, the voice didn't sound familiar to anyone anywhere there, corrupted or otherwise. And the response was surprisingly immediate, as they began to hear something come up from one of the halls.
The corrupted giant looked down into the hall to investigate the newcoming meal, but once it did that, it suddenly ended up getting something slammed into its snout, strong enough to bend its beak! The gem monster shrieked from the pain shooting through it, and while it was still angry, it shook the hit off and moved off from the opening a bit. Who-so-ever did that had to be very strong.

"Off you go!" said the gem monster, again mimicking Aquamarine, but this was more to itself before it rushed off down another hall, leaving Aquamarine alone again. That was, until whoever sucker-punched the Gem monster soon came up to her.

"Hey, you okay?"

It took a bit for Aquamarine to look and see who actually was there. No one she recognized, that was for sure. She appeared to be a Gem, surely, a coloration similar to Flint, but lighter in complexion. She had black gloves and boots with a light grey rimming to them both. Her skin was grey as well, and her upper body is rather roundish, showing her muscle. Her outfit was light grey with a black rimming on her shoulders, and the bottom half of her upper body. Her hair was curly like Steven or Sapphire. What Aquamarine caught off guard on was that there was a total of THREE gemstones, lined up along her chest. She didn't appear like a fusion, so how was this even possible?
Aquamarine got up on her own, wings open so she could fly up to the Gem's eye level.

"Well, I could've handled it myself you know. But I … appreciate your effort," Aquamarine said, trying not to be too forward with what "thank you" she could bring up. Then came some more noise from the same hall, as some more Gems began to show up, starting with Diopside - a more familiar Gem.

"Aquamarine! Thank the stars," Diopside sighed in relief.

"Well of course I'd be alright, what did you expect? And who's this?" Aquamarine questioned, her wand pointing to the tri Gem. Diopside was feeling a lot better with herself, and for the Gem with her.

"Aquamarine, this is Concrete," Diopside said.

"My pleasure, your clarity," said Concrete. Well, at least they know who they were talking to.

"Well, that's more like it."

"Stars, stars, you Aquamarines have so much pride." said another voice.
Then came another Gem coming in from the same hall, chilling out as she leaned on the wall. This was a bit easier to figure out: a cut of Jasper, but this one had a bit of a different look to her body. She had shorter hair than usual quartzes, and unlike normal Jaspers who're muscular and bulky, this one was more like a Pearl in body shape - thin and skinny, and her gemstone on her navel.

"Good call on the intercom, J. Hey, where's Carnelian?" asked Diopside.

"That was awesome!"
Well nevermind, there she was. Soon after that, in came another Quartz Gem, one that almost mirrored Amethyst from physical height to the shaggy hair behind her. Her gemstone though was on her shoulder, and her body was red instead of purple. It was then that Aquamarine began to put two-and-two together for what actually was going on, especially after seeing the blue Diamond outfits on both Skinny and Carnelian.

"I see, a rescue team. What kept you?"

"We had a long time trying to find you. Now, soon as we get a gemship operational, we can -"

"Like that one?" asked Concrete, pointing to the oddly-untouched Gemship sitting off nearby.

"Well, that was disturbingly easy. … Flint would want to check the ship before we could fly off," Diopside figured. No way Flint would just jump the gun on an opportunity like this without checking it over first.

---(end flashback)---

"So, we checked the ship over, and uh … here we are," Flint finally finished.
Everyone was practically on edge with the whole story. Steven was pretty glad it was all handled, not to mention the Zoomans were safe along with the others (and a few extra).

"I did wonder where that other gemstone came from," noted Lapis, remembering seeing a new gemstone just showing up in the Temple one day.

"So where's the other Gems and Zoomans?" asked Jasper.

"The Gemship flying away didn't tell you?" questioned Aquamarine. She thought that would be enough indication.

"Ok, where'd they fly to then?"

"It took a bit to work out, but we found somewhere where the Zoomans can live. The three are getting them dropped off before coming back here."

"Wait. They're staying here?" asked Rhodonite.

"They can't fly back in that ship. If you're going to blast us so quickly, how do you think Homeworld will react?" Bismuth said.

"True that," said Amethyst.

"Well, it's good to see everyone's finally back together again. And I'm interested in seeing these Gems," said Garnet.

"And I'd like to see those humans again," added Connie, "I can't wait to see how they're doing."

"Eh, maybe later. But first, how's about you catch us up?" Bismuth said.

So, the others told them their side of the story.

Author's Notes:

It's about time we catch up with the other half of the Crystal Gems, and what the hay happened to that White Diamond Space Station. How many surprises did I manage to give you all in this mess? And I'm more than sure this "incident" might be defying so many rules right now. But then again, it's not the first time. Apologies for the rushed ending there. … Why is it whenever we go to the Space Station, the chapters are the longest they've ever been? XD.

Anyway, here's a few new corrupted Gems, clustered Gems, and some older Gems coming up.
… And I might as well say it, Save your complaints of one Gem in particular for someone who actually agrees it's bad. Her design's the original, and I see no problem with her design whatsoever personally. You'll know who it is when you see the name … or you probably won't, it's been a while since this was discussed .

Cup of Sugar

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Typically one could say someone wouldn't be too eager for waiting at the Train Station. But in the case of Starlight Glimmer, the unicorn was by far psyched, and she could barely keep still as she went back and forth along the station's grounds. Nopony else was around today, but there was somebody in the form of Pink Diamond, who at the moment was just sitting there by the steps and waiting for the train herself. Not as enthused as Starlight though, who herself was one step away from straight up prancing around the station and back. Well, at least Pink found some entertainment in one of Spike's more "entertaining" pieces of literature. AKA comic strips. As this was going on, Starlight turned over to the ticket taker.

"You know when the noon train from the Crystal Empire will be here?" she asked excitedly.

"Uh … noon?" the pony replied. It WAS in the name after all.

"Oh, right uh, sorry. Hehe, I'm just so excited because my friend sunburst is coming!" Starlight said to the ticket pony …

"He and I knew eachother since, like, forever! We have so much in common, and he's my closest friend after all." she said to one of the luggage ponies …

"We both loves magic, games, jokes, everything really! In fact, there's nopony in ALL of Equestria I have more in common with!" she said to Pink Diamond. Well, technically she was talking to a unicorn sitting nearby, but with her headphones blaring she couldn't hear her. Which was probably lucky.

"YEAH, so when is this big friend Sunburst coming? You promise me we'd finally go to Earth, and I'm tired of waiting for it," Pink said, slamming the comic book shut and tossing it behind her, the book somehow landing perfectly on top of … several others. That's about seven issues, two arcing stories through paper, and Sunburst still hadn't shown up.

"Trust me, we will, but I also wrote in my latest letter to Sunburst I'd have an amazing surprise for him. I can't wait to see his face when he sees you, he'll be so amazed!" Starlight pitter-pattered in place for a bit, so excited for that moment to come around. Pink Diamond felt some bit of her Diamond pride come up, and she began to smile again with some confidence.

"Well, I guess that's true. Can't deprive your friend of seeing me, right?" Pink said, patting Starlight on the head. Not exactly the best way of doing it, but at least the point was across.
Then came the sounds of the Crystal Empire express. Starlight was more than ready to greet her foal-hood friend, and with a smile waited right up front as the doors opened. She and Pink Diamond saw numerous amounts of Crystal Ponies come out of the train: stallions, mares, fillies and colts of the Crystal Empire coming into Ponyville for a visit. They saw numerous colors and variations, and Starlight Glimmer tried her hardest to pick out a piece of the crowd that could be her friend. However, as the crowds moved passed them both, they soon found that Sunburst … well, they didn't see him.
Starlight wanted to make sure nopony was missing, galloping right up to the doors to check it over. she looked up the train, and down the train, but nopony was left inside. She would check the train further, but the doors slammed shut before she could, and the train began to go off on its way. Too bad. And she was so excited too.

"Starlight?"

And just like that, she was back to being a giddy mare again.

"Sunburst!"

Starlight galloped right over to her friend, Sunburst just as happy to see her as well as he levitated some bit of his luggage.

"I'm so glad you could make it."

"Of course! I've been looking forward to this visit for a long time," Sunburst said, putting his luggage inside a nearby wagon. After the reuniting hug between old friends, it was then that Sunburst looked passed Starlight, and then saw the tall being that was Pink Diamond, standing tall and proud as if in front of her own subjects (which she probably thought so). Starlight saw what Sunburst was looking at, and she saw the reaction that she wanted to see.

A mouth agape, and eyes wide as dinner plates. He didn't change this expression as he adjusted his glasses. He may be a bit more aware of some of the magical creatures in Equestria, but none of his ecology studies, racial or animal classifications could be placed on Pink Diamond here.

~~~~~~

"Come on, Pearl. You gonna come out already?"

A few days had passed since the group had come back to full strength. And it was probably for the best, but things had chilled out ever since the Tindalos attack came through. The downtime not only gave Team B time to relax from their trip, but it gave them time to better understand much of the situation they were in. Not having Steven right by the Crystal Temple was a bit to get used to, but what were they to expect for White Diamond taking, well, everything away? They just needed to rework the temple a bit before it could all be back to normal.
Speaking of Steven, he was back over at the carwash, hanging out inside Greg's van as he was holding Pearl's stone in his hands, waiting for her to just come out at any moment. It had been a bit this time though, so her staying within her gemstone was kinda expected. Greg was cleaning up the Barriga's car, handling it fairly easily … though, same thing can't be said for the other cars behind. It was a busy day, no doubt.

"Ok, ok, I'm trying as fast as I can!" Greg called, working with a hose and sponge as best he could. He hadn't had this much work on the carwash in a long time, so keeping up with the demand of it all was a bit crazy to handle.

"Hey, Steven, think you can give your old man a hand here?" Greg asked. Steven took his attention off of Pearl for a minute, setting her inside the car before he jumped out.

"Yeah, coming," Steven said, going right over to him. Steven was given a sponge right away, and both father and son were just about to get back to it. They just got about five minutes in when they were visited by a few others of the Gems: Lapis and Peridot. Lapis flew in with Peridot in her arms, dropping her off.

"Hey, Steven!" Lapis said, before landing.

"Oh, hey girls. What brings you by?" Greg asked.

"Don't mind us, we just came to pick up Steven," Peridot informed, going up to Steven. However, Steven was a bit too busy right now, evident by the sponge in his hand.

"Pick up?"

"Remember Steven? We're gonna go by and visit the Zoomans today, see how they're holding up. You've been wanting to check in, right?" Lapis said. Steven stopped himself cold: the few days had been juggling around with the Zoomans and Pearl, but today he had plum forgot about it.

"Ah! I forgot! Oh, but I'm helping dad clean up cars," Steven said, going back to cleaning up the vehicles. Lapis and Peridot looked off to the line of cars, all of which looked dirty one way or another. Guess their time in getting their homes together didn't give them much time to get their cars washed up. Both green and Blue gem glanced to eachother, and then smirk.

"Greg, Steven, you two might wanna stand back," Lapis said, actually moving them safely over by the van.

"Uh, ok," Steven said, though they were already over by the van when they asked.

"You gonna lend a hand too?" Greg asked. Lapis though simply gave them a wink, and went over to Peridot, who already was readying herself with a few muscle flexes, and stretches to better prepare herself. Greg and Steven glanced to eachother, both unsure what they were gonna do. Though, it was probably easy to take a guess.

"Ready?" Peridot asked.

"Line them up," Lapis instructed. Peridot gave a salute to her before she began to get to work. The cars weren't exactly even, so Peridot made a big focus on each one of the cars lined up. It needed all the strength she could muster, and all the focus she could bring forward, but those in their cars could feel their vehicles being moved so they were precisely lined up with eachother. Spooked, but not the scariest thing ever. Peridot needed to only give a thumbs-up to give Lapis the greenlight.
Lapis went on next, and the hoses nearby suddenly were shooting out all the water they could muster, every drop unmissed in Lapis Lazuli's power. Everyone made sure to roll up the windows in their cars, just before Lapis submerged all of them in one shot keeping the water around each car like a coat.

"Spin cycle," Lapis said, before she started to flow the water in a circular motion, each part keeping the cars still but flowing it around every inch of the car. This kept up for a good twenty seconds before Lapis removed the water, leaving each and every car soaking wet. Greg found it good enough.

"WOW. Well, thanks for the assist, we can -"

"Engage dry cycle!" Peridot said. With some work of her metallic abilities, she got the sign of the carwash placed above her head, floating in mid air with fan blades on it made up of the garage doors to the carwash. With some confident chuckles, Greg and Steven went off for cover as Peridot got the spinning started on the "fan". She rushed up and down the line of cars with the huge fan spinning at such velocity to match a helicopter in hover mode, giving each car a quick air dry. Peridot had to put in some more effort in running up and down the car line AND keeping the blade going, but soon the cars were dried off and ready to go. just like that.

"Clean and ready to go, mam!" Peridot said, giving another salute for fun. Everyone else got out of their cars, and saw their cars were not just clean, but glistening as well. They sure got some applause for that one.

"Thank you, thank you, your transportations should be visibly pleasant now," Peridot said with a smug grin. Lapis looked over to Steven.

"There you go, you got plenty of time - … now."

Peridot didn't count for blowback: the van was completely covered in dust and dirt … AND Greg and Steven covered in dirt. Steven coughed, a tiny dust cloud coming from his mouth, but while dirty they were impressed with the job well done.

"WOOOO!" Steven said, thrilled as ever. Greg got some dust off of him. Good thing Steven closed the back before the dry cycle started.

"Alright, that's that. So what was it you were saying about "Zoomans"?" Greg asked, now having a lot of time to talk with them, as the customers were giving their payment to him.

"They're a decedent of Humans on Earth who'd been bred within the White Diamond Space Station. Recent events had them relocated to an island off within the Atlantic ocean, and the ponies had been lending a hoof in helping them adapt," Peridot explained, working off what she knew. what they exactly were doing was unsaid, which was partially why she wanted to check in herself.

"Oh! … OH, you did mention them before, didn't you Steven. You said none of them had seen Earth before. Sounds like they might be having trouble," Greg said.

"No, I don't think so. The island has multiple features that mirror that of the Zoo's environment … at least that's what Onyx told me," Peridot pondered. She hadn't had the "gift" to see the place in detail herself, unlike Onyx or Flint.

"Hey, why don't you come and see them? You're a human experienced with Earth, maybe you can give them some pointers," Lapis suggested. Yes, indeed he was a Human, and he was from Earth like practically every human on Earth.

"Eh, why not? I got no more customers right now anyway." Greg decided. Time to check up on what he missed. So, Peridot, Lapis, and Greg began to head off on their way, but Steven made sure to pick up Pearl before going off to join them. Poofed or not, Steven wouldn't want Pearl to miss this.

…….

*ba-bump* …. *ba-bump* …. *ba-bump* ….

Garnet simply took a moment within the heart of the Crystal Temple, checking in on how it was holding up. Even with all the time since they got back, the Crystal Heart still wasn't doing so good, giving off a low heart beat every twenty minutes or so. It may not be a true heart like those in any organic, but it still was what powered everything here, and if the Crystal Heart was still holding up so roughly, it's only a matter of when, not if, the Heart will … just stop.
Garnet had been checking on the Crystal Heart time and again, and as such it didn't really seem to be getting any better. The idea was making Garnet a bit nervous …

"Garnet, you in here? We're supposed to be checking on the others today."

Garnet didn't answer straight away, letting one of the Gems come in. She expected Flint to arrive to find her, but actually the Gem that came to find her was Jasper.

"In a minute," Garnet replied. Jasper didn't need too much time to figure out what was the problem here, seeing the severely weakened heart still trying its best to keep the Temple alive.

"You're still worried about the Crystal Heart?" Jasper asked, looking up to it.

"It's hard for me not to. I thought it would heal on it's own overtime, but now … Well, you can see for yourself," Garnet replied. The heart sure looked rather weak altogether. It was probably good that it was Jasper who showed up, as she was more used to bad news like Garnet was (or at the least won't freak out as much). She may not have future vision, but the perfect quartz knew when there was a timer set on something, especially in regards to this Crystal Heart.

"Look, I don't know how deep this place means to you as much as some of the others. … But have you considered "house-hopping" yet?"

"What?" Garnet asked, legitimately confused with the term.

"I heard Greg say that while checking in with him. It's just a "Human" way to say to find a new home."
Garnet looked back up to the Crystal Heart, thinking well about that. On one hand, it was her home for thousands of years since arriving to Earth. Her, and Pearl, and Amethyst, Bismuth too in an extent. And even after their worlds had been met with Equestria, that number extended to a whole lot more, and not even including just Steven.

"Well, whenever you're ready, some of the ponies already got the Zoomans started, so …"

"Uh, yeah. I'll be right with you," Garnet replied. Jasper decided to leave it at that and she began to go off on her own way. The fusion stayed quiet, wondering in her own way on how this could work. Should they even try to continue with the Temple anymore? Should they try for a new home? They may not have to … but it's beginning to look horribly like it.

~~~~~~

"Welcome to Mask Island: the Zoomans home away from the Zoo," Peridot announced.

On their arrival to the Zoomans' current location, Greg, Steven, Lapis, and Peridot started their way off the Warp Pad into the landscape, guided by Lapis herself. Mask Island was a bit of a quick choice on where the Zoomans should be in, but as Peridot had said, and given what Steven remembered about said Human Zoo, this came at a very close second to what the Zoo at least looked like: a tropical paradise. Trees were green and lush all year long, and with it being autumn, it wasn't as hot as it would be, leaving it in a nice warm breeze coming in from the ocean.

"Well, this place looks pretty good for a vacation," said Greg.
Steven took a small glance over towards Lapis Lazuli in the air, who kept her view on trying to find the other Zoomans. A talk about one particular fusion incident off the shores of this island right behind one of those involved may not be the best idea ever. Besides, they already got something more important on their mind.

"Can you see them, Lazuli?" Peridot called. Lapis kept her gaze forward, flying good and high to have a better look around the island.

"I think I see them by the beach," Lapis called.

You can guess where they went off to next. On the word, they went straight off towards the beach. It took little time to get there, the beach having a good amount of the Zoomans enjoying the sun and surf of their new home. The waves were a bit more prominent than the waves back home, and the sun a bit hotter on the island, but other than they, they saw that the Zoomans were enjoying it pretty well. some of them were playing in the water, keeping closer to the shore, as others just relaxed in the sunrays.
Still, they weren't the only ones there as Peridot had already stated. For the moment, the ones involved in this today were Fluttershy, Connie, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy was joining some of the younger Zoomans along the shore, as Pinkie Pie was presenting a few fun games they can do while in the water. They saw her happily wave a hoof as she was surfing along some of the waves.

"Hey Fluttershy, Pinkie!" Steven said, coming over to them along with the others. Pinkie quickly got herself back onto shore, her board (really a piece of wood), hitting the sand. She tumbled forward in a roll, but landed on all four hooves right in front of Steven.

"Hi Steven! You're just in time for my Zooman surfing lessons!" Pinkie beamed.

"Surfing? I didn't know you surfed," Lapis noted. not once did she recall the pink mare actually surfing anywhere. Pinkie smiled wide.

"We neither! But it's WAY easy once you get it down pact, and avoid tripping into the sea," Pinkie said, as if it was the norm for her. Considering she was teaching, that wasn't the best thing to hear. Pinkie grabbed her surfboard again, and raced off back to the waves, just as a few more familiar Zoomans saw them coming up.

"Stee-van! Here!" called Y6, who at the moment was sitting over by a few other Zoomans. He was more than eager to see him too.

"Y6! So, how're things going here?"

"The things are special here, Stee-Van. It is just like our old home, only without the little voices … they've been quiet, actually," Y6 said, thinking it over slightly. Seeing him up close, Steven could also note that he no longer had his earrings on, along with every other Zooman present. Made sense: the earrings wouldn't be working anyway so why have them on still?

"Eh, you mind filling me in, Schtu-ball?" Greg asked, probably the most in the dark about this.

"They've been sheltered for a very long time," Steven quietly explained. Before he could continue though, Y6 soon took note of Lapis and Peridot.

"Lapis, Ga-reg, Pear-E. Pinkie has told us stories about you. The bits! The bits!" Y6 said.

"The bits! The bits! The bits!" chanted a few Zoomans nearby. Lapis blushed a little bit, but Peridot was more casual, smiling.

"Yep, that's us. Uh, the bits … and, it's "Peridot"," Peridot said. Guess two-syllable names were easier to work with for them over "Peridot" or "Greg". Steven went over to Connie off nearby, who at the moment was just sitting and admiring what had happened. Steven sat down next to her, setting Pearl down by them.

"Hi, Connie. Enjoying the beach?" Steven asked.

"Oh hi Steven, great to see you. I see Pearl hasn't come back yet," Connie said, looking over to the lonesome gemstone on the ground.

"I don't know when she'll get back. Last time I remember she stayed like this, she stayed in it for weeks. I hope she comes back soon," Steven said, holding the gemstone in his hands again. Oh how long it had been since training for Pearl had such a freak accident in it, and that problem had her stuck in her gemstone for two weeks straight. Who could say how long it'll be now if even half of what torment the others said were accurate or true. but, patience is their virtue, and they just had to deal with it.
Their thoughts on that were interrupted when they began hearing splashing off by the shoreline, seeing some of the kid Zooman diving off into the water. One of them waved to Connie and Steven back on shore, and the two could only smile. They promised to rescue the humans from that Zoo, and here they are.

"You know, Steven, seeing all these humans around here. It makes me feel all good inside," Connie said with a grin.

"Yeah, me too. They won't have to worry about White Diamond from now on," Steven agreed. As they thought about that though, something else was beginning to creep up in the back of their minds. It was Steven who started to bring up the idea first.

"Uh, Connie? … You don't think she'll try to … get them back. Right?"

The thought hung in the air for a minute or two. White Diamond, despite her many resources, still needed subjects and as far as they knew, these Zooman were it. Odds were, if White were to get the Space Station up and running again, she would go and try to regather humans for that Zoo. And more experiments to work on again. Whether or not she'll go after THESE in particular was anyone's guess, but the threat of that idea still hung in the air.

"I didn't think of that. I guess she wouldn't like all of her humans outside of the Zoo, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe the Crystal Gems can stay here and -" Steven stopped himself almost immediately. "Wait. no, no. They're too busy to be guarding them all the time."

"I guess bringing them to Beach City's out of the question too: White would look there first," Connie added, shooting down her own idea. They might be closer to the Crystal Gems, but then again, they'll be closer to the Crystal Gems … if that makes sense. As they sat there, trying to think -

*caaww**caaww*

"Help! Help!"

One seagull was not too happy with all this commotion, and one overly-curious Zooman had disturbed one coastal mother right by her nest, the bird squawking and pecking at him as he bolted for it. The bird will not tolerate intruders near her chicks, no matter who or what they are. This zooman ran directly up to Steven and Connie, cowering behind them as the bird flew above their heads.

"Hey! Shoo, go away!" Connie shouted, only getting pecked in the head too. This racket quickly got attention of the Gems nearby, Peridot specifically.

"HOAAHH! HIYAA!" Suddenly, the bird found an angry green dorito right in her way. The bird squawked at her, but Peridot then began to show off some fighting moves as a threat: a few kicks, chops and punches as she yelled and made some battle cries. One hit almost struck the bird, and this odd display was just enough to make the bird back off. They were far enough from the nest anyway.

"Yeahahahaha! that's right, fly back to your corner of the island!" Peridot said in triumph. The zooman, grateful for being saved by that monster (they still got a bit to learn about that), hugged Peridot tight, tears of joy down his face.

"Oh, thank you! you saved me from that creature, how can I ever repay you?"

"Not cut me in half with your Pinkie Pie hugs?" Peridot managed to say through the tight grip. For domesticated humans, they still had some bit of muscle in them, at least this one did.

… and up came the lightbulb.

"Peridot, you're a genius!" the kids said.

"Why, thank you. … I don't see for what."

"Steven, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I see what you're looking at. Peridot, think you and the others can get the humans together for us?"

"Um, sure Steven. what for?"

"You'll see."

…….

"OH MY CELESTIA! I-I know you've been doing a lot lately, but world-traveling? I don't think even Starswirl the Bearded himself did this! How many worlds did you see? Oh, wait, wait, how MUCH of the worlds did you see?! Just imagine the research! The studying, the potential information!"

Off the island, and with some help from some of the Portal Keys, Pink, Starlight and Sunburst had made it from Equestria, and into the first start of Earth's many places. Sunburst could barely contain himself, seeing the many new things all over the place. And now, with this opportunity, Sunburst found himself as giddy as a school filly, looking around the area. Pink Diamond was feeling pretty good with seeing the planet herself, seeing as this is HER planet, and she finally could check it out at her leisure. What better spot to check too than on a tropical island to actually start this off?

"Well, it's been a while," Starlight said bashfully, rubbing the back of her head as they went along.

"I'd thought humans would be more advanced than this. I don't see any humans anywhere!"

"They're somewhere, just give us a second to get to them. Geesh."

"But I want to see them now!" she retorted. Pink Diamond felt that, waiting all day for Sunburst at the train station and dealing with all of Starlight's boasting, the least they could do was properly get her to the humans.

"Pink Diamond, will you just -"

"You're here too."

Garnet and Jasper. They've came a little late, but it was probably a good thing since they could find the trio off on their own way. Jasper kept a bit back when with Pink Diamond there. Or at least, she tried to.

"Oh, Garnet, Jasper, you're here too -"

"OH. MY. STARS. …" Pink Diamond was staring right at Jasper, who in this case, was about the same height as her. Well, she wasn't wasting time with this encounter. Jasper backed up a bit, but then …

"Uh … Hey, my diamond," Jasper said, showing her respect to her by presenting the insignia with her hands.

"... You're … you're …"

…

"YOU'RE THE MOST PERFECT QUARTZ I'VE EVER SEEN," Pink Diamond stated, hands clasped together, and eyes sparkling. Jasper couldn't help but fluster a little bit, though she tried to keep her pride together. Then her exciting (and bright) gaze shifted over to Starlight and Sunburst. Starlight was actually shielding her eyes.

"This is the best surprise ever! No wonder you wanted to come here first, I LOVE HER!" Pink beamed. Pink Diamond may have been gone for a long time, but it seemed she knew perfection when she saw it. Jasper was even met with a hug from Pink Diamond. Starlight had to count her blessings for avoiding a long argument over when they would see the humans here, though maybe one talking about Jasper's ownership might be a better idea.

"She knows that's not an object, right?" Sunburst asked.

"It's complicated," Starlight replied. She'll have more time to explain later, they had all day to do that.

"Okay, stance wider, body lowered. K, you got it."

"What's that?" Sunburst asked.

And with this arrival, they got just the slightest hint that something else was going on here. The group of five began to follow off the noise off into the island a bit. Garnet expected them to be out by the beach, but then again that was one Future vision she had seen. There was another one she had in mind, and if the noise was this way …

Well, the answer came up pretty quickly when they broke through some of the flora. Within the island there was a good sized clearing in the forest, big enough for much of the Zoomans to hang out in. What actually was going on, however, was a bit more than just some playtime. In fact, one of the Zoomans was seemingly in the middle of a confrontation with another, him armed up with some ice armor courtesy of Lapis Lazuli. It kept him well protected, and cool in the weather. He was holding what looked like a branch, but much of the extra sticks were removed and made it look like a spear or sword. As for who he was "fighting" with? She came back after some bit of grabbing, but without her main sword (you can guess where that went), she too had a sturdy branch modeled in a sword, and the two were stuck in a one-on-one sparring match.
If Pearl could see Stevonnie now, she'd be so proud of her.

"Right foot, left foot. Keep your eyes on me, U12," Stevonnie instructed. The other Humans, Gems, and ponies watched this go on from afar, the Zooman taking mental notes on how this was done. Stevonnie had kept herself more than busy, and her skills had not been weakened at all since they came from the Jungle Moon. At the least, she was more experienced than the Zooman in front of her.
The weapons were dulled down for the sake of safety, but Stevonnie still had to be careful not to hurt the Zooman by mistake. She already gave him some small tips and tricks on what to do for basics, but U12 was still slightly nervous about this, flinching whenever Stevonnie moved forward on the Zooman.

"This is a … different, game," said U12.

"You're doing fine. Now, keep calm and try to take me out," Stevonnie instructed. U12 rallied himself up, his "weapon" pulled back for a forward hit. Stevonnie readied herself for the hit … just for the thrust to become a slow nudge to her face.

"No, no, really get in there."

"Is that how the game works?" U12 asked.

"I promise," Stevonnie reassured, getting ready again. U12 rallied himself up, his "weapon" pulled back for a forward hit. Stevonnie readied herself for the hit … and she ducked fast, the sword rushing from above her. This dodge impressed much of the crowd, including U12, and then Stevonnie got her own weapon right in between the handle, and his own hand. One quick uppercut knocked the weapon out of his hand, but he was far less scared, and more amazed than anything. Same thing could be said for the other Zoomans. After their match was when the others came up.

"Stevonnie?" Garnet stated, showing they were there.

"Oh, hey Garnet," Stevonnie said, though she did pause when seeing Pink Diamond off nearby. Didn't they get told it would be safer for her to stay in Equestria over being on Earth?

"Whoa, are those … humans?" Sunburst asked, amazed by the varying sights of all the humans present. Pink Diamond was psyched to finally get a better look at the humans of her colony, going over with Sunburst to check them out.

"Pink REALLY wanted to come back here," Starlight quietly said. Stevonnie really couldn't blame Pink Diamond for that, being cooped up so much in a world of ponies where her true colony was here. They took a minute to see both Pink Diamond and Sunburst checking out the Zoomans, though while the former was just excited to look at some more humans, the latter was seeing this as a huge step in the studying branch back home. Humans in Equestria was as rare as snow in the desert (the Sahara, anyway).

"Oh, wow! I've heard rumors about humans being discovered, but this is incredible!" Sunburst beamed, his eyes starry as he was checking them out (much to their discomfort). J10 in particular was a victim to them, standing completely still.

"I KNOW! Oh, they look so adorable," Pink Diamond beamed, very excited herself to finally see a full group. Lars was a good start, but that was still just one human. The only gripe was there wasn't any pink humans anywhere in this group, but that was only a minor issue here.

"Um … you're starting to concern me. Is this a game?" J10 asked humbly.

"No, sorry it's just I've never seen humans face-to-face before."

"We are called Zoomans," said J10. Sunburst and Pink Diamond paused, Sunburst looking back and forth between J10 and Greg (a known human according to Starlight). He didn't see many differences in physical appearance (excluding clothes of course), as the anatomy between the two was pretty much the same, if not very similar.

"... Zoomans? Is that another subspecies of Human, adapted to a tropical environment when Humans traveled south to this location?" Sunburst pondered, stroking his beard. It wasn't too far out of the realm of possibilities, but J10 didn't have a clue what he was even talking about.

"W-Wha?" J10 asked. Garnet though gave them a hand, and picked up both Pink Diamond and Sunburst, moving them away before they would make the Zooman freak out any further.

"No need to scare the Zooman on your first day, you two," Garnet advised, placing them over back to the others. Starlight Glimmer was seeing all of this, and admittedly, she didn't really see what the thrill was about. Sure, seeing humans for the first time was a bit different, but not anything too crazy. But apparently Sunburst was a lot more enthusiastic about finding Humans, much like Pink Diamond was. Confusing, but at least Sunburst was excited … She guessed.

"What's going on?" Jasper than asked.

"Well, We've decided that we're going to be putting the Zooman under some training. You know, self-defense. It's probably a good idea since White Diamond's probably going to be looking for them soon," Stevonnie explained.

"Wait, you're going to train them?"

"For a while. They just got here, they're finally free, I don't want any of them to be taken away again," Stevonnie explained. Fair enough. When Garnet heard this, the fellow fusion was smiling pretty wide herself. She was hoping this Future Vision was the right one, it showing that Steven and Connie both were growing up and taking responsibility like this. Jasper though, being a war veteran, had to question one thing about this.

"Shouldn't you be using actual weapons?" Jasper asked, pointing to the branch.

"I'd use the sword, but we're … kinda low on weaponry."

"Oh. White Diamond. Right."

"It's my turn! Can I have a turn? Steve-ony?" asked Y6. Stevonnie can't escape from the accent barrier, and Y6 was already armed up with some of Lapis Lazuli's ice armor.

"Alright, coming! You guys can watch if you want," Stevonnie said. Garnet smiled.

"Good thing I thought ahead," Garnet said. One of her gemstones started to glow, and she then brought out a sign from her own, much smaller storage. It wasn't too fancy, but still plenty of heart in it: "Go Stevonnie!" on a picket sign. The back of the sign says "Go Zooman!" on it, so her support was for both sides.
Stevonnie went on back to Y6, and both sides readied to do.

"Begin!"

…….

~~~~~~

…….

"Huh … I uh ... Huh? ... I-I'm back. … I am back, right?"

It took sometime for her to grasp what had happened to her in the long run. Everything was kinda blurry for quite a while, but now after who knows how long, she was slowly starting to see where she had ended up. The White Diamond Space Station? No, it didn't look like it was dark. The Crystal Temple? … Well, not exactly. Her eyes caught up with her, and she actually found herself over by the carwash. In particular, Greg's van. Not really the first place she would've guessed she would end up, but then again stranger things had happened. Like how she was corrupted last she checked, but now she was back to normal all things considered. … Well, physically anyway. Her mind was still a little foggy, but she didn't feel the need to attack or any of those other "instinctual" thoughts. She was self-aware again, and she slowly started to bring herself out of the van, just to see Greg off nearby, already up from his recliner on seeing the light flashing from the van's windows.

"Oh, Pearl! Welcome back," Greg said.

"Uh … Greg? Oh my." Pearl steadied herself, her body worn out from the corrupted suit and how much it had basically played her. Pearl was exhausted, confused -

*slip* *SPLASH*

And wet.

"Oops, sorry," Greg said, helping Pearl back up to her feet. The leftover water from the hoses did at least give Pearl a much needed wake-up call, now bright-eyed from the flash of cold water.

"I told you to try and dry up those messes," Pearl said, checking her gemstone to make sure it didn't get cracked.

"I know you did. Nevermind that, how're you feeling? You've been out for several days since your friends brought you back," Greg asked. Pearl took a moment to recollect herself, looking around.

"It's nothing new: I've stayed in my gemstone for longer," Pearl replied. She also knew that she'd been out for much longer than that: the last thing she remembered, if anything, was her time on the White Diamond Space Station. and even then she could guess it was months time since it was colder than she remembered it was being "yesterday".

"Where is everyone anyway?" Pearl then asked. Greg thought it over for a bit, hand to chin.

"Beats me. Stevonnie's been training the Zoomans, the Gems had been doing … gem things. They didn't tell me very much about that -"

"Stevonnie? Training others?" Pearl was very hushed in tone, in such a shock at what Greg had said. Stevonnie's courses had been doing pretty well over the last few days, Steven and Connie taking some time out of their schedules (and some requests for Connie's side) to make this work. Pearl looked ready to actually cry, she was so happy.

"Greg, where're they? I have to see this!"

"Ok, ok, keep your pants on. They should be wrapping up right now, and I was gonna stop by to drop off some dinner. You can come with me if you want," Greg offered, showing Pearl his dinner in the form of a Fishstew Pizza box. Not the most appetizing thing for a Gem who hates eating altogether. She kept her gaze away from the box.

"Nice," Pearl simply said, though a bit disgruntle in that response.

"You don't have to eat this, I know you hate eating. Here, hop in, and we'll drive up to the barn and go from there," Greg said, hopping up into the driver's seat. Well, Pearl could probably make it there on her own, but then again, some more proper rest for her body could be a bit better. As she was going along the side of the van though, Greg had given the van a sort of mirror shine. And it was this reflection that Pearl took a good look at herself …
Pearl wore a dress baring resemblance to that of Pink Diamond's. The top half had puffy blue shoulders, an amber colored top with a v neck, a diamond shaped cutout at the bottom, and a light yellow trim along the bottom. The bottom half was a pink skirt with transparent drapes over it and pale blue ballet flats. Blue. Yellow. And Pink.

The time will come.

"K, Pearl, ready to get going? Steven's gonna be so psyched when he … uh, Pearl?" Greg took a peek out from the passenger's side, and all he saw was Pearl just … standing there, staring at herself, hands over her mouth. … Again.

"Eh. Impressed, Pearl? Just waxed her this morning," Greg said, patting the side of his van. But that didn't seem to snap Pearl out of it. Greg eventually got out and went over to her.

"Eh, hey, Earth to Pearl. Anyone in there?" Greg asked. Still nothing. Greg hadn't seen Pearl act like this in, well, ever. The only thing that got her back around. Though, the shutter and jump back may be a bit much.

"H-Huh? Did you say something?"

"Geesh, Pearl, you okay? I know you've been out for a while, but you're looking ready to pass out," Greg said in concern. Pearl glanced at her reflection off on the van, before she got herself back together, looking proper as per usual.

"Well, when a Gem reforms it isn't usually so dynamic. It just caught me off guard, that's all," Pearl said.

"Well, I think it looks good," Greg complimented, winking to her. Pearl cleared her throat again, as Greg went into his van. "K, let's get going. If we hurry up, we can -"

"No!" Pearl didn't mean to say it aloud, but there it was. Greg peeked out from the window again.

"Huh?"

"Uh. I-I mean … I don't think I'd want to just yet. I just got back, and they must be very busy with their, uh, training."

Pearl's skills in lying weren't as good as they used to be. Greg thought about it, and smirked slyly, before going back to the drivers seat.

"Alright, suit yourself. I'll just tell them and they can come by and see you. They were hoping you'd see how far they'd come, but if you don't want to -"

*click*

Whelp, that didn't take much.

"Drive," Pearl said.

…….

"Okay, that's good everyone!" Stevonnie called.

Sunset on Mask Island, just along the shoreline. Another day through this game, and the Zoomans were doing pretty good with themselves. For the Zoomans, this was less of a training session, and more of a fun game, which was probably a better way for them to take it for now. Not too many were hanging out there this time, the ones in particular being Starlight, Sunburst, Garnet, and Pink Diamond. The others had their own time going back and forth, so this wasn't the only crowd stopping by to check on the Zoomans. Admittedly though, Starlight was just trying to keep herself from simply falling over in boredom.

"I haven't had this much fun since yesterday!" beamed Y6.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself. Keep this up and you'll all master it in no time," Stevonnie said, which itself was pretty great to hear. As they were busy with this, Starlight Glimmer went over to Sunburst, poking him in the shoulder.

"Hey, uh, Sunburst? I know you're excited about these humans, but don't you want to do something else?" Starlight asked. Sunburst began to notice how much he'd been caught up with these humans lately.

"Well, we can do something else. Kinda got caught up, huh?"

"Yeah, kinda," Starlight said. "It's going to be so great. Just like old times. You and me doing the stuff we like – games, magic -"

"Antiquing!" Sunburst cut in. … Wait, what?

"Huh?"

"Antiquing! You know I love antiquing."

"You do?" Starlight asked, confused.

"Of course! Historical artifacts, ancient relics! Oh, your friends are so lucky to live in Ponyville - Ponyville's antique central!"

"It is?" Starlight questioned. She hadn't lived in ponyville as long as the next pony, so hearing this was a bit uh … odd. Sunburst was happy though, and Starlight was good for that anyway.

"How have we never talked about this? We are going antiquing, and you are gonna love it!" Sunburst reassured her. Starlight couldn't refuse him, though she was wishing this visit would be a bit better than she thought. It really hadn't been too well for her, especially since that for much of this trip, Sunburst had been more akin to her friends than to herself (Pink Diamond being just one example).

"Riiiight. K, Pink, time to go," Starlight said. Pink diamond was immediately disappointed.

"Already?" Pink groaned.

"It'll be fine, Pink Diamond, let's just get going," Starlight stated. This had been a rather annoying routine for them to go through every time they had to go back. Pink Diamond wanted to keep exploring the place, but she can't do that if she was constantly kept on such a leash all the time. At least, that was how it felt. She was the member of the Diamond Authority, why was she being treated like she was under quarantine or something?

"I can show you some magic and how to use it, if you'd like," Sunburst offered.

Pink then got an idea.

"DEAL!" suddenly, Pink Diamond bolted for the nearest Warp Pad. She raced off so quick, it left Starlight and sunburst in a tailspin, a cloud of dust all that remained where Pink Diamond once stood. Lord forbid if they could ever catch up with her.

"Oh boy. K, see ya later, Stevonnie!" Starlight said, waving a hoof before she and Sunburst galloped off after Pink Diamond.

"See ya!" Stevonnie called. Garnet stuck around to help the Zoomans off to rest, but they didn't really get too far until someone else stopped by, coming up minutes after Starlight, Sunburst, and Pink Diamond had left.

"Pizza delivery!" called Greg. Stevonnie, Garnet, and some of the Zooman stop when they heard the voice, seeing Greg finally arriving with pizza box in hand. Stevonnie, feeling hungry, looked over to Greg as he went over, but there was a bit of trouble to be had: him tripping over a rock hidden in the sand. Garnet moved into the right spot, hands out as the pizza box landed in her arms, safe and intact.

"Safe," Garnet said.

"Hey dad! Er, Mr. Universe. Boy, I dunno what to call you like this," Stevonnie said. Both of those names were technically true, and by this point Greg was a bit used to it, chuckling a little.

"Either one's fine. I thought you'd be hungry, so your old man brought you some dinner," Greg said, referring to the fresh pizza. Stevonnie was more than happy for it. Though Y6 was a little bit curious over this odd kind of fruit. The strange, yet enticing smells just made Y6 even more curious over it.

"... Pi … za …"

"You never had pizza before? Here, give it a try," Greg offered, giving him a slice. Y6 felt the admittedly hot slice in his hand. It had to be edible if Stevonnie and Greg were having it to eat. It was a typical pepperoni pizza, nothing too fancy, but eventually Y6 took one bite of it.
No words can even remotely comprehend just how amazing it tasted. Y6's eyes lit up almost immediately, savoring the amazing flavor of the cheese and pepperoni. No amount of fruit back in the zoo even came close to this kind of food, and Y6 gobbled up his slice fast.

"W-What is this?" Y6 asked, his eyes still starry in bewilderment. It'll take them all a bit to get used to something like this, and some other Zoomans were given a chance to try this themselves, having a similar reaction.

"Easy everyone, there won't be any pizza left at this rate," Greg said, though he was finding it nice to see someone enjoyed Kofi's food as much as they had.

"How did you get this? Does it grow around here?" Y6 wondered.

"Well, some of the stuff you need to make this does. You need some bread, cheese, and you can add whatever toppings you want to it."

"Fruit too?"

"Well, there is pineapple pizza, so I guess you can."
As they dug into the meal, Garnet took a look over where Greg came from, and started to notice something standing just out of normal sight.

"You bring someone with you?" Garnet asked.

"Oh yeah. She just needs a little prompting," Greg said, looking back to his visitor. The figure was a bit humbled, but now that she was brought, Pearl started to come out. She took her sweet time in doing so: a step every five seconds. Odd.

"Pearl!" Stevonnie gasped. She was quick to go up to her on sight, hugging her old friend. Pearl took a minute, but she was happy to see her as well. Stevonnie then took a look to how Pearl looked, seeing quite the difference in her typical outfit. Such vibrant colors and designs made her stand out more than ever.

"I'm digging the new look. You look great," Stevonnie said.

"Welcome back, Pearl," Garnet added, smiling.

"Yes. Thank you. Sooooo, Greg told me you've been … teaching?" Pearl inquired. Stevonnie nodded.

"We've been doing great too," Stevonnie explained, "They're all taking their time in actually fighting, but they're willing to try this."
Pearl took a minute to look out at the group of humans, much of them now resting in the setting sunlight, some swimming in the water. Pearl was feeling very happy about the fact her student was now a teacher to others, something any teacher would love to see, but her mind was kinda muffled still. Pearl still had her mind on other things though, especially when finding herself now in such a … specific appearance modifier.

"Ga-reg!" called J10, "Watch this splash!"
Off by the shoreline, J10 found a good perch right by the beach, out far enough to jump and dive in, but not too tall where she'll be at danger of hurting herself. The others by the shoreline looked on, and J10 dove right into the water, barely causing a splash on the surface. There wasn't even splashing.

"That's the tiniest splash I've ever seen," Garnet said.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that," Stevonnie said, getting an idea in her head. J10 got to the shore as Stevonnie went over to the same jump, where a few Zooman were ready to go themselves.

"Hey, F3. Ever heard of a move called a cannonball?" Stevonnie asked.

"A move? no, can you tell me?"

"I'll show you," Stevonnie said, backing up a little bit. All day of training, it was good to get back to some fun times. So, Stevonnie began running to the cliff, and with a mighty leap …

"CANNONBALL!"

A huge splash was left in Stevonnie's wake, observed by everyone there as the beauty fusion breached the surface, tossing her head back. With the sun right behind her, it was simply a perfect shot for them to see. Especially Pearl. The other Zooman by the jump followed her lead, going in cannonball instead of a dive, enjoying the cool waters of the sea. Stevonnie laughed along with them, and took a look over by the shoreline, swimming on back. Sure felt refreshing to do that, though one detail did catch Stevonnie as a bit confusing.

Where'd Pearl go?

…….

"I can't believe you've been visiting humans so many times and didn't take timer to study any of them," said Sunburst, as he and Starlight went off towards the Warp Pad.

"I've been kinda pre-occupied to do that. Well, so long as you're having fun with it, so am I," Starlight said, though her tone didn't make it that convincing. Sunburst though took it in stride, as they eventually reached the pad itself. Considering both were Unicorns, they weren't gonna be using the Warp Pad to get home (they couldn't use a standard Warp Pad anyway), but Garnet did plan ahead and "propped open" the Portal Key door for them to get home. Planning ahead, that fusion.

"This has been a great visit! Good to see you again, Starlight," Sunburst said. Starlight wished they could've done a bit more with this, but as she said, so long as Sunburst was happy, so was she.

"Yeah. come on, let's catch up to Pink Diamond," Starlight said.
With a nod of the head, both Sunburst and Starlight trotted on through the portal back into Equestria, the portal closing behind them and disappearing. They were sure Pink Diamond would be waiting for them there somewhere if it meant learning some magic.
… Normally. Soon as the portal closed -

"Yesssss. They fell for it!" said PINK DIAMOND, who'd been hidden just out of sight until both Unicorns had gone through. Triumphant, Pink Diamond began to stroll along through the jungle, smile of victory on her face.

"NOW I can take a look wherever I want. Time to find out what I've been missing!"

~~~~~~

The sun was just minutes from disappearing on the horizon, and with some time for herself, Pearl began to head out towards a cliffside, this one much higher up, and off by an isolated area of the beach. It was … a bit much for her to handle, seeing Stevonnie like that. Time out here left her space to think over what had been going on as much as she could remember. The fusion sure had been busy with training, and she could imagine settling the Zoomans into their new home outside of the White Diamond Space Station would've been a bit hard to handle. She had no clue as well how much the others had gone through since escaping altogether, so she had to catch them up on that eventually.
But seeing herself like this … appearing like this. … Something was going through her mind, stirring, and given the fact she practically almost got herself killed when stuck in the Space Station, this made her realize a little bit more that the more she waited, the harder it was gonna be to get it out. And the most likely it won't ever be told at all.

"Ok Pearl. Okay. Think. … What're they gonna think of me when they find out …?"

"Found you!" Stevonnie said, coming out from the nearby foliage. Pearl wasn't expecting company so quick (odd as that may sound), but she wasn't so scared of seeing the fusion there. That didn't mean the scream didn't startle Pearl at all.

"Stevonnie!" gasped Pearl.

"Sorry. Taking time to think?" Stevonnie said, walking over to her as she dried up her hair a bit. Pearl grew flustered.

"Eh, well, yes. … So, have you two been fused the whole time?" Pearl asked, trying to act a bit casual.

"Oh. Well, no, I just stay at me during practice. Looks like I might have to unfuse soon," Stevonnie said, looking out to the sun. Pearl had to think a bit further now. The next question though seemed a bit suspicious.

"... Stevonnie. Are you by yourself?"

A pause. Stevonnie glanced behind her, but all she could see was just a bit of the jungle, and no one else. No pony, human, or Gem here.

"I think so. The Zoomans are sleeping right now, and the others went home. I stayed to look for you."

"Good."

Good? Steven and Connie both knew that, in the long run, something like this meant that there was something important going to happen.

"OK Pearl, what's the big thing you wanna talk to me about?" Stevonnie asked, as if it wasn't that big of a deal. To Pearl though, the feeling was drastically different.

"Huh? B-Big deal? What big -"

"Pearl, I know that tone. Besides, you wouldn't ask me - or, us, if we were alone if it wasn't something important. So, what is it?"
Pearl could feel her hand twitching on those words, the Gem feeling conflicted. Well, Stevonnie got the idea down, it was time to get this going. Now, or never.

"Stevonnie, listen I -" and all of a sudden, her hand reacted and went to her mouth. Again. She wasn't as scared of this as before, but more frustrated than anything, as she yanked her hand off her mouth. "Stevonnie -" and on went the hand again.
A rather harsh case of Deja Vu for her, and it was worrying Stevonnie especially. Neither Steven nor Connie had the idea of how hard this was for her, nor the end result when the others tried getting some proper truth out of her, but Stevonnie knew when a friend was struggling with something. Pearl wanted to tell them, she wanted to tell her, but her body just wouldn't let her.

"Pearl, you okay?" Stevonnie asked. Pearl practically tore her hand off of her face again.

"I-I'm sorry. I want to tell you -" and once more, her hand began to move up to her mouth. If she needed to say this, Stevonnie needed to help her first, and before Pearl's hand got to her mouth she placed both of her own hands onto Pearl's.

"Pearl. Pearl, it's okay. I can see whatever this is must be hurting you, but I promise you, you can tell me anything," Stevonnie said, speaking softly and trying not to make this anymore stressful than it was. Pearl froze, her eyes fixated onto Stevonnie's. The fusion could feel Pearl's hands begin to retaliate again, but not as roughly as they had before.

"... I don't know … I-It's very … important. What'll you think of me?" A rather weird question, but that told Stevonnie whatever she had to say it involved her deeply. And perhaps it wasn't the best thing ever.

"Pearl, you've saved Steven and Connie dozens of times. You've trained Connie to become the best knight in Beach City, and you helped Peridot and Steven bubble the Cluster and saved the Earth - again!" Even with these reminders though, Pearl felt a little bit unsure looking down to her feet. Stevonnie then brought Pearl's gaze to her own, a motherly smile on her face. A lot like someone Pearl admired more than anyone else …

"Look at me. You can tell me anything, Pearl. Don't be afraid. Who knows, you might be surprised by the end of it."

"... You sure now? …"

"I know so. … Now, tell us. Tell me."

Pearl was quiet for a bit, and Stevonnie backed up and took a seat on the grass. Pearl found herself with a one-person audience, and she herself was the one with a story to tell. Pearl took a deep breath, and slowly, her hands began to relax.

"... Okay. I'm ready."

Pale Rose

View Online

Homeworld was in its prime. Gemkind had come a long way since its initial beginning, but now, with so much time, Era 1 was at its upmost excellence. The cities were in excellency, and every Gem of many a type was heading on through their daily duties, routines, and lives they've been given. Quartzes, Agates, Lazulis, Rubies, Fulgurites, any many others of the Era 1 Homeworld. And amongst all of this, there was something ... more interesting in the works. Something a bit more profound.
Something Diamond-worthy. Blue Diamond. Yellow Diamond. White Diamond. And ... Pink Diamond. All four of them, the undisputed rulers of all of Homeworld, all of Gemkind. The diplomacy of Blue, the military of Yellow, the chemistry of White. They all had their own place within this hierarchy, and their own area of main placement ... well, except for Pink. She was still young. Still growing up. And in this moment, not in control of much of anything other than her own appearance, and if she were lucky some publicity where it was just her to be an image. Pink Diamond was still fairly small when in comparison to her fellow Diamonds, the Pink Gem standing at about Rupee height, just above a prime quartz soldier, which compared to a typical Diamond was a bit stunted. As for appearance, Pink Diamond had a different look to what she was currently seen as: her outfit more similar to Yellow Diamond if to anyone, but pink. All the same, Pink Diamond had something special for her today, and the other Diamonds brought her over to one of Yellow Diamond's buildings. This one on the surface was a normal sight, but this day it was going to be a bit more special. This was a special day for Pink Diamond.

"Can I really, Blue?" she asked.

"Yes, Pink. As a Diamond, it's time for you to retrieve your own personalized Pearl. And I can't think of a better time to do it," Blue Diamond replied, smiling her soft smile. Her own Pearl. Even a diamond had to be given some time to be given one of those, and Pink Diamond was ready to be given hers. Yellow and White did the honor of getting the distributor's attention, namely in White flicking the front door as her own knock. It took a bit for the Gem, Melanite, to come on out to see them, and the moment she did see all the Diamonds at once, the Gem immediately did her diamond insignia with her hands.

"D-Diamonds! My Diamonds! I-It's such an honor to see you," Melanite said. Sure one Diamond was one thing, but seeing all four of them at one time was quite another, and she did NOT want to disappoint.

"Melanite. Is your stock ready for presentation?" asked Yellow. Melanite of course nodded.

"All the Pearls are ready and willing, My Diamond. I've personally made sure to have the other orders on hold so you'll have the maximum option," Melanite explained. Melanite hoped that it was the right call, but White gave her a look of approval.

"Very good. Bring them out," White instructed. Like any Gem would, Melanite complied, and with a whistle, the Pearls she had in stock then came on out. Pink Diamond felt pretty excited for this choice, smile on her face and eyes sparkling. So many options to pick from, a good fifty in total, and all of them stood at attention. Though admittedly, all the Pearls were a bit worried with this decision. After all, being a Pearl to a diamond was probably the biggest honor any Pearl could ever get in this day in age. All of them looked the same in appearance, though once they would change their appearance in tune to whomever they're given, so at this point the only difference they all had was the placement of gemstones. All of them were all pale white, no color or any distinguishing features. The Diamonds should know: Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl being a good example of this. Pink Diamond took a look around the selection, but the more she looked to them, the more she was feeling less thrilled. If they all looked the same, why was there a choice anyway? Something told her that might be the point.

"Um ... don't you have any uh ... different Pearls?" Pink asked.

"I know they don't seem as extravagant as the next cut, but they'll alter their appearance the second you pick one out," Yellow explained. Made sense, but that didn't mean it was exciting for her. She still took the time to check out what was what, and see which Pearl she would like. They all looked quiet, blank-faced, much like a servant or butler seemingly would be. Nothing to help her pick, nothing to really tell her "hey, I'm here, pick me". Pink Diamond glanced to her fellow diamonds again, but then she got an idea ...

"I'll take them all!"

ALL of them? That kind of order was a bit out of nowhere.

"Pink, you can't pick ALL of the Pearls, you'll have to pick one."

"But don't you have a set of Pearls, White?" Pink asked.

"... Just pick one Pearl, Pink," White sighed. Well, so much for that idea. She looked around a bit more at the selection, and while many of them did look a bit monotone at best, Pink's eye was drawn to one right in the center. One that looked a little bit different from the rest, not in gemstone, but in expression. She didn't look like she was ever going to be picked by any Gem, let alone a Diamond. Her gaze was to her feet, not to her. ...

"I'll take ... That one."

And Pink Diamond pointed right to Pearl. The pearl didn't react at first, thinking that it was probably some other pearl among the ground. That was, until the pearls around her started to move away from her, giving her the space to stand out of the crowd.

"... M-Me? ..." she asked quietly. Yellow diamond felt a little bit unsure of this.

"Her, Pink? From the reports I've gathered, that one's not the most ... cooperative," Yellow stated, making the Pearl cower a little. But Pink Diamond didn't care about that.

"You said I can pick my Pearl, and I pick her," Pink stated. The Diamonds looked to one another, and eventually Blue Diamond looked over to the Pearl.

"Come forward," she said. The Pearl needed a little bit to really figure out that it truly was HER, and only then did she begin to walk forward. The Diamonds could note that her gemstone wasn't exactly the same as their own pearls, nor the pearls amongst Melanite's group. Her gemstone, on her forehead much like White Diamond, was in a more oval shape than a circular one. Still, as a Pearl, Pearl looked up to her diamond. She took a bit to take in what she was seeing, and soon her body started to form and take shape. Her body was fine, but her outfit started to change into a more pinkish color, much like her owner. In the end, the outfit this pearl ended up with a pair of long white socks, pink ballerina shoes, and a pink one-piece suit accompanied by puffed up shoulder pads, and a transparent flair dress that reached her knees. Pink Diamond was very happy to see this.

With the weeks to follow for the young Gem, Pink Diamond felt a lot more official now. Every other diamond before her had gotten their Pearl, and now she had hers. Pearl was still feeling a bit edgy on things as time went by, trying her absolute best to not disappoint her new master. If the pearls owned already were anything to go by, she had to really keep her act together and try not to disappoint. Pink however was more psyched she had a Pearl at all, and now that she did, she felt more like a Diamond than she had before. A true Diamond with her own Pearl.
Now she had to figure out what the heck to do with her.
Pink Diamond and Pearl were off in Pink's personal quarters for the moment, Pink Diamond looking over Pearl one day, with Pearl staying quiet and standing off nearby and waiting for whatever instruction Pink would have for her. Pink Diamond's room was basically a pink room off somewhere in Diamond City, high in elevation as evident with the building tops outside her window. The other Diamonds weren't around, so it was just her and her Pearl. Again. Honestly, it wasn't the first time. Pink Diamond wasn't sure what to do, and Pearl could see that.

"Pearl," Pink Diamond said at a point.

"Yes, my diamond?" Pearl asked. Pink Diamond had literally nothing else to do, looking bored as ever.

"Um ... So. What do you Pearls do?" she asked. Pearl was a bit perplexed at first, but she had to answer accordingly.

"Whatever is asked of us, my Diamond. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it," Pearl explained, formally and truthfully.

"Anything? I thought Pearls were just for looks," Pink wondered, scratching her head. Pearl felt a little bit uncomfortable, but didn't say anything on that in regards. She was only more well-known with Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl, and she didn't see them do much other than just stand there and look pretty.

"A bonus, my Diamond."

"Oh ... is that all you do?" Pink questioned, sitting down in a crisscross in front of Pearl. Pearl felt puzzled again.

"P-Pardon me?" Pearl asked humbly.

"I've seen other Gems do other things: Quartzes practicing in the training field, Jades writing down things, Emeralds racing eachother in their gemships. I've never seen a Pearl do anything besides being a servant before. Don't you Pearls do anything else besides that?" Pearl clammed up. Not a Gem in history would really question their Pearl to this degree, and even if they do it wasn't with any legitimate curiosity. Pink Diamond was asking such questions no Pearl would ever need to answer, nor had even gotten to answer. What was she supposed to do? Pearl glanced around for a bit, as if trying to find a sign somewhere behind her Diamond, before closing her eyes and looking formal again.

"There's no reason for us to do anything else, my diamond. We're made to serve, and nothing more than that."

"Seriously? You don't even chat with eachother or anything?"

"We're not even allowed to walk alone, my diamond. The authority forbids it," Pearl explained.

"WHAT?" Pearl suddenly felt scared, no longer looking formal and more terrified. Did she say the wrong thing? Pink Diamond couldn't believe her ears. Sure, Gems look up to the Diamonds, and yes they do follow their commands, but to not have any pastime to themselves? That's a bit ridiculous.

"Eh, m-my apologies, I-I didn't mean to upset you, really. Feel free to punish me if it suits you," Pearl said, trying to calm Pink down. She even bowed her head for doing that, but Pink Diamond looked perplexed on this.

"What? Why?" Pink asked, giving Pearl a "you gotta be kidding" sort of look.

"I ... upset you?" Pearl repeated, a bit confused. A Pearl would feel the end of someone's fist for messing up, but why wasn't that fist coming up to her.

"Pearl, I'm not upset at you. I just can't believe a Gem was made that can't even leave her own home. You sure there's something you Pearls do in your free time? Anything besides being a servant?" Pink asked. Pearl didn't know how to react to this. She was a Diamond right?

"Um ... well ... we uh ... my cut have been trained by White Diamond. To protect our masters, in case they ever would ... need our assistance in a physical situation. ..." Pearl didn't look to her master during this conversation, her eyes continuing to look for that sign from earlier. This got Pink's attention, perking up the Diamond.

"NO. WAY. White Diamond trained you? That's amazing!"

"R-Really?" Pearl questioned, kinda amazed herself that someone would say that.

"Of course! Why don't you show me? Do you have a Gem Weapon, or do you shapeshift into one? I wanna see this," Pink insisted. Pearl tugged in her collar. This felt ... backwards to her. A Pearl was never asked to show off any of their skills, but, orders are orders no matter what details they have.
She just gave a sigh, and for her answer, her gemstone began to glow. Pink Diamond wasn't bored anymore, and soon, Pearl presented her signature Gem weapon spear to her diamond. Pink was sure pleased, and she moved back to give her Pearl some space to show what she could do. Upon relevance of her weapon, Pearl began to work out her own skills for her Diamond, doing some stabs, jabs, and slices of her spear. The whole time it was her eyes closed and she visualized herself back in the training sessions with her fellow Pearls, a hologram suddenly showing up in front of her for the presentation. At first it appeared much like the basics of training, 101 style, but as she continued, Pearl began to go more and more into it, striking quicker and more precise. Pearl began to work her skills on this hologram, with a mixture of grace and accuracy as she continued dodging the hologram's attacks. The longer the fight went on, the more on edge Pink Diamond was in her seat, unable to look away from this display with a mix of fear and excitement. Her eyes grew especially wide and sparkling when Pearl actually stood on the tip of her opponent's sword with the tip of her foot. Pearl made the final move and hit the hologram right in the head, ending the match. The hologram disappeared, and so did the sword, Pearl jumping off in a backwards spin before landing on her feet. ...

"... What was wrong with her again?" Pink Diamond said in a hushed voice, amazed at the fact she had her own personal master spear-Gem as a Pearl of her own. She never even saw Yellow or Blue's Pearls fight at all, nevermind fighting this good. Pearl sighed and turned to her Diamond, and she quickly blushed up a storm on seeing her so ... interested.

"Uh ... well. There you are then," Pearl said, her Gem weapon going back into her gemstone. And good timing too, as someone started to knock on Pink Diamond's door. Pink Diamond was ready to get up, but Pearl was already on it and got to the door first, opening it up and seeing who was standing there.
This Gem didn't appear like any Gem either of them were familiar with. This gem was a Sapphire, there was no doubt in that, but this one looked a bit different than other Sapphires: a pair of glasses over where her eyes would be, and colored a shade of pale red. Her hair was smoothed out behind her instead of poofed out, and only reached down to the base of her back. Her dress was darker pink, with shoulder pads and upper dress a pale white.

"Can I help you?" Pink diamond asked, peeking from over her own Pearl. Both Pearl and Pink Diamond looked to the Gem, the Sapphire adjusting her glasses.

"I've come here with a report, my Diamond. A report from the others of the Diamond Authority. I predict you'll really enjoy it," the Sapphire explained.

"What report? I hadn't heard anything out of them in days," Pink Diamond asked, curious over the Sapphire. The Gem smiled.

"Blue wanted me to inform you that they've located a new planet ... And they want you to have it."

...

"... Come again?" Pink Diamond asked, eyes as wide as saucers.

"They want you, Pink Diamond, to have it. They've come together, and as they've made me your advisor, they've decided to let you have your colony. At long last," the Sapphire revealed.

Silence. ... Pink Diamond, ever so slowly, started to grow the biggest smile she ever had in a long time. Her hands covered her mouth, but it didn't conceal her smile, her eyes starry and full of joy. Pearl wasn't sure if she should try to make amends or run for cover, especially when the Sapphire covered her ears.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

There goes her hearing for the next hour. Pink Diamond, out of joy, grabbed Pearl and spun around with her, laughing all the while. Pearl simply had to endure it, but was glad to see her Diamond so happy.

First her own Pearl, and now her own colony. At long last, her very first, true Colony.

~~~~~~

"WOW! It looks like that moon on Sector 7!"

The planet Pink Diamond was given was, for a lack of any better word, special. At least to Pink Diamond it was, compared to other colonies she had seen. The Jungle Moon was the only one that came close, and she only stayed there for a brief time. With her landing down on her first colony, ala tractor beam from a nearby Gemship, she, Pearl, and her advisor were now down and made landing on the surface. Pink looked around at the landscape, seeing the many different colors. Blue skies, bright orange rock, a few dry bushes here and there, a lot of things not typically found on a Gem colony. Pink Diamond took a moment to look it all over before her advisor started speaking.

"Now then, my Diamond. The first step in making any colony is to begin creating Gems. You know how it works, correct?" the advisor asked.

"Sure: you take a Gem, put it in the ground, and -" Pink diamond made a *pop* noise with her mouth to sum up the process. Not the exact details, but it was good enough.

"Well, you need a Kindergarten. Every colony has to have at least one to get started -" Pink Diamond was a little preoccupied to pay attention, looking up the canyon they were in to find something just in sight. Curious, Pink Diamond made a leap up to the top of the canyon to check what it was she was looking at. Pearl had to take her advisor and follow her Diamond so they wouldn't lose her.
What they ended up finding was what looked like a tree. A full grown, and young apple tree. And once more, an apple tree with blossoming flowers on it. The flowers of this tree, while a bit duller, did come close to matching Pink's own colors, which to her was pretty interesting, if not flattering.

"What. Is. This?" Pink Diamond asked, moving over to the trunk of the tree, and looking up to the tree itself.

"Hmm. One of our scouts identified it as one of the local flora. Believed to be a tree of sorts," said the advisor. Pink Diamond was still pretty intrigued by this surprise at her doorstep, the gentle wind blowing through the tree as a single pale flower landed on her head. It sure looked pretty all things considered, and right next to the canyon too.

"Now, as I was saying, we need to start with putting a Kindergarten somewhere. A colony isn't complete without Gems being made on it," said her advisor.

"Well ok, sure. Where should I start?"

"That's for you to make, not me. This is your colony after all," said her advisor. This was interesting to hear. So many colonies she stopped by time and again, typically one already complete, and she wasn't given much to be given order onto others. Now though, with this told to her, Pink Diamond began to eagerly think on where her first kindergarten should be at. Pearl planned ahead, and suddenly she had a device that she brought with her, bringing up a reporting screen.

"Good thinking, Pearl," said Pink. Pearl just nodded and readied her hands for the second the order would be placed. Pink Diamond started to look around the place, seeing a lot of open space and land to work with. Pink Diamond did have enough knowhow to know what a Kindergarten even looked like, so she tried to work with that in her head. Soon, her eyes glanced between the canyon they arrived in, and the tree right next to her. …

"We can do it right here!"

"Here, my Diamond?"

"Of course, look at it! This is prime perfect for a Kindergarten: open space, lots of room, and plenty to even make some control centers inside it. Pearl, start bringing them in!" Pink instructed, feeling like she struck a good start. Pearl began to bringing in the orders to the other ships just out of range. So it begins.

And this was just the start of things to come: under advisor instructions and tips, Pink Diamond eagerly started to work out different aspects to her colony. Pink was given full range on where projects would start, and her followers would go right to it and get to work. The Kindergarten was taking shape as well, and over time Pink Diamond and Pearl both saw Gems being "born" from the place in the hundreds, roaming Peridots keeping track of it all. Most of the Gems made there were typical quartzes: Amethysts being the commonplace of this Kindergarten. A lot of nice, and admittedly fun-loving Gems from this place, just how Pink Diamond enjoyed it.
It wasn't just the Kindergarten that was being made either: Pink diamond had a bit of fun and pointed out numerous other spots to start making some other fancy Gem locations. She even got the neat idea to mirror Sector 7, and had the main base on Earth's moon! Sometimes it doesn't hurt to base ideas off of an already good idea. But with how much was being built, made, and established, something else was also being built …

And Pearl would soon find out what, when she came over to check on her Diamond after an instruction.

"I'm back, my Diamond. The Prime Kindergarten's ready to be - … my diamond? Where're you?"

In the Prime Kindergarten, Pink Diamond would normally be somewhere nearby either checking out the Amethysts, or by her tree. However, Pearl was told to go off and last she saw, she was by her tree. And now, she wasn't there. Not at all. Pearl began to look around for some sort of clue, but she didn't seem to find much of anything around except for the tree. No sign of any stone, no footprints, nothing.

"My Diamond?! Where'd you go?!" Pearl called, trying to find her somewhere.
She only was able to figure out what was actually going on when she started to move off further away from the Kindergarten, and off into the wilds of Earth. The land turned a bit more lush, and more forests abounded a bit, and there she was. Pink Diamond found something off in the forest, and at the moment, she was down on her hands and knees checking something out.

"My Diamond?"

"Oh, Pearl, you're just in time! Come here," Pink insisted. Pearl wasn't sure what was really going on, but as a Pearl she had to follow instructions. Plus, apart of Pearl was a bit curious too, and she moved over to her Diamond's side to see what was going on. At first, Pearl didn't see much of anything, but then she followed her diamond's eyes over to some of the plants on the ground. On one of the flowers, a batch of orchids specifically, she saw … something. It looked small, roundish, and seemingly hanging on the plant in question.

"Um … What is this, exactly?"

"SSHH! Here it comes," Pink said, sounding very excited.

Then the object moved. It was a twitch, but the surface of the object began to crack. A few twitches later and something started to come out of it. It was a creature Pearl had never seen before, and whatever it was Pink Diamond was very excited to see it. Eventually, something entirely different from the "boring object" was now catching Pearl's attention: a small insect, just an few inches long. A dark blue creature, with dark, almost dusty underwings.
A Diana Fritillary Butterfly.
It took a few minutes for the small creature to fully grow its wings and dry them off, just like any other butterfly, and once it did that it started to flutter and fly off to find some nectar. Pink Diamond and Pearl watched the now aerial animal fly away, barely even making a sound as it went. Pearl was left perplexed.

"Oh, it came out blue this time!" Pink squeaked, very happy to see it.

"What do you mean "this time"?" Pearl inquired.

"I found a few of these creatures while looking around my colony. That start out small, and crawl around. But then they stop moving altogether, and soon … well, that!" Pink pointed to the butterfly, which at the moment was enjoying some orchid nectar. Pearl only grew even more confused.

"You mean they … change? They don't stay as the appearance they're made in?"

"I know, isn't that amazing?! This colony's showing me so many surprises. Who knows what else is around here?" Pink Diamond said.

"W-Well, I'm done checking the Prime Kindergarten for you. A-And your advisor wanted me to tell you Blue will be stopping by soon …" Pearl explained. Pink Diamond almost forgot that they were going to see her. With seeing the butterfly evolve and change in front of them, Pink Diamond began to wonder something else.

"Hey, Pearl? Do Pearls ever … change? After their taken in by an owner?"

"Huh? Well, technically no. A Pearl takes form resembling their master. It's better to identify their owners that way," Pearl explained. Pink Diamond herself started to wonder a little bit about it.

"Then. Can you change for me?"

"Change? Change how?" Pearl asked. It was a rather odd question, though something to do with the butterfly she was sure of it. Pink Diamond would normally just go on and say something to mirror her or the butterfly, but the idea of the changing was that it wasn't expected. It was something dynamic, surprisingly, and that was what Pink diamond enjoyed the most about it. With Blue Diamond coming along though, she had little time to even say what anyway, so she got up and started to go.

"Surprise me."

It was all up to Pearl now. So, what was she to do? She'll follow the orders, but what exactly was it? Pink Diamond had to go, and she would have to check later, leaving Pearl herself to figure out her own devices. something for the Diamond Authority shouldn't be ignored.

…

"Pink. Good to see you," said Blue, upon fully arriving into the Prime Kindergarten. Pink Diamond was feeling pretty good about things, along with the process of it all, the advisor standing off nearby her Diamond.

"So, what do you think? Is this looking good or what?" Pink Diamond asked, waiting to hear what her fellow Diamond had to say. Blue Diamond took a moment to check the numerous amounts of Amethysts being made, along with the working peridots to handle them. Blue couldn't help but note how … reckless, some were. One of the Amethysts even fluffed the hair of one of the Peridots as some were chuckling. They knew it was all in good fun, but the Era 1 Peridot was annoyed more than anything. Well, this was her first shot, so no need to be too rough with it.

"Well, some discipline of your Amethysts could do well, but other than that it's look pretty good," Blue Diamond said, though she'd been trying not to chuckle herself. Pink didn't bother, and chuckled on the sight of it. There was another detail though that did catch Blue Diamond's attention.

"What happened to your Pearl?"

"Coming!" called Pearl. It took a little to actually get herself properly adjusted, and with the instruction earlier from Pink Diamond, Pearl had figured out what form she would take for the "transformation".
Pearl wore a dress baring resemblance to that of Pink Diamond's. The top half had puffy blue shoulders, an amber colored top with a v neck, a diamond shaped cutout at the bottom, and a light yellow trim along the bottom. The bottom half was a pink skirt with transparent drapes over it and pale blue ballet flats. Blue. Yellow. And Pink.

"Oh my …" Blue diamond moved over to Pearl. At first, Pearl thought she would end up in trouble, already bowing and waiting for a punishment of sorts for her choice, but Blue Diamond was a bit more … surprised. not angry or disappointed, but taken off guard by how Pearl looked. Each part of her represented one of the Diamonds in some way - a Pearl of the Diamond Authority.

"How … flattering of you," Blue said, gently brushing Pearl's hair with her finger. Pearl stayed quiet as the advisor moved over to Pearl. Pearl glanced over to Pink Diamond just behind Blue, who was smiling and giving Pearl a thumbs up.

Job well done.

~~~~~~

With this, Pearl actually started to join her Diamond in these outings of hers. The Gems weren't the only ones that Pink Diamond was interacting with though, as Pearl soon discovered. It was only a matter of time, but eventually the Diamond had some time to check out another being known to exist on Earth. A creature, in essence, wasn't too far from her own, but opposite in most other aspects.

Human Beings.

Pearl stayed a little quiet, as she watched Pink Diamond enjoy the planet she was on, and the human group that was with her. Pearl felt a mix of happiness and ... self doubt. She heard how much Pink Diamond had praised her, how good she was and such, much of these comments said to the Humans and not Diamonds. Her new outfit she wore was simply a reminder for Pearl. The mix of Pink, Yellow, and Blue in her uniform, something Pink Diamond was so happy for. But, at the end of the day, Pearl was ... a Pearl. The lowest ranking Gem in the galaxy, and Pink was treating her as if she too was one of the authority like Pink herself. For the first time, Pearl began to think over the outfit she had on. The blue shoulder pads, the yellow top, the pink dress, the pure white undershirt. It all was reminders for Pink Diamond on memories of her other diamonds, yes, but she could've picked anyone for that. And yet, she chose her. This feeling in and of itself was ... different. But in a good way. Pearl placed a hand over her heart, and closed her eyes. She was glad to have Pink Diamond as her master. ... But could she ever live with that?

"Oh, my Diamond ..."

If I could begin to be
half of what you think of me,
I can do about anything
I could even learn how to love.

Pearl looked back to her diamond, seeing how much she enjoyed everything. Pink Diamond just looked so happy with these small creatures, be it either curiosity's sake over finding something new, or the enjoyment that her colony even has such things, unlike the others she'd laid witness to.

When I see, the way you went
wondering when I'm coming back
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love like you ...

So, the time continued forward. Pink Diamond and Pearl continued their duties to the colony being made, and exploring around the planet at their leisure. This was Pink Diamond's colony, she wanted to see what gift the Diamonds wanted to show her here. Green grass, tall trees, animals so new and unique, all of this not found on Homeworld. And Pink Diamond wanted to see it all. At least once. They would go off on their own little explorations when there was nothing else to do, and it felt that the more times they did this, the more enjoyment Earth became. Almost like nothing was the same twice. Sure, some things like Pink Diamond's tree remained there, but sometimes she would find a bird up there, other times the wind would knock off a few leaves, and maybe even she would find a squirrel or two scurrying in said tree. It was never the same thing twice. One of said squirrels looked down to Pink Diamond and Pearl one day, and they found miniature versions of it scurrying around with it, following in her step. One of the tiny animals stumbled out of the tree, just to be caught by Pink Diamond, unharmed. Such a cute little animal, and Pearl watched Pink even place the animal back up with its mother.

I always thought
I might be bad
now I know that it's true

And another time Pink Diamond and Pearl were sitting over in a forest clearing, and a few partridges landing on her for company. Pink had one on her head, one on her shoulder, and one resting on her finger. Pearl also had a bird on her head, smiling all the while as she saw Pink Diamond with a sweet smile on her face. One of the birds even placed its beak on her nose, much to her glee.

Cuz
I think you're so good ...
And I'm nothing like you!

And even during one night, under the stars, Pink Diamond was invited by these human beings for what seemed like a celebration for one of these human groups. They weren't sure on what exactly, but it mainly was them dancing around a lit fire, all having a good time. Pink Diamond was more than willing to join in, and her performance was aweing the crowd. Pearl sat aside with a smile, applauding her along with the other humans. It was their first time being involved in human customs, even for one night, and it was the most fun ever. Something never experienced on Homeworld the same way.

Look at you go!
I just adore you!
I wish that I knew
what makes you think I'm so special ...

One night though, Pearl found something a bit interesting. Something different. Pearl found it out on a clear night not too long after their initial visit, and peering past a tree, barely visible, she found her Diamond again. This time though, the Gem was with another human ... and she saw them both share a kiss. Pearl paused on seeing this happen, having some mixed emotions. Who was this person she was with? Was this another custom they were trying out, or what? Either way, Pearl stayed nearby and left her be.

If I could, begin to do
Something that does right by you ...
I would do about anything.

Pearl gathered her courage. One sunset, over by the shore, Pearl presented Pink Diamond with her own little gift. It really wasn't much, just a small flower she had found off a ways. A pink-shaded rosebud to be more precise. Pearl saw humans do this for those they cared about, so why couldn't she do it for her Diamond after everything she had done for her, and done with her? Pink Diamond knew this too ... and the Diamond smiled in a blush. And happily accepted the flower, putting it in her hair, just like how the humans did.

I would even learn how to love ...

Soon, both diamond and Pearl, all smiles, went on for a sunset run shortly afterwards, going right through the countryside with such a joy. This was the thing that Gemkind was missing. Pink Diamond and Pearl love it, they really did, and both Gems were more than happy to be shown such a lovely, exciting, and wonderful place.

When I see, the way you look
shaken by how long it took
I could do about anything
I could even learn how love like you!

... Love like you ...

... Love me like you ...

In their run, they both then found something else that made them both stop. It was a nice run, but Pink Diamond and Pearl found something else when they found themselves nearby the same area where her favorite tree stood. Pink Diamond's smile turned into one of confusion when she saw this.

The tree had no leaves. …

…….

"Something bothering you, Pink?" asked Yellow. Pink diamond got a connection through the Diamond line back to Homeworld not long after the discovery of her tree in such a way, getting connection to both Blue and Yellow. Sure she saw the tree without leaves before, many times, but this time her tree didn't look as good as it should. Pearl and her advisor stood aside.

"Hi, Yellow. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Make it quick, whatever it is, I'm very busy," Yellow replied. Typical response, and Pink knew it.

"Sure. … Uh, you know that tree I told you about? I think something's wrong with it," Pink explained.

"It's just the process of building a colony Pink, don't worry about it. That just means your colony's working."

"Huh? What does a tree have to do with my Kindergarten? None of my Gems touched it," Pink wondered. It was a bit of an odd thing to state from the off set, both the other Diamonds knew what was going on far more so, being witness to it more times than ever.

"Pink, your Gems need to make their forms through gaining nutrients from the Earth. And that means taking what's there and use it as our own," Blue said. Pink didn't need much time to put two and two together on what that was supposed to mean.

"WHAT?! You mean my Kindergarten … shattered the tree?"

"More or less," Yellow stated, matter-of-factly, "And others already on the planet will follow."

"WHAT?!"

"Pink, I know you're new to this, but it's how things work. We have no need for any "Organic" objects or assets, so they have to go. Unless you have a better idea," Blue said. Pink immediately began to wonder about this. If she did allow this to happen, then that would mean that the planet would be in deep trouble. And here she was enjoying it so much, too. Pink worked the gears in her head, best she could. What to do, what to do?

"Um … d-do we have to shatter all life on Earth? Maybe we can salvage it?"

"Salvaging an organic lifeform? Don't be silly, Pink!" Yellow scoffed. She wasn't willing to allow organic scum in her palace, not if she could help it. "Why would you want to do that anyway?"

"Uh, study!" Pink had to get this one out on the fly. "We never seen Humans before, so m-maybe we can hold some here, see what we can learn from them? … We can find a use for them for us Gems, maybe?"

Before this conversation could continue, all three Diamonds then got another screen connection coming through, showing this one to belong to White Diamond.

"Diamonds. A moment of your time?"

"Sorry, White, we were just in discussion over a … salvaging, of organic lifeforms on Earth."

"Salvaging?" White questioned, "What for?"

"Pink thinks it's a great idea to salvage some humans for further study. Apparently," Yellow said. Pink felt a bit down on even trying this now, but at least it was an idea that could benefit. If they could agree to it. White herself took a moment to put this into thought.

"... A chance to study on a new species for possible use for our kind. An intriguing idea," White said. Yes, yes, good direction to salvaging life on Earth. But then she asked "Had a method to even do that, Pink?"

"Oh! … Uh, well … I'm … working on it."

"I see. Well in that case, I'll keep your "assets" with me. I'll make up a chamber within my court for them," White decided. Pink never felt so lucky.

"Oh, thank you!"

"I'll start sending a few ships to gather some humans for you. Mean time, you keep track of your Kindergartens and development," White Diamond instructed. Pink Diamond found that good enough, and ended the call there.

…….

White's plans for Pink Diamond's Human zoo went underway not long after, and for the looks of it Pink Diamond was more than happy for it. As the colonies continued to be built, humans began to be taken from Earth into this "zoo" as it would to be called. Pink and Pearl kept up their typical exploration of Earth though, and when they had time to go off when everyone else was too busy to notice. It was a fun little game where they can just be themselves, outside of the Diamond eye and where they don't have to be so formal about it. Pink Diamond may have lost her tree, but there was a ton more around her so it wasn't the biggest loss.
In one of these trips out, Pink Diamond and Pearl both found a particularly unique spot, though this one was pretty far off nearby another Kindergarten: a pool. A freshwater pool out in the middle of a forest, clear as can be, and for the two, they took this opportunity to have some fun. For Pearl, this was a chance for a dance display, as she went along the water's surface, showing her grace to her diamond. Pink of course enjoyed every second of it, seeing the graceful art form of her spins, leaps, and twirls as if she was performing for all Diamonds. Eventually, Pearl stopped her dance with a light landing right on one of the rocks. Pink Diamond gave her Pearl an applause. They weren't the only ones this time: and their advisor was convinced to go out and explore with them. They even gave her a special name after a while, named after some beautiful flowers Pink Diamond had come across in one of these.

"Way to go, Pearl. As graceful as always," Pink Diamond complimented. Pearl gave a bow to her admirer.

"A Pearl's job is to please their master," Pearl said, though this was in a more smug manor than a typical Pearl.

"So, is this what you normally do, my Diamond?" her advisor asked.

"Not always, Orchid," Pink replied, "Sometimes we go and find some humans to play with, sometimes we play by the ocean, and sometimes we might come across some more organic life here."
All of this stuff surely didn't sound too much like a Diamond though.

"Not that I'm going against you or anything, my diamond, but as your advisor, I think this behavior's a bit unorthodox."

"Maybe off back there, but out here, we can be just us. Like this: Pearl, it's my turn to entertain you."

"Sure you can do it, Pink? We Pearls are much lighter, you know."

"Just watch me," Pink said, backing up. Pearl moved over by Orchid, as Pink Diamond began to ready herself. If a Pearl could dance on water, why can't she? Pink readied herself, and made a leap right to the water … just to sink right to the bottom. The splash of water soaked Pearl, and Orchid moved back beforehand, the water only grazing her feet. Pearl stood there soaked from head to toe, as Pink Diamond sat up from the water. Eventually, both Gems simply laughed.

"Okay, so you can do something I can't. Guess I'm too heavy to dance on water," Pink Diamond admitted, drying herself off alongside Pearl. This kind of behavior was surely different to Orchid. But, while any other Gem would be freaked out, this Sapphire had this idea pre-planned, and she could only smile. How could she be upset at such a happy scene, anyway?

"I didn't realize how close you two were. It's nice to see," Orchid said.

"Here, maybe you can dance on land," Pearl suggested.

"Sure! … Eh, I think I might need someone to show me how though," Pink Diamond said, smiling her soft smile. Orchid began to REALLY think about this bit of information, as Pearl nodded. If anyone could show her to dance, it would be her.
Then the two started to go through the motions. Pearl would perform a move first, and then Pink Diamond would try to copy it. Pearl would leap, and then Pink would follow suit. For Orchid this all looked backwards: a Diamond following a Pearl, but it wasn't that alone that made Orchid feel a little bit off with this.

And that only confirmed when some gemstones began to glow.

"My Diamond!" Orchid gasped. But it was too late to stop what happened next.

Then came in someone else. A gem with multi-colored voluminous hair - long, large, and wavy while each tuft ended in a distinctive point. Her skin was of a lavender complexion with blonde pink hair. She had a curvaceous body with a tall stature, standing taller than both other Gems. She possessed two pairs of eyes; the top pair of eyes larger and more rounded and colored a pale indigo, whereas the bottom pair were thinner and more shapely with black pupils. Her nose was shapely and pointed like Pearl's nose, but short with discernible nostrils. She also had defined lips that are similar to Pink's, although lacking the sheen.
The outfit was probably the most extravagant. She wore a sleeveless, skin-tight pinkish-peach strapless leotard with violet high-leggings. There was a stylized, downward pointing, arrowhead-shaped cut-out on the stomach area of the leotard where Pink Diamond's gemstone was. She also wore a loose, sheer, translucent long-sleeved, bright and pastel blue blouse with thin lime-green outlines over her upper body. Her outfit included no footwear, but instead has long, magenta legwarmers that cover half of her lower legs and feet.

"M-My … my diamond? Pearl? Is that you?" Orchid asked humbly. The being paused for a moment, seeing the entire world for the very first time, and she took a look down towards Orchid, seeing she was a lot smaller than usual. In fact, everything looked smaller than usual. But then the figure looked over to the pool, seeing what the end result was. Both sides were frozen in what they were seeing.

"W-Wha? …"

"Uh, you two should unfuse," advised Orchid, worried of someone around was going to see them or not. Her future vision may not say so, but it was best not to chance fate like this.

"W-We … we fused. … We fused! …"

Now, at this point, a fusion would just split itself apart, both bit by bit, both sides of this fusion started to … enjoy it. They both were already close as it was, and fusion in Gem culture was an ultimate sign of two individual's trust in eachother. Not to say a fusion between different Gems was done before though. And soon, this Fusion decided to try something.

and she began to step out onto the water. This time, the fusion didn't sink, and she stayed fine on top of the surface, barely making any waves. Orchid began to get nervous, checking her future visions to be absolutely sure no one would come in the time it takes for these two to unfuse. If any Gem were to find them out, it would mean shattering for all of them! … Well, not Pink, but you get the point.
As for the fusion though, she began to work out some dancing in her own way. Now Pink diamond can go along the water and be as graceful as Pearl, and Pearl could feel what it was like to be so strong and … well, tall. A pretty good benefit for both of them really. Plus, they looked FINE. If they wanted something different, than this was the way to do it. The dancing lasted for a bit longer, about a good twenty minutes, before both Gems decided to split up for Orchid's sake.

Pink Diamond and Pearl were psyched, laughing, as Pink hugged her fellow gem, lifting her and spinning around in sheer joy. A bit familiar, huh? Orchid gave a sigh of relief before going to them.

"Thank the stars. What happened there?"

"That was so much fun! I felt so flexible and light as that," Pink Diamond said, psyched as ever.

"And I don't think I've ever seen the world that high up before. I … loved it," Pearl admitted. Pink couldn't blame her for it, she loved it too, but then she realized something.

"You realize what this means? … We just created the very first MULTI-GEM FUSION! We have to -"

"NO!" Orchid suddenly yelled, scared.

"Why not?" Pink Diamond asked. Orchid calmed down after a bit.

"First off, what you two did was controversial. Second, a diamond can't fuse with her subjects. This'll put you under arrest, you too Pearl," Orchid warned. Not often does reality knock on their door in a situation like this, but Pink Diamond knew what that meant if that was to come to fruition. Of course, as a Diamond, this was an easy problem to fix. She looked to her Pearl and smiled, winking.

"Then this'll be our little secret."

~~~~~~

The world was really coming to its own when it came to progress: a number of different areas were made all over the planet from Kindergartens, to establishments for the elites. Pink diamond felt pretty good with it, though little by little, things began to feel … off. She, Pearl, and Orchid would go off to explore, but as time went on, that became more and more difficult to actually find true places of beauty. They still exist, and plenty of them over her time, but they were harder to get to, and the more items placed, the less time they actually had to even do so.
Well, at least she had the zoo - SOMETHING to salvage everything. It was better than nothing, really. As long as she had some bit of flora and fauna from Earth, than she was fine with it … sort of. She can't bring the pool to the Zoo, as they had one already. That didn't mean it didn't sit too well though, the longer it lasted.
During some of their time, they found one spot where they could keep track of everything: the Moon base. Which now was fully operational. Pink Diamond was up at the top of the tower, but she was more just staring up at her planet from afar, seeing her pride and joy still as lovely and special as ever. Pearl and Orchid joined her, standing alongside.

"The colony's surely taking shape, isn't it my diamond," Orchid said.

"I'd say so. how much longer do you think until they're done?" Pink diamond asked. might as well ask the fortune teller. Orchid thought it over for a bit.

"thirty thousand years, give or take."

"MAN, I was hoping for fifteen. Oh well," Pink Diamond sighed. She had seen some colonies take far longer to handle, the longest one she heard being a near fifty thousand. That's just half of a million! Well, it was something worth complaining about later. for now, Pink Diamond was ready to check the progress, but before she did, she took a look over to Pearl and Orchid, seeing them standing as she was sitting in comfort.
So, she scooted over, and without a word, patted the spot next to her. The chair was plenty big enough for them all to sit perfectly, and while a bit hesitant, Pearl eventually took a seat. She felt empowered. Orchid simply jumped, and floated down on a free arm rest instead (one with no buttons).

"Comfy?"

"Yes. … thanks," Pearl said. so, Pink Diamond, Orchid, and Pearl started to look over the screens for a bit, seeing progress levels on a number of locations and a few of the Kindergartens and what not. Seemed they even got a few spires finished, which itself was pretty great. They saw progress on that, the Time Temple, the Sky Arena -

*beep**beep**beep*

A call on the diamond line. As any Pearl would, Pearl answered it right away before Pink could even touch it. some things Pearls were just driven to do. This call was coming from the highest point: White Diamond.

"White! How're you?" Pink asked. It'd been a while since she saw her face.

"Fair enough. Now, Pink, I need you to come by Homeworld for a bit, we have a … situation."

"Excuse me?"

"There's some rather rough news, Pink: apparently the Diamond Authority had been challenged to a duel not so long ago, and he insisted that we all be there. That includes you."

"But who'd challenge all of us? There's no Gem that would!"

"Who said it was a Gem who challenged us? You'll figure it out when you get here. See you soon." White Diamond cut off the message after that. Not really the best news to actually hear out of, well, anything.

"Oh my … Well, I guess I'll be right back. You two can wait here," Pink said, getting up from her seat. Pearl and Orchid both were a bit concerned about this.

Who in their right mind would challenge ALL the diamonds at once and NOT be a Gem?!

…….

"Well, this is a bit of an … interesting confrontation. Kyra," White noted, seeing the Draconian simply standing there. Kyra wasn't going to be deterred however, standing there and staring up at the three giants in front of him. The confrontation in specifics was in an arena (go figure). The only one not too big in comparison to the other Diamonds was Pink Diamond, but Kyra didn't care. He counted them out: Blue Diamond. White Diamond. Pink Diamond. and …

"Where's Yellow?" Kyra asked.

"Does it matter? You already got all of us to come here. And we'll send you back," White Diamond stated. Pink Diamond looked to Kyra, her first time seeing a creature of his kind, and found him very fascinating.

"Can I keep him, Blue?" asked Pink. This seemingly angered Kyra, him barring his teeth like a snarling dog.

"Keep me? Do I look like some pet to you?"

"... Yes?"

"Don't even bother yourself. An organic creature like yourself is no match for beings such as us," Blue Diamond stated, surprisingly cold in her voice.

"Diamonds, I'm giving you all one final chance to TRY and work with me here! Pardon me for the last time, but if this continues -"

"NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. That "Osicone" you keep stating's nothing but some superstition. Anyway, why should we comply to one as meek as you?" White made clear.
That word did it. Kyra gave a loud roar at them, his anger towards them now up to sky levels, as his tail thrashed in the air behind him, whipping as a threat. Of course, the other Diamonds weren't intimidated much by this small animal, though Pink diamond was a little perplexed.

"This won't take long, Pink. Stay there," Blue Diamond reassured.

"Fine! If you won't comply, then I'll just have to discipline you!" Kyra roared, before he made the first galloping strides towards them. Both White Diamond and Blue Diamond moved forward towards him, White Diamond attacking first with her spear. Typically it would've sliced Kyra in two, but this Draconian was a bit fast on his cloven hooves, and dodged many of the strikes fairly well, albeit with hairs of length between hits. In one strike, Kyra raced up White's arm, and bit her right in the face! Blue Diamond forced Kyra off with a well-placed slap of her hand, sending the Draconian flying, but landing on his hooves. Agile and durable this animal.
Pink was watching this all from her spot, but she was actually more intrigued than worried. Was this a human fighting them? So many lifeforms were soft, cuddly, and friendly, but Kyra didn't fit that too well. Kyra rushed forward again, Blue Diamond going forward herself. Blue's eyes started to glow a deep blue hue by this point, and Kyra suddenly began to feel his emotions cloud his vision, just enough to slow him down and give the Diamond a opportunity to strike him, knocking him skyward. Kyra then surprised everyone when, in midair, he began to right himself and actually spin into a disk. His body turned into a blur as he went southward, straight for Blue Diamond! Blue herself tried moving aside, but Kyra's attack went too fast, and sliced a good chunk of her hair clean off her! Kyra straightened himself and landed, skidding to a stop, as Blue felt where she was cut, the blades of both his tail and his teeth leaving a clean cut by her ear, and much of her hair chunk now by her feet.

"Lucky hit," Blue said.

"That was a warning. It's clear that you will NOT changed from this tyranny you all befell onto everyone. Sucking life off of the worlds, treating us all like property! WE have a voice, and that beast knows you won't listen! Don't act like you don't believe me!"

"We're not acting our disbelief, you foolish animal," White coldly stated. Kyra moved forward again, and leaped directly at White Diamond. With her weapon up and at the ready, charged up with electrical energy, she only needed one slice.

"AAAHHH!"

And in tune, Kyra's scar had been given. Kyra fell to the ground in pain, his leg burned off of hair, and not his hoof cut into two. It stung Kyra to no end, as he groaned and yelled in pain. Blue Diamond and White Diamond looked to the creature, not showing much sympathy, but Pink Diamond felt worried for him. How was she gonna put him in the zoo if he was crippled?

"That's that. White, if you were to do the honors?" Blue said. White nodded, and started to go over towards Kyra. The Draconian may be still alive, but he wasn't moving, as White Diamond loomed over him.

"Hey, uh Blue? Can't we try to heal him up before I put him in the zoo? I don't want him to be hurting the whole time," Pink asked.

"Perhaps it's best to have him stay away from the authority. It's not going to cooperate with our kind," Blue replied. And that seemingly was proven with what happened next.

*POOF*

Suddenly, Kyra was up again, and with his tail piercing through White's stomach like a wasp's stinger, the strongest of the Diamond Authority had fallen! Her gemstone fell before Kyra's hooves, the Draconian balancing on three legs over four. He snarled and growled in primal warning to the other two Diamonds. Pink was scared. An organic lifeform capable of toppling a Diamond?! No lifeform she had met did this, nor could do this!
Kyra began to run towards them, and while a little slower than before, he still moved fast enough to get them both on guard. Pink, scared for Blue, jumped in between Kyra and Blue, ready to summon up her weapon to, it forming just as Kyra's tail got stuck in it! In a back flip, Kyra swung the shield out of Pink's hands, and shattered it on the ground.

"PINK!" gasped Blue. But before she could reached her, Kyra took his chance, and his tail stabbed Pink right in the head. That was more than enough to poof the Diamond.

And Pearl saw the entire thing …

~~~~~~

"Is she back yet?"

Some time had passed since Kyra's attack on the diamonds, and now it had made known that Pink diamond had brought herself back around, albeit a bit long. Pearl and Orchid both went towards Pink Diamond's quarters, the gemstone bring brought back home to Homeworld for safe keeping in case the Draconian would've gotten hungry for some shards.

"I've checked in with her yesterday," said Orchid, adjusting her glasses, "our Diamond's been thinking a lot lately."

"A-Are they good thoughts?" Pearl asked nervously.

"She wanted you there to tell us that," Orchid replied. Few dozen years prior, Pearl would be a bit conflicted about that, but this had happened enough for Pearl to better understand it. Besides, Pearl would be there for her diamond anyway.
Soon, both Orchid and Pearl arrived to their Diamond's quarters, and going inside, they soon found Pink Diamond still in her room, this time looking out her window and thinking over what Kyra had said. Rose Quartz's influence may have gotten to a number of Gems, but not only was this a sentient organic creature, but also one powerful enough to take down almost ALL of the diamonds! The thought of it shook her core, and those words Kyra said echoed in her head. In fact, she didn't even notice Pearl and Orchid come in, until she felt Pearl's hand touch her leg.

"Is everything okay, Pink?" Pearl asked. Pink Diamond stared off to the stars for a while more.

"... I was so wrong …"

"What? no, no, not at all! You've been -"

"Kyra was right," Pink Diamond cut in, "I've been in control of the Earth, but I hadn't been thinking about the humans. They're far more than just animals - they're beings. They're like us. And here I am taking them all and putting them in a zoo!" she ended her sentence with a stomp onto the ground, making her room shake a bit. Nothing broke (this time).

"Well, what do you suggest we do now, my Diamond?" Orchid then asked.

"That's the part I wanted to wait for … please tell me you have an idea. … Orchid, can you tell me?"

Well, that was a problem. This act left even Pink Diamond herself a bit stumped on what to do. One hand, this idea that Earth was a place to be free was good, but what kind of influence was it if a creature like Kyra was willing to do this to them? The Sapphire took a minute to check.

"... Hmm … there's two possible situations you can do: you can try to convince the other Diamonds to leave the planet as it is, or you can actually keep your place on your own will."

"But won't the other Diamonds be worried about her?" Pearl asked, troubled on both ideas. Pink may be a member of the Diamond Authority, but she still was the lowest caliber on it. Orchid simply nodded.

"Well … is there a chance that they will agree to leave Earth like it is?" Pink asked hopefully. Orchid took a moment to think again.

"... Well, there is one rare possibility. But most of the outcomes lead to no. And …"

"And …?"

"They'll take away your colony."

THAT done it. She'd been giving them trouble on it before, but going that far? That was just too much for her to take. Pearl and Orchid could feel the mixture of anger and fear inside Pink Diamond. In the end though, Pink began to move off towards the door.

"I must have them agree. Pearl, Orchid, wait here. I'll be right back," Pink Diamond instructed. Both Gems nodded, and Pink Diamond went off to see what she could do.

"... We're still going with her, aren't we?" Pearl then asked.

"All futures point to it," Orchid replied.

…….

If only talking to them were that easy.

"Pink, thank goodness you're safe," said blue Diamond upon seeing her. The situation between much of the Diamonds had been … humbled. No creature had ever actually beaten the diamond Authority before, even if they weren't at full strength. It was embarrassing to say the least, but at the least they were in one piece. Yellow Diamond was out of the know about it, but she was with them in the troubled manner anyway.

"Yes. Um, Diamonds, t-there's been a bit of a situation," Pink said. Here we go.

"Again, Pink? You've done this several times already, we don't have time for it," Yellow stated firmly.

"I think it's serious this time," Pink said. She was making this on the fly now, but if it can work then maybe this could work out. Of course, she'll have to convince them first.

"Well, Pink, what is it?"

"Well … I'm afraid there's been some unruly Gems lately," Pink said, "they've been causing me trouble and attacking Kindergartens -"

"I don't have any reports of that," White quickly cut in, cutting Pink short before this could continue.

"You wouldn't: they'd disappear before anyone could report in. They're calling themselves "The Crystal Gems", and their leader "Rose Quartz" had warned me personally -"

"The Crystal Gems?" Blue asked. Pink nodded. … Unfortunately, this wasn't getting by.

"I don't believe this. You've been begging us for so long to have a colony of your own, and now that you've finally got it, all you want to do is be rid of it. First there's too many organics, then their cities become too difficult to dismantle, and now these Crystal Gems? We're tired of your excuses, Pink. Listen to me, this Rose Quartz can't hurt you - you can't be swayed by a few unruly Gems."

Pink kept her gaze lowered throughout this little speech Blue was making. Blue didn't want to hurt Pink this way, but there had to be some lines drawn. Pink looked up, ready to speak, but blue brought her hand up and with a stern "Enough!", Pink Diamond was silenced again. Blue, not wanting to leave Pink completely wrecked, gently raised Pink's gaze so she could meet with hers.

"You must understand. You... are a Diamond. Everyone on this planet is looking to you. You don't even have to do anything. Just smile, and wave. Show everyone you are unfazed by this little uprising. Your gems will fall into line, and these Crystal Gems will be no more. As long as you are there to rule, this colony will be completed."
It was a bit hard to swallow, but Pink Diamond felt conflicted. This was her colony, what was she doing? Letting them have it their way, or should it be her way? Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and White Diamond then began to go off from the room. Pink could hear the steps going out, and she had to think of something. She thought back, remembering Orchid and Pearl hidden just out of the way. Just two examples of Gems that don't deserve the same harder treatment given to normal colonies. Something was building up inside Pink.

"... No …"

"What?" Yellow asked.

"I'm tired of my excuses too. Diamonds I … I …"

"Spit it out, Pink," Yellow insisted. That sentence seemingly triggered a land mine. It's now or never.

"It's not fair! You three think you can control everything on MY colony, well you can't. I love my colony just the way it is! All these organics, these humans, it's so vibrant, so beautiful, so ALIVE! And you keep telling me I have to get rid of all of that to make it MY colony?! WHY?! IT'S MY COLONY, MY PLANET, I CAN DECIDE WHAT I CAN DO WITH IT!"

"Pink! Drop that attitude right now, or -"

"OR WHAT, YELLOW?! WHAT?! DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE -"

*SLAP*

Silence. In a quick whack, Yellow suddenly stepped in, and slapped Pink square in the face, knocking her off her feet, and almost hitting the wall. Everyone witness to it could feel the sting of the hit, and either for comedic effect or from Yellow Diamond's own ability, there even were some stray sparks that jumped off of Pink's cheek. Pink Diamond was then lifted off the ground by a very aggravated Yellow Diamond, but before a full out fight could even start, White Diamond pulled Yellow back in.

"I'll handle this, Yellow. Go pummel something else before you wreck the room," White stated, as she actually grabbed Pink Diamond and lifted her off the ground from behind the neck, like someone picking up a puppy. Pink Diamond was not amused. Not at all. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond could only watch her be taken away to the other room. Once White and Pink were by themselves, only then did White drop Pink. Pearl, trembling, silently followed them, and peered in just in time to see her diamond being dropped to the floor.

"What was that all about?"

"You heard me!" Pink snapped, jumping to her feet.

"I heard you alright. But all I hear is nonsense. Rose quartz? The Crystal Gems? I know you made that up on the spot just to keep from finishing that colony of yours."

"NONSENSE? White, that's my colony, the diamond authority gave it to me - YOU gave it to me! Can't I decide what I can do with it? YOU can decide what to do with your colonies, so -"

"ENOUGH." White bellowed, giving Pink (and Pearl rather) some shivers. "This is your first colony, Pink Diamond. As such, you don't have full authority over -"

"Yellow and Blue got to do that!" Pink cut in. White snapped her fingers in Pink's face to keep her quiet.

"Not true. I showed them their first bit of colonies before they're well-equipped enough to work it out on their own. Sure, they have their own … "style". but all colonies follow protocol. And Earth's got to be put under the same protocol."

"But what about all the humans?!"

"What about them?" White questioned, "They're just another example of some organism inferior to us. Besides, isn't your "Zoo" good enough for you?"

"W-Well. Maybe. But I promise you Rose Quartz is real, and -"

"AND. WHAT? Unless I see her in the face, I doubt any "rebellion" is going to start on that planet of yours. And anyway, the chances of a Rose Quartz being made on a planet like Earth are very low. Our Peridots reported it wasn't enough to make a Rose Quartz from it properly."

"Well, what if she came from a different colony?!"

"Pink, stop it. And all this fuss over some inferior apes," White groaned.

"Inferior? ONE OF THEM JUST WIPED US OUT!" White suddenly slammed her hand over Pink's big mouth.

"Not so loud!" she growled, "If other Gems got word of that, they'll topple over for sure. … Now look, I'll show you how to make a colony work in this galaxy, and once you fully take over this one, then you're free to go out and make any planet anyway you want. You can make it like any other colony, or mend it with your own "organics" can live on it."

Now, Pink would try to go along with this idea, but the way White Diamond said that didn't feel right. In fact, most of this didn't feel right: Pink tried a human zoo, and White used it for experiment storage basically, and now with this information …
Pink Diamond swatted her hand away.

"That won't happen: you just want us to make the colonies the way YOU want it! You know what, NO WAY am I doing that to MY first colony. That's how it is, and that's how it'll be, and there's nothing you can do about it, SO THERE!"

There was only one response.

"... This is going to happen. With, or without you."

With that statement, Pink Diamond stormed out, but not before seeing a communicator by the door and kicking it, smashing it to pieces. Pink was by far ticked off, and she left all the Diamonds in a bit of a huff, Pearl walking alongside her. That's her diamond - speaking her mind at last, but still in a bit of a rough place. Pink diamond and Pearl went on down the hall, Orchid following some ways behind.

"Pearl."

"Yes, Pink?"

"Have an order ready for me: the most fragile and breakable furniture possible. Preferably those which make the loudest noises when hitting the floor."

"... Um … sure." Pearl began making the order as they began to go. Sad part: this wasn't the first time. White took a small glance as they left. Pearl could just feel the cold gaze from White, followed by the ever so faint, yet venom-filled words.

"She didn't even say "my diamond"."

Pearl could only pretend like she didn't hear.

~~~~~~

It took a long time to figure this out. Her time on Earth was not as cheery as normal, with much of the authority denying her this wish. If Orchid was correct about her vision, then it was a matter of when, not if, she would be taken from her own world and twisted into their own images. The attempts were futile so far, and with her back to the wall, and a long discussion …

…

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pearl asked.

"More than anything. Just this one act, and it'll be done. It's going to be easy," Pink Diamond insisted. Pearl was still unsure about this whole thing, regardless on either if it was Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz she was talking to.

"There's got to be a better way."

"You know we've tried every other way. They don't care Pearl, and never had. This is Pink Diamond's colony -" Rose said that line while rolling her eyes. "- We can end it all right here, right now."
All this talk about such a difficult and delicate subject, it was all simply scary. Especially for a Pearl like her. She held the scabbard a little tighter.

"You do know this is crazy, right? Your status … my purpose … none of it would matter anymore! This … this will change everything."

"I know. Isn't it exciting?" Pink asked with a smile. Pearl stayed quiet and looked down to the scabbard, holding Rose's sword. Pearl couldn't help but blush and smile. That same enthusiasm Pink had for so much else, now being used here.

"It is."

"The Diamond Authority gave me this planet. And if I am truly in charge of where this planet goes, I don't want all of its life to be taken away. If I can give it to anyone, I wanna give it to the Crystal Gems. I want to live here with Human beings. I wanna live here with you! We'll both finally be free. Us, the humans, and any Gem who wishes to live here. That's what I want for this planet."

Pearl was convinced. All doubts she had before had been taken away, and she was on board with this final act. Her smile turned from shy to determined.

"Ok. I'm ready."

"PEARL," Pink squeaked, hands together and eyes sparkling. This moment. It will change everything that had happened, and what will happen. It was a choice that will decide all that Earth will handle. Both Pearl and master held hands, embracing eachother.

"... I can't believe I'm going to do this."

"... I can't exactly shatter myself," Pink replied. It was such a somber moment, and Pearl and Pink shared a close hug together. It will be so much difference from here on out, and they both knew that if this plan will work, then it'll be all worth it. Pearl felt a tear come down her face, and Pink Diamond felt her own tear come down. As they were doing this, they both began to hear some soft steps come in. Pearl and Pink Diamond moved from the back of the throne, and in came Orchid.

"My Diamond … it's time," Orchid said.
She came in at a good time. It's now or never. Pink Diamond and Pearl began to move to the front, Pearl stopping as Pink Diamond peeked out to the twilight hours of her world. She kneeled down, and scooped up something from the front of the Palanquin, before she went back towards Pearl and Orchid. What Pink Diamond had brought in was some bit of dirt, and a single pale rose. A particular trademark for Rose herself. Pearl took the flower and put it in her hair, as Pink Diamond began to work the dirt she had. She breathed into it in her closed palms, and with some pressure from her own two hands, she made a cluster of pink shards. A bit troubling to see from Pearl's perspective, but in regard, Pink Diamond needed this for it to work.

"Convincing?"

"Very much so, my Diamond."

"Soon. It'll be just Rose." Pink Diamond gave a breath, and actually went as far as to swallow the pieces. Can't appear shattered if your holding your own remains in your hands. Orchid took off her glasses for a minute, showing her singular eye, which at this point was also tearing up. It surely was an emotional moment for all of them, and Pink Diamond took a moment to gently smile towards Orchid.

"I want to thank you, Orchid. For everything."

"I'll miss you, Pink Diamond. It's been a pleasure," Orchid said, wiping away some tears. And indeed it had been a pleasure for Sapphire, Diamond, and Pearl alike. Pink Diamond got all the information she needed, and she was ready to take the final step now. However, as Pearl began to pull out the sword, Pink Diamond brought her hand up to the handle.

"Wait. There's one last thing. … I need you two to promise me something. And it's very important," Pink said quietly. Pearl and Orchid both looked to her.

"... We all know that this will change everything. I never wanna look back. The last thing my colony could need was to know this planet is still under their power, they'll destroy it all if they do! Everything would be for nothing. The time will come, but … for my last request as a Diamond …" Pink paused, and gently brought Pearl's hands up to her mouth. Pearl was quiet on this choice. They looked eachother eye to eye. "... Please. Let's never speak of this again. … No one can know …"

No words were spoken. No debates were drawn. This was how it had to be. Pink Diamond got up, and began to walk out. Pearl and Orchid both glanced to eachother one last time, before Pearl started to shapeshift. Rose Quartz had a target to do, and someone had to finish the job. So, after the shift, Pearl picked up the sword, and was about to go out when Orchid grabbed her arm.

"Your Gem," Orchid simply said. Pearl looked to her gemstone, and proceeded to cover it up.

"Yes. That wouldn't be too convincing would it?" Pearl sighed. Now with her stone covered, it looked convincing enough. Orchid knew what was going to happen next, so she turned and rushed off out of the palanquin from the back. Pearl smiled, and prepared her nerves for the inevitable. It may not be the real deal, but it was just as effective on her well-being. But still, in the end, they could both be free. To live how they wanted. To be together.
Pink Diamond patiently waited outside her Palanquin, thinking that exact idea. This planet was just wonderful to her, and with her attempts before, this was the only way out …

"Turn. Around."

Pink Diamond froze. That voice. Oh, she knew that voice. She turned around to face her visitor, and there she was. White Diamond had arrived, just as Orchid had told her. Pink Diamond looked up to the eldest Diamond, and gave her bow to her.

"Better. … Though, it's not gonna help you after everything, we know that."

"I know. I've thought about it. I'm ready to go back to Homeworld now."

"You're not going back."

"... Excuse me?" Pink Diamond didn't understand it. Orchid told her she would be taken away of her planet, and White was going to do it sure. But White Diamond had something else in mind for this diamond. It became more apparent when White's staff was drawn out.

"Pink Diamond. You are an Off-Color: you've been defiant, impulsive, and once more, had defied the Diamond Authority every chance you can get ever since you've ended up getting this planet. That was a mistake on our part, on MY part. There's a few things they don't properly teach you - how to handle mistakes, and how to handle a halberd. I'm going to do both. Right now."

"W-Wait, what? But I thought -"

"You thought wrong," White cut in, aiming her spear directly at Pink Diamond's face. "I said I was going to take this planet away from you. I never said you were coming home, did I?" Pink Diamond's plan was falling apart: she didn't plan for White Diamond to shatter her, not at all!

"Oh, don't be such a pebble. I've been working on enough of you Gems, it's not that bad. Besides, what'd you expect anyway Pink Diamond. Or should I say … Rose Quartz."
Now what do they do?! White Diamond found them out before they could even get started, and Pearl's disguise wasn't going to go by anymore. It was now or never: in desperation, Pearl jumped out of hiding, and the sword was launched at White Diamond first. It was enough of an impact to move White Diamond back, and at first, White diamond looked stunned. Rose Quartz AND Pink Diamond in one place like this? It at first felt like this plan would be convincing enough seeing that kind of expression, but they weren't out of the woods yet.

"R-Rose!" gasped Pink Diamond. "Rose Quartz" turned around to face Pink Diamond. Both Pink and Pearl knew what was coming next, and they had to play it out now that White Diamond was left in confusion like this. Before Pearl could go forward though, White Diamond grabbed her by the head, again jeopardizing the plan. White Diamond had one idea, and this one was eerily cynical. She grabbed Rose Quartz's sword.

"Allow me, Rose," White Diamond said. Pearl can't speak to retaliate, her own voice and tone enough to wreck the plan completely. As for Pink Diamond, she found herself stuck in a hard place, and White Diamond moved right up to her, and the diamond took hold of her by the arm. Pink Diamond struggled to break free, and her elder diamond brought Pink's gaze to match up with her own.

"You really should've listened to me. This is going to happen. With, or without you."

With that statement still echoing in her head, Pink Diamond felt a stab through her midsection. She truly thought White Diamond did kill her right there, but her body had twitched just enough to make the blade slip an inch off. White had her gaze focused on Pink, so she didn't see that. All Pink did was close her eyes.

*poof*

Down came the remains of the gemstone and shards, all falling to the ground. The full gemstone was still there, but with the many shards about, it did look like White had just slaughtered her. Good enough for the elite diamond to even buy. Pearl stayed quiet and got up to her feet, and seeing White Diamond lean down towards the remains. The Gem bolted in, and rushed passed White Diamond, taking the full gemstone off of the ground, and leaving the remaining shards for White Diamond to collect. White Diamond could actually see Pearl crying a little bit, and this tall Diamond started to put the shards away.

"... You do want the credit, I'm sure," White Diamond said. Pearl wasn't sure if she was actually buying the act or just going along with it. White Diamond got up fully, and took a look to the nearby forest. Pearl took a look, and there was actually eyes in the forest.
Ruby Eyeball, and Lapis Lazuli had seen everything. The only two other Gems who actually had witness to this. White diamond began to focus up on her own gemstone, it starting to turn pure white and glowing. Lapis and Eyeball were caught in the flash, and enough to make Lapis fly off in a panic as Eyeball got poofed on the spot. That was that, minds altered. Simple for her to do. Pearl, her memory still in tact, rushed off out of sight while she could, and gained more than enough distance between herself and White Diamond. It was all she could do now. After gaining enough distance from her, Pearl slowed down and looked to her hands.

"... I did it. Rose."

---(end flashback)---

"... I wanted to tell you for so long. …"

Silence. Pure silence. Stevonnie was simply left … well, how was the reaction exactly? Shock? Anger? Sadness? Confusion? It really could be anything, but Steven and Connie, both sides of Stevonnie, had to rethink everything they thought they knew about … well, everything. The sun no longer was in the sky, leaving them in a state of darkness. Not sun, nor moon, only stars to light up the night with. Pearl wasn't sure if she should be happy to get that off her chest, or … ashamed it took O so long to get to. She looked out to the horizon, away from Stevonnie.

"... Everything I ever did. I did for her. Now she's gone! … But I'm still here."

Pearl quietly sat down. She still found it quite a shock that she even managed to get it all out of her. Stevonnie began to move up to her from behind, still trying to comprehend everything she had heard, what they had heard. Pearl only sighed, as if the story itself drained her a bit.

"Steven. Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes. … Oh, what would she think of me now?"

…

Stevonnie gave Pearl a hug.

"I think you're pretty great."

Pearl broke: tears streamed down her face immediately, her eyes locked staring off into the unknown. Even after everything she had said, and Steven still saw her nothing but a friend. A friend sworn to a secret his mother had for him for thousands of years, keeping it locked up tight up until now. The biggest secret she ever had was now released to another.

Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond.

Author's Notes:

May 7. 2018. The day that the entire Steven Universe fandom had been given the biggest shock of their lives. The day A Single Pale Rose aired. We all had our reactions to this, but like anyone, there're some flaws.

Flaws I'm hoping this would fix. I know some of you might be a bit confused with this sudden change in the story, and admittedly this was a bit of a jump. However, everything in this story follows the show's canon (mostly) up to MLP's S4 opener (Princess Twilight Sparkle), and SU's "An Indirect Kiss". That means everything we know of prior to these episodes happened in the way we saw it in the series, and any major events occurred the way they should (with a few small kinks switched of course), and if Pink Diamond truly was Rose Quartz, then so be it. Plus, it still fits in with the kind of theme this season's going for if you recall the clues I've left before this season started up.

I'll leave you to your own thoughts. ...

(side note: LONGEST. FLASHBACK. EVER.)

Unintended Triangle

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Things felt … odd, once Pearl and Stevonnie started to head on back from Mask Island. Not much word was exactly shared between Pearl and Stevonnie either. Upon arrival, they went their own separate ways, one to what remained of the temple, and the fusion splitting up for the day and with Steven heading to the carwash, and Connie heading off home herself. Some intriguing information being split up three ways, and leaving them with … well, a bit to think about throughout the night. The night honestly went on far longer than it really should be: Steven Universe especially taking this new kind of info pretty heavily. Connie and Pearl may have their own ways of dealing with it, but this was his mother, the leader of the Crystal Gems, the one who rebelled against … herself? It really made it confusing to say the least the more he thought about it all.
Inside the van, Steven was still left awake and thinking about all of this. Greg was fast asleep, and even in the later autumn weather, Steven laid on top of the van outside, feeling the bitter cold wind going over him. He was still in his caterpillar sleeping bag, looking up to the stars. One may not see it from a glance, but Steven's hands were on his gemstone. His own reminder what his true gem origin actually was: no longer the standard quartz that can heal others, but instead a Diamond willing to defy it all to save her first planet … even if it caused so much trouble to his friends.
Steven kept his gaze up for a while longer, seeing the full moon high in the sky, but before he could end up falling asleep, he then began to feel something vibrate inside his sleeping bag. It took some bit of working, but eventually he fished out his phone and got it to his ear.

"Hi Connie. You still awake?" Steven asked, knowing who it was after a small glance at the picture and name.

"Yeah, I'm still up over here," Connie replied. She was sitting up in her own bed at this point, just underneath her blankets and her mind left completely blown by Pearl's story back on Mask Island.

"Still thinking about what happened earlier?" Connie then asked.

"It's all I can think about," Steven replied, "My mom being … well, someone else. I know she's very big with the other Crystal Gems. But now …"

"Yeah, I get it. By the way, did you figure out if we should … spill the beans?"

"No, I'm keeping the beans from spilling until I know they won't. You know. Freak out? … I mean, this is a pretty big thing. Besides, I don't think Pearl would want that."

"Yeah, I see you're point. How would they react even? … Hey, maybe we should talk to someone not so involved and work our way up," Connie suggested. Seemed like a simple idea.

"So, talk to the Mane Six first, and then the Crystal Gems. Ok, I'm sure Pearl won't mind. That can be like a trial run."

"Exactly. Pinkie Pie will be sure to keep it quiet for us if we needed her to," Connie agreed. Steven couldn't help but agree himself. After all, nopony they knew was better and more focused on pinkie promises than, well, Pinkie Pie.

"Alright. So tomorrow, we'll meet them and tell them what's going on," Steven decided. However, his smile went away when he heard Connie give a sigh.

"Steven, I still have school to get to. I'll meet with you afterwards and we can do it together then, ok?" Connie promised. Steven wished he didn't have to keep it to himself for much of the next day, but if he could, then great. Couldn't be too hard. If Pearl could keep it quiet for thousands of years, surely he can keep it on the down low for at least a few hours.

"Okay. I'll see you then, whenever that is. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Steven."
Steven hung up, and placed the phone over next to him. For the rest of the night, he began to figure out how to actually get this to properly work out. They had to tell everyone this eventually, it was just a matter of how, and when. A good night sleep should work better for him …

…….

"Huh? ... WHOA."

What a place to end up in. Steven knew immediately this had to be some sort of dream, since he couldn't even recognize much of the place at all. Steven Universe found himself stuck in what looked like the night sky, and under his feet a large, flat land of ice. This whole place was a bit quiet, and content, not even the feeling of a breeze despite being out in space, if anywhere at all. Steven kept on looking around for a bit, trying to get some better sense on where he even was, but after a bit, it turned out he wasn't the only one in this weird place.
Turning around, he soon began to see some of his friends, though these were a bit more specific: Amethyst, Peridot, and Twilight specifically. And by the looks of it, they weren't in the best shape.

"Whoooooa. What a trip," Amethyst said, a bit groggy. It took a bit for them to come around, Steven going right up to them first.

"Guys!" Steven called.

"Steven? you're here too?" Peridot questioned.

"I guess I am, but … where exactly is here?" Steven asked, getting the most obvious question out of the way. There wasn't any sort of details or clues to help any of them here.

"I'm not sure. Are we dreaming?" Twilight wondered.

"Either that or we're in some other universe," Amethyst shrugged.

I can guarantee you, you're not.

Then there was the figure. Everyone there looked on in the same direction, and soon something began to move in closer to them. This being towered over them all, about the same size Blue Diamond would be normally, though there was a lot to suggest this wasn't just some ordinary person, Gem, or pony. The whole body seemingly appeared as a black shadow, hunched over to look down to them all. They could barely make out the horn on top of its head, and the voice, while a bit ghostly in tone, sounded eerily familiar.

"Princess Luna?" Twilight asked, humbly. The figure shook her head.

"No. I am the spirit of the world yet to come." she stated, a pair of wings suddenly spreading out as a stinging cold wind blew at them. If this was some trick by Luna, than it wasn't very funny at all. It was then a pair of white, glowing eyes stared down at them, and once the shadows began to slip and they saw more color, the figure looked very much like Luna, but in a more "grim reaper" outfit.

"I-If this is some sort of Equestrian joke, I can guarantee you it's not funny," Peridot stated. The spirit leaned forward, her eyes daggers at their confidence.

"There is nothing funny about the dangers you'd be bringing!" she bellowed.

"What're you talking about?" Twilight asked. The figure straightened out.

"I've been observing your group. And you in particular in actions are beyond hazardous, for it is you who've brought the worlds into a plague, and seeing those not meant to be seen!" The spirit said all of this with an accusing hoof aimed directly at them all.

"Oh, Hopper and Hoppy! S-Sorry, we didn't -" Steven was cut short however.

"Those two weren't the examples that forced me to confront you all. I'd contact all of you at once for our exchange, but it is unfortunately too late!" Her voice shook the area, as more cold wind blew at them all.

"T-Too late? Why's that?" Steven asked nervously.
It was then the ground started to shake, the spirit flapping her wings a bit but not getting off the ground. The ground began to crack open more and more, seemingly intentional by the spirit in question. Suddenly, Peridot, Amethyst, Steven, and Twilight began to fall, wind forcing them downward. They thought it would be the end of this dream, but instead they all suddenly landed in what felt like water. And a lot of it. They all got to the surface fast, Peridot coughing a little first before they all tried to find a shoreline …

But then they saw something: the other Crystal Gems. There did seem to be some members missing however: Garnet, Flint, Star, Bismuth, and of course themselves. They didn't hear exactly what they were saying, but this moment was clearly full of hardship, as the group began to look appalled by the whole thing, and Ruby was seemingly going off at Pearl about … something. Pearl looked completely torn up, if not unprepared for this conversation, hand over her mouth with horror in her eyes. Pearl seemingly tried to speak, but the group felt they've been struck a bit too hard, and suddenly, they began to leave: Lapis flew off in the air, Emerald, and Jasper scattered, and for poor Pearl, she collapsed in a defeated heap. Crying. Ruby felt no better off, and she just left as well. To where, they weren't sure, but one thing was clear.

Just as they got the entire group back, and now they were gone again.

"W-Wait! Guys, come back!" Peridot yelled, but nobody seemed to even acknowledged they were even there, let alone heard em. Shortly after this, the spirit flew down and landed nearby, her presence turning the sea into ice again under the group's feet.

"Your group is no longer gathered as it had been. For it is your lie that had driven them all away!" the spirit bellowed, aiming a hoof directly at Steven. The others turned to him, Steven frozen still. Just as he was figuring out what to do, it would seem fate wasn't going to wait for him to get on with it.

"Steven, what's she talking about?"

"Um … ok. Guys. ... There's something I need to tell you."

…

"WhaaaaaAAAAT?!" Peridot gasped. A few minutes got enough good information out to them, and unfortunately Steven had to get it out one way or another. Now he just had to wait for the actual reactions out of them all (Peridot already getting hers out). The spirit stood off aside to let them speak amongst themselves, this info as deep cut as Amethyst herself was. Speaking of, Amethyst needed a minute to actually process this.

"So, let me get this straight. Rose Quartz: leader of the Crystal Gems! Steven's mom! Was actually PINK DIAMOND?!"

"She faked her own shattering and reformed to be Rose all the time. I just found it out a few hours ago," Steven explained, humbled but knowing he had to tell them. He just wished he had more time to plan this. There was some bit of doubt of course.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. but, if you're Pink Diamond, then who's this other Pink Diamond running around on Equestria?" Peridot asked.

"Just another copy I guess," Steven shrugged, "Pink left some fake shards behind, and I guess White Diamond took those thinking it's the real thing."

"So Pink tricked even White? Is there anything else you've learned that night?"

"Well, that's the biggest thing," Steven figured. Amethyst sighed, and sat down, as if the wind got knocked out of her.

"I mean, pink flowers, pink Lion, a pink sword, pink Lars, and now Pink Diamond? Ugh, if you told me Rose invented cotton candy, I'd believe it!" Amethyst said.

"Oh clod, we have to go back! Quick, someone wake us up before they get too far away!" Peridot said in a panic. The spirit then stepped forward.

"You all are not leaving. Not yet."

"WHAT? B-But the others, they're running off to who knows where? We have to find them!" Twilight insisted. The spirit towered over the alicorn, glaring down at her.

"It is you that is to blame for all of this! And you're not leaving until you fully understand the dangers you and everyone else had set into motion."

"So, what, you're gonna show us the future?" Amethyst asked.

"No. for there are no more futures for me to show."

"Why not?" Twilight asked.

"You will succeed in bringing them all together. As you wished!" she stated, but she didn't sound happy about it at all.

"That's good, isn't it?" questioned Amethyst.
The spirit didn't answer verbally, and instead her horn started to glow an unbridled, icy blue. The world the group found themselves in changed drastically, as a huge rush of wind slammed through all of them. They all had to block off the cold ice from their gaze, but it was what they saw next that made it even more chilling. The land looked cold, all covered in such a horrid blanket of arctic ice and snow. Few buildings could breach the surface, a mix of Beach City, and Ponyville, just to prove her point. Both worlds will be in deep trouble.

The spirit began to speak again.

I see a cold wind blowing through
I see days neither fun nor free.

The spirit, with the wind blowing at her back, glared down to the entire group. Seeing such an apocalyptic wasteland gave them all a different kind of scare, as the spirit even aimed an accusing front hoof down at them.

I see a future caused by you
I see a path not meant to be

Some of them started to back up, but suddenly a huge wall of wind, snow, and ice made them all stop. The spirit wasn't allowing them to leave, at least not yet. She then started to work some form of magic not with her horn, but with her hooves, and conjuring up with looked like Ruby and Sapphire, both performing a dance together in grace.

The future should be filled with magic
Dreams and wishes brought to life

But the days ahead are dark and tragic
No time for hope when all is strife

In one motion of the hoof, the figures disappeared into the wind. It was then she leaned over them from the left.

Whatever might have been

And then coming in from the other side.

All the dreams all beings share

The spirit brought herself back to the front of the group, and what she said next shook them all.

Because of your harmony
Now the future is a cold nightmare

Then came the whistles of the wind, as other odd beings began to fly through the skies around them. These odd creatures didn't look like they were flying, but more like swimming through the sky around them. The front body was of a horse, the back a ghost, all Windigo. Ghosts of the frozen world that was now theirs. Twilight knew the sight all too well.

"Windigos? But no, they've been gone for thousands of years! Equestria's fire of friendship -"

"Did nothing to them, Twilight. And now all your actions will allow them to return. The future of your worlds shall be wiped away in a blanket of eternal snow!"
The spirit disappeared completely behind a wall of ice and snow, as the windigos circled above them. A cyclone of winter circling them, and wrapping themselves around all of them, each one of them looking on in horror.

"No! Wait, come back! We didn't mean for any of this to happen! I-Is there time to stop it?! We're sorry!!!"

Up above their heads, at the very top of the cyclone, it seemed that there was someone up there to help them out in this horrifying nightmare; Lapis Lazuli! Or, it seemed to be, but as she began to charge in, her body began to wither and turn into another, even more decrepit Windigo, as the giant beast roared and landed right on top of them!

…

"LAPIS!"

Steven suddenly found himself on the side of the van now, seemingly falling off of the roof of the van and onto the ground nearby Lion. Steven didn't want to wake anyone up yet, but this scream and fall surely got Greg jumping up, slightly groggy but still awake all the same. Steven made a mad scramble to get out of his sleeping bag, now out in the cold, heart racing and him taking a minute to realize that he was back in the real world, not in the dreamscape.

"Whoa, Steven! You okay, kiddo?" Greg asked, helping him up to his feet, as he tried to calm down.

"I … I think so. … Oh boy."

~~~~~~

Well, for some of the members, they knew immediately where to go from there. And, so other Gems probably won't get word on it immediately to put even more pressure on them, they got from Earth to Equestria, and over in Twilight's tower. This "info-bomb" dropped on them was something they REALLY needed to discuss, and if the others really were off and gone, than they need to figure something out and figure it out soon. The only one that didn't really show up though was Peridot.

"Okay, so Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond, and this apparently has been told to the others, and they're currently gone missing. But apparently, bringing them back together would bring back the Windigo … and that's all we know," Twilight began, going over the main things they got down pact on a chalkboard.

"You really think it'll bring them back?" Steven asked. If Hearth's Warming Eve was any indication, then that was probably not the best idea ever.

"I don't see how it can do it: the Windigos were all defeated when the Fire of Friendship was first ignited, thus removing the hatred that the creatures feed on, and stopping the winter," Twilight reminded, wiping away the drawing and re-drawing the events as she spoke.

"But that spirit said it didn't do anything. Did something else happen that made them leave?" Steven asked, concerned. Twilight tried to think, but eventually shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. Even if it was, it must be somewhere I never read about."

"Yeah, and you've read quite a bit," Amethyst agreed. The egghead had probably gone over multiple narrations of the holiday within a week if she wanted to, and unless this was some forgotten detail not written down, Twilight would've recalled something like that.

"They must be taking it really hard. But, how did they even find out? It was just me and Pearl. Well, Stevonnie and Pearl," Steven said.

"You tell me; Everyone just scattered because of Rose being Pink, and if we get them back, we'll deep-freeze the world? How does that make sense," Amethyst said, hand through her hair trying to better see the situation. she wasn't there to hear the full story, and she felt it would be a bit before they would hear it all again like Steven and Connie did.

"It doesn't," Twilight said, wiping away the drawing on the chalkboard. "And we just got everyone back, we can't just leave them alone. Whenever the Windigos come back, we need everybody together. … Right after we find out where they even are."
Twilight, Amethyst, and Steven tried to think on where any of them would even go, but before they could even get to that, Steven felt his phone go off again, and after a quick check finding out it was Connie. Steven got his phone on speaker, feeling it was needed.

"Wait, it can do that?" Amethyst questioned. Something for later.

"Hey, Connie," Steven said.

"Good, Steven you're up. Where're you?"

"In Equestria. I know we're supposed to meet together, but something came -"

"Did you tell the other Gems already? … Oh, sorry for cutting you off." Connie cut in.

"Uh, only Amethyst, Twilight, and Peridot. Why?"

…….

"Oh boy."

A small prompting by Connie got them already from Twilight's tower, and off into Beach City again. In particular, the group was off over by one of the outskirt buildings. The four were looking inside from the windows, and they quickly found what Connie was talking about.
The building in particular was actually the local bar, and one Amethyst particularly was familiar with. Hard to forget where she found Bad Pearl dump herself in and beat all the drunks in some arm-wrestling. Only now, with Connie having to stop by for a brief moment in a walk to clear her own mind, she had found one of the Gems stuck inside. The four peeked over by the bar itself, and found a … odd scene. There was Peridot (not Pearl), looking completely broken down and drained, with multiple cartons of non-alcoholic cider by her side. A good ten worth, with Peridot sucking in her eleventh.

"Geesh, I know this is hard, but honestly I didn't expect her to be hit this hard," Connie said, catching them up to speed. Well, the four decided to go on inside to see her. Peridot barely reacted much at all apart from a groan, her face on the table. Maybe if this was Pearl or something, this would make some more sense, but what was eating up Peridot this much? SHE wasn't involved in as deeply as the others.

"Hey, Peridot. You uh … feeling okay?" Steven asked, as they began to head in. Peridot didn't reply much other than a groan again. Amethyst and Twilight sat side-by-side with her.

"Hey, come on P-dot, what's eating you?" Amethyst asked, grabbing her by her pointed hair and lifting her head up so she could speak. To put it simply, even if not on some hangover, she sure looked like it.

"Nothing," she groaned.

"Peridot, how long have you been in here?"

"... All night. … I couldn't find them. …"
Well that explained where Peridot had been all night, and she sure looked miserable too. Peridot could still remember the sheer panic she had in trying to find where they went, going up and down the entirety of the Crystal Temple, and all over Beach City, but only finding nothing through the night. All she did find was the bottom of the cartons she drank and nothing else. Amethyst picked one up and looked to the bartender with a worried expression, pointing to the carton. The bartender simply shook his head, relieving them that she wasn't actually drunk on it.

"I know the others had been and gone, but hey, we can still try to find them!" Twilight insisted, wing wrapped around her.

"... What's the point? …"

"To make you feel better?" Steven said, unsure of it himself. Peridot should know well why they would go off and do that, but she was too tired and "drunk" to really think straight.

"Dude, let's just go out of town, and try to clear our heads. Pink Diamond's a big shock for all of us," Twilight suggested.

"... It's not that," Peridot said, her chin resting on the countertop again. "... Everyone just … left. All gone. … It's just us now."

"Even Flint?" Steven asked.

"And Jade?" Twilight added in.

"And the Off-Colors? Or what about Aquamarine and Topaz?" Amethyst finished.

"... No."

"No as in "they're there", or no as in "they're not there"?" Connie asked.

"NO. …" Peridot repeated, before taking the same carton and chugging the remaining cider from it, before actually falling off her seat, hitting the floor. She didn't really care, even if it looked painful.

"OKAY, you've had more than enough, let's just get out of here and find somewhere else," Amethyst said, looking down to Peridot as she grabbed the now empty carton of cider, Peridot's expression unchanged.

"... Like what? …"

"Hmm … we can check out my old Kindergarten," Amethyst decided, "It's been a very long time since I've been in the neighborhood, and I've been meaning to go back to memory lane again."

"Hey, that sounds fun! What do you say, Peridot?" Connie said.

"You can make us feel dumb by telling us all the stuff we don't know," Amethyst encouraged.

"... I missed that."

"It's settled! We'll just stop by my room, pick up a few things, and we'll head off," Amethyst said, grabbing Peridot by the foot and swinging her over her shoulder, holding her up, "Let's get out of the bar!"
Well, the decision was a bit decided, and by the sound of it, Connie and Steven didn't really need to get a test run going since the others apparently know already. Whether the dream was anything to go by or not didn't matter now, all confirmed as Peridot couldn't find them at all. So, off they went to the Prime Kindergarten.

"Can I bring my cider?"

"NO."

~~~~~~

So, after a good walk to clear their minds a little bit more, the group gathered up over by the Crystal Temple to get a few things handled, and a few things to bring for the trip. Peridot simply laid down over by the door, as Twilight, Connie, and Steven were still thinking about things. Peridot honestly didn't care about Pink Diamond, but more over the fact it felt a lot more empty than needed to be.

"So, you're half-Diamond. Does this mean you have any diamond abilities?" Twilight asked at one point.

"I do have mom's healing and shield, so … maybe," Steven said. The fact his mom was a Diamond at all was a bit to think about already.

"And that means our fusions were part diamond too," Connie said, "Smoky, Stevonnie, Earthstone. All of those fusions had diamond powers in them!"

"Guess that's true too," Steven said, smiling. Despite the smile though, this chat about diamonds was leaving him a bit more in thought about Rose in general. Or Pink, whichever. Even looking up at the sky was enough to remind him of his mom.

"You know, I've been told so much about my mom. But, I've never even met her, not even once. I've always seen that portrait of mom, and sometimes I wonder if it's even her up there, smiling all day and night. I just want to know the real her."

And Connie and Twilight weren't the only ones to hear him, as Amethyst just got back with some items.

"Okay, I got some snacks for the road: we got some yogurt, some chicken. I think it's still good, the date's a bit off I think. Is that branding or expiration?"

"Uh, Amethyst?" Peridot meekly said, pulling on Amethyst's shirt.

"Sup?" Amethyst asked. It was then she saw what everyone else was looking at: Steven's glowing gemstone! This wasn't a simple case of gem weapon summoning, but more like a beacon. Soon as Amethyst's door was shut, it reopened into what seemingly was Rose's room. Weird turn of events.
Curious, Steven took a look into the room first, but it surely didn't look as bright and lively as he remembered it, or Amethyst remembering it for that matter. With how weak the Crystal Heart was, the room looked rather gloomy, and the clouds looked faded in their pinkish colors. It was like dulling out the lights inside of a room.

"Did you do that, Steven?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, maybe? … hold on a sec," Steven said, starting to go in. The others followed him inside, the door closing up behind them. The "room" didn't look much like a typical room, and more like a huge plain with pink clouds. Guess going to the prime Kindergarten would have to wait. Steven felt a bit humbled himself, remembering the last time he was in here.

"Uh, hi room. Been a very long time. I-Is that a new cloud?" Steven said, as if the room was an actual person. Again, considering what happened last time, Steven didn't want to underestimate the room he found himself in. Still, Steven could take a pretty darn good guess as to why the room would react AFTER admitting what he wanted to see.

"So … I suppose you're wondering why I'm here. I know nothing in here is real but ... I wanna see my Mom."

"Oh no. He's not going there," Amethyst thought. But indeed he was.
It took them a little bit to actually see what was gonna happen, the room seemingly answering to Steven's request. Steven was a bit humbled that it was actually that easy, just ask and he received it without a catch, but he wasn't gonna count any eggs before they would hatch. A bunch of clouds started to form up in front of him, at first seemingly forming Rose Quartz again. but with the story Pearl told him, he knew better than that. However, the room read his mind and it began to correct itself. Steven had to step back a little bit, and soon …

Pink Diamond. The true Pink Diamond. Now standing in front of him. Steven stayed quiet, hands together and even a slight blush on his face. There sure was a difference between seeing the first Pink Diamond, and then seeing this one in front of them, especially after all he had heard.

"Hello Steven."

"Oh … uh … I-it's nice to meet you," Steven said, shyly taking out his hand for an exchange. Pink Diamond simply chuckled.

"It's nice to see you too," Pink Diamond replied. One side seemed to be taking it all in stride, at least. The others though weren't too sure how to take this exactly, but "Pink Diamond" started to move forward towards them with that same knowing smile.

"It's so nice to see you too, Amethyst. Oh, you've grown so much."

"Ehhh …" poor Amethyst felt very mixed about the manor. That was a good compliment, but from someone like her, Amethyst wasn't too sure. Was this even Pink Diamond talking to her, or what? Connie, Peridot, and even Twilight were humbled themselves, Twilight bowing to the Diamond.

"Oh, Twilight, we're all friends. You don't have to be so formal," Pink Diamond reassured. That was entirely debatable. Steven felt a bit more humbled now than before, something Pink Diamond began to notice.

"Eh. Sorry, t-this is really awkward for me, Pink - uh ..."

"That's okay. you can call me Rose," Pink Diamond said, "So. What do you wanna do?"

"I didn't think that far ahead, um … what do kids like to do with their parents? …"

What did Steven have in mind?

~~~~~~

"Nice catch, son!"

Well, the first thing Steven came up with for what parents would do with their kids was some sports. Greg and Steven did a number of these things before in their lives, one way or another, but not all. And playing a game of football was a pretty good hit on what father and mother would do with eachother. The others kept their distance, but they were admittedly feeling pretty mixed about this situation. Just finding out about Pink Diamond/Rose, and here he was … well, hanging out with something like her. Rose gave him a thumbs up, Steven ready to get the ball flying again.

"This is kinda fun! Or does baseball sound good?" Steven asked, before throwing the ball far off ahead into the sky. "Rose" turned and ran off after the ball, which flew good and high in the air. Rose spoke as she went for the ball.

"Steven. All sports are beautiful. Each sport is a unique experience. The adrenaline, the glory. The sheer feats of athleticism, each one of them so complicated. And yet, exactly the same."

Pure poetry. Steven's eyes sparkled at all of this, bit soon rose got onto her knees, and then she decided to try something else: finger holding the football in place. Well, this was a pretty basic set up if one ever saw one.

"Hmm. I always thought there was something strange about my adolescence. Maybe this is what I've been missing. Football!" With that in mind to motivate him, Steven readied up and began to run. … Just for rose to grab it at the last second, making him fly in the air, and land on his back. go figure. But, it was still fun and they both had a good laugh. All of this was watched by the others off nearby, who at this point was just a bit of an audience to this whole thing.

"Well, he looks happy," said Peridot, despite being huddled up, seeing just passed her knees.

"I guess, but, should we say something? He's been at this for a few hours," Twilight asked.

"Maybe, I don't know," Amethyst shrugged. On one hand this was his room doing this, but on the other … Steven looked so happy, which was probably good with what just happened and all. … But still.
After some time with their game, Rose took a seat, and patted the spot over next to her. Steven obliged, and sat down next to her, looking out to the expanse of the room. It may look duller, but ironically the weakened state did give a more "sunset" like feel to it all.

"Mom? I uh … I've been thinking about you … a lot. More than usual," Steven said.

"Have you now?" asked Rose.

"Yeah, well...for my whole life, I've been hearing stories about you. About how amazing you were. That you were so kind and loving. And every time I'd see the painting hanging of you in the temple, you inspired. And reminded of how much I had to live up to you." Steven began to blush a little bit, "I've uh, even thought about dying my hair pink. More than once."

"Steven," Rose chuckled, "There's nothing wrong with your hair. It's beautiful just the way it is. Beautiful in every way … just like you."

Steven took a moment to take in what Rose had said, a blush coming up on his face. He did feel pretty quiet, but happy, as he rested his head down on Rose's lap. There was something Steven felt here that he hadn't before. Something he probably never could've experienced with the other Gems, or ponies, or humans. A bond of mother and son.

"Wow … this is it. It … it feels nice. I-I should've done this a long time ago," Steven said, his smiled joined by some small tears. Rose gently rested her hand on his forehead.

"Don't you realize, Steven? We've been together this whole time."

"Oh! That … that's right," Steven said, crying even more as tears came down. In a technical sense, they have been together since the very beginning. It was only now that they've finally interacted with eachother. For the others, this was starting to get concerning, looking to one another but unsure if they should go in or not. Steven then opened his eyes, realizing something.

"Oh yeah! This is our first time together. I gotta capture this moment!" Steven reached into his pocket, and managed to fish out his phone. If there was any moment he wanted captured, then this was it. His first, true moment between himself and his mom. Rose smiled, willing to comply with him, but as Steven got the picture set up for his phone, he noticed something. …
All black. Nothing. Steven may be seeing a room of pink clouds, and Rose herself, but his phone only saw what was really there. He tried to move the picture around to be sure, but indeed, nothing was there … except for one. …

"... There's no one here but me. I'm just … talking to myself."

Well, it looked like they didn't have to now. Steven got up, putting his phone away, and had only one thing to say to her. …

"You're not my mom."

"I'm not?" Rose asked, a little confused. Steven didn't look to her.

"This is what I want you to be. … But I know this isn't who you really are," Steven said. His friends nearby began to see the world start to darken even more, colors fading as sunset turned to dusk.

"I've learned some things about you. You put Bismuth inside of Lion's mane, and never told any of the others about her because she wanted to shatter Gems," Steven stated. This was something he got two-and-two together on for a long time since Bismuth first came into the team, and it seemed this statement made the world a little darker.

"And now you never told anyone that you were Pink Diamond. You faked your shattering, and Homeworld went to war on Earth because of it, and now White Diamond has it out for Earth, and the Crystal Gems, and me! You put all of us in danger, and you just … DISAPPEARED!"

A storm was brewing: lightning catching Steven off guard, along with the others, who looked around the room in worry. The sudden flow of negative emotions made the room turn into a mix of grays and blacks, strong winds tossing around the clouds all around them. Connie, Amethyst, and Peridot covered themselves as best they could, but Twilight could just make out Steven being tossed into the air by the wind!

"Steven!" gasped Twilight, jumping into the air to catch him, but the wind forced them both down to the ground. The only one not caught up in the wind was Rose herself, who was floating up in the air in the cyclone, those on the ground unable to see her eyes, and the illusion of love and care became more known now to them all.

"W-What's going on?!" Connie asked.

"I don't know!" Peridot replied. But for Steven, his mind was only focused on one thing now, and he made it known while looking up to rose again.

"I finally know the truth! I know who you are: you're a liar! I thought you'd never want to hurt anyone, but you've hurt everyone! How could you just leave Bismuth, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst and dad like that?!" Steven managed to find his feet despite the wind, starting to move over towards Rose. The others tried getting him, but the wind forced them away from him.

"You forced Pearl to keep this quiet for so long, and now everyone ran away because of you! But maybe that didn't matter as much as hiding from the mess you made! Is that why I'm here?! DID YOU MAKE ME SO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOUR MISTAKES?! … Is that all I'm here for?"

*grrrrrrrrrr*

Then came the sounds. No sooner after he said that, Steven heard such a low, guttural growl. A sound that almost sounded as if it came from under his feet. Steven's vent ended when the clouds started to calm down, but then Steven looked on, passed Rose Quartz. In his eyes, clouds were everywhere, but he saw that his shadow was long … and standing twenty feet in front of him. It wasn't him though, and what he did see terrified him.
He was no friend. He wasn't even human for that matter, but an equine. A tall pony, as dark as the starless night. And for the time being, his horn appeared to be missing. Replaced instead by a jagged dagger of what remained of it, as if it was the end of a broken bottle. Rose might not know who this was, but everyone else knew, and Steven's memories went far back on this nostalgic, yet horrifying creature.

Sombra.

"What? … Wait." Steven got out his phone again, this time capture what was in front of him, but as before, he didn't see anything. Sombra didn't say a word, and began moving in closer to them, each step echoing throughout the room as the skies all around began to dim and dull into a darker grey. Rose, being the protective mother she was, stood in between Steven and Sombra, but this didn't deter the broken unicorn. He snorted, his hoof digging into the ground like a bull, before he suddenly began to charge. They thought he was after them, and Twilight and Steven got their defense up at the ready. But while normally this would stop him, Sombra actually ran through them in a haze. His target was a bit more significant.

*CRACK*

Just like that. Steven wished he hadn't turned around, but when he did, he saw that Rose Quartz was skewered. Right in her gemstone! There was no recovery from that kind of injury, and Rose went limp. Now, a Gem would just disappear, but Steven found that Rose didn't. Her gem was shattered, but her body remained, as Sombra threw her aside, the body landing in a heap further away. There was a long silence, the room all gray, and dead …

Then something happened.

The room began to rumble. It started out small, but quickly began to grow more and more violent, much of the group unable to stay still. Rose and even the clouds around them began to disappear, as the ground underneath started to crack and give way! The floor suddenly caved in, a divot forming fast, and while Twilight, Connie, and Peridot got clear, Amethyst and Steven fell into it. By the time they got up, Sombra jumped down into the divot, moving in on them. Sombra only had one thing to say to them.

"RUN."

"You heard the scary pony, let's go!" Amethyst said, probably the nicest thing they remembered him ever saying as Amethyst grabbed Steven. The unicorn rushed forward right towards them, but the ground cracked under his hooves, and like shattering ice, the unicorn fell through the divot. Amethyst threw Steven out of the divot, and Amethyst jumped out just in time as the divot opened up to a tornado forming underneath, into vast nothingness. The breaking grounds of this room were forming up all around them, as even the skies seemed to be shattering above their heads. They were lucky to stay standing at this point, as their only safety exit was glitching too! The others screamed, as the ground all started to crack and shatter away.
In desperation, Twilight flew up into the air, and allowed herself to be caught by the others, amethyst wrapping her whips around her back legs as everyone else held onto it for dear life. Twilight was struggling just to stay flying, let alone try and aim for the door, but she knew this wouldn't be fast enough with her like this. Time to work the strength of her pony ancestors in those back legs of hers: straining hard, she started to move her back body back and forth, making those hanging on swing back and forth further and further, until in one final swing, everyone was thrown right through the door! Twilight, despite the wind, made a mad dash just as all of the room began to collapse around her, and charged through just in time for the door to completely close.

"WOW. … That happened," Peridot simply said, all of them trying to catch their breath over the near-death experience. Looking back at the door, all the lights were turned off, and the rooms were silent.

"Is everyone okay?" Steven then asked, getting a headcount of everyone there.

"I think so," Twilight replied, feeling sore in her back legs from that feat of hers. They all looked to the door, and Steven slowly went over to it, waiting to see what would happen. He wanted to see if the room was alright …
But nothing happened. This door was sealed tight. Steven tried to open the door as much as he could, but it was no use. The power had finally ran out in the Crystal Temple.

"Steven?" Connie asked, looking over to him. Steven was … torn. It was hard to exactly grasp what just happened in there. Was Sombra back for revenge by killing Rose, or was that Sombra just some allegory made up in his head like everything else? Steven took a deep breath, and sat back down.

"I-I'm sorry guys, I don't know what happened. But we're all here, and that's what matters. … So, where were we before we kinda ditched everything?" Steven asked. They still had the Prime Kindergarten to get to, but now it was getting kinda late. How long were they in there for?

And they failed to notice a video tape left right at the door.

Deep Cut

View Online

*CHOO-CHOOO!*

With their trip into Rose's Room over and done, it was away from the Temple and off towards the Prime Kindergarten, the group (Amethyst, Peridot, Steven) arriving there in short time in a flash from the nearest Warp Pad. … Or at least, they'd normally be. However, this time, Amethyst decided to take a more scenic route to her old home. They needed time to chillax before they would get there, so with that in mind Amethyst found a particularly nice ride through the countryside in the form of a empty train car. Practical, not too easy to do but still fun to ride along in. As the train moved along the tracks towards its destination, They watched the landscape go by, much of it in the form of sunflowers and hay. With autumn just about to call it in for another year, much of the fields had a bit of frost overnight, leaving much of the hay with a slight sparkle to it in the breeze.
While much of the group was enjoying the ride along their way, Peridot was simply quiet, curled up as she felt the cart clank and clang.

"Explain to me again why we had to take this clanking train, when there's a convenient Warp Pad right in the center of it?" Peridot asked, some stray hay falling onto her, shaken off by the vibrating train.

"Trying to take a nicer way there. Check out the lay of the land," Amethyst insisted, presenting the land in front of them. While it would look pretty lovely for some, the idea of observing the place did not fancy her all too well. Admittedly, she was just along for the ride by this point, keeping her gaze away from the opened doors of the train car.

"Just let me know when we get there," sighed Peridot. With so many of their friends all but gone for now, poor Peridot was not motivated much to do anything, even less than she did when she had her limb enhancers on her. Well, Steven and Amethyst decided maybe pushing it was not something worth doing, as they looked on forward in the fields of amber grain. Well, what to do now?

"... Soooo … Pink Diamond, huh?" said Amethyst.

"Yeah," Steven sighed.

"Rose Quartz, eh?"

"Yep …"

"And the diamond she shattered. She's right there under your shirt," Amethyst pointed out. Steven lifted up his shirt to see his gemstone, and simply nodded to her.

"So … how're you feelin?"

There was some pause for a moment as Steven tried to better think about the situation. His time with "Rose Quartz" in his room, while it did get him to shout out some of the stress, it just left him more mixed up now that he calmed down. This wasn't just something to brush off, not anymore.

"I … kinda feel like Garnet right now. How she felt so lost before, you know? … I-I really thought I got it, that mom was framed and all that, but … now that she's a diamond I guess I'm … relieved?"

"Go on," Amethyst simply said, a bit invested in this. Peridot didn't look it, not even looking to them, but she was feeling invested in this too. Pink Diamond was his mom, after all.

"Well, on one hand, I'm glad she didn't shatter anyone. But on the other hand … she lied to everyone. And the truth's always better than a well-meant lie … maybe. I-I can see how she's both bad, and good. I don't know how to feel about it yet. …"
It was hard to find just one word to feel about this, although confusion was probably the strongest feeling shared by numerous members of the Crystal Gems, considering many of them had just ran off on them. Whatever the case may be, this was a bit much for them to do, but then again this huge lie was effecting all of this in some way. Who's to say where they could all be?

"So you're not mad?" Amethyst questioned.

"Well. Yes? No? I dunno, I'm just wondering how everyone else is taking this."

"But what about -" *THUD*
In a rather rough hit over a rock on the tracks, the cart made a big shake, causing a big haybale to tumble out, and knock Amethyst right off the tracks! Lucky for them the train wasn't moving very fast, but the second that happened, Steven grabbed Peridot and hopped out, tumbling a little themselves as Peridot yelped.

"Maybe next time warn me before you try to shatter yourself," Peridot grumbled, as they went over to check in on Amethyst, who still had the haybale stuck on top of her. It wasn't a knockout hit, but it did knock the wind out of her. Steven got the haybale off of her in little time at all. Amethyst was left dazed, and hay in her mouth, which she spat out.

"You okay?" Steven asked.

"Hay's a lot heavier than I thought," Amethyst murmured, as she got to her feet, shaking off some of the stray hay.

"So now what? Our train is leaving without us," Peridot grumbled, looking back to their fleeing ride. They all were too slow to catch up to the train, and it was a bit hard to say how much further it was to said Kindergarten. The group was left in the dust, but Amethyst didn't let that deter her, waving her hand dismissively.

"No sweat, Steve-O, P-Dot. Let's just get on our walking shoes and be off on our way. This way!" Amethyst said, taking the lead and keeping the spirits cheerful and good. They would have to jump off the train to get to the Prime Kindergarten anyway, so this was just an early drop-off as all. Not saying it was any better for the green Gem though.

~~~~~~

As probably expected, the walk over to the Prime Kindergarten was a long and tiring one, but still had a bit of chill time to get to the place in question. Steven knew one could get here outside of the Warp Pad's capabilities, but he didn't have Lapis Lazuli this time, so walking there was a little bit of a hassle to do. They only began to realize they were getting closer when the land began to lose its colors. not even the cooling winter snow could do much to help the weakened looking area coming up to the front of the canyon. Hard to believe this place used to be so full of Earth's life so long ago, if Pearl's story was anything to go by.
All three of them surely hadn't been here in such a long time, walking in from the main opening in the canyon, the ground as dry and dusty as it always had been. Not even years of work could ever really change what this place was, as much of the many holes and other constructs remained undisturbed for the most part.

"Ah, good ol' Kindergarten. It's nice to take a walk back to your roots sometimes, you know?" Amethyst sighed. a bit ironic once upon a time, but Amethyst was feeling a bit better of it now. It felt a bit better when it was all quiet and not working.

"If you want to call it that, then fine," Peridot sighed, kicking a pebble aside as they went along the Prime grounds of Amethyst's birth place. Eventually though, they began to reach a particularly familiar looking wall. The same wall where Amethyst made her first steps into this world. And her hole was left undisturbed, me-sized as she would say it to be.
Peridot personally wasn't in much of a mood for it, but she decided to just go on anyway, knowing that the two were waiting for something smart to come out of her.

"What you're looking at here is the Cut-8 division."

"Excuse me?" Steven asked.

"The Cut-8 Division. That's a name for a section of Kindergarten to better categorize the Gems coming out. Is this your hole, Amethyst?" Peridot questioned, examining the smaller hole when compared to the other holes.

"Yep, that's my hole. Just *pop* right out of here," Amethyst said. Peridot examined it a bit closer.

"... Yep, you Amethyst are Facet-5 Cut-8XM.That would make those following up 8XL, 8XJ, 8XK -" before Peridot could finish, Amethyst jumped right up to the holes in question, now more intrigued about all of this.

"WHOA, so these holes were full after all! Nice to meet ya, 8XL."

"Actually that's 8XJ. The order goes from top to bottom. 8XL is underneath you," Peridot corrected. Amethyst hopped down to the other hole in question, checking it out herself and seeing the deposits within. With the exception of her own hole, all of the others were taller and larger than her so it gave her room to look around a bit.

"Oh. Sorry, sis, didn't mean to mix ya up. So, what else can you tell from these holes?" Amethyst asked, sitting down inside 8XL's hole, and waiting for some answer. Peridot just went along with it.

"You can tell what kind of features a cut can have by studying the deposits inside. 8XJ for example I can tell just by looking at it from here that she has curly hair. And 8XL has more prominent purple skin," observed Peridot. Amethyst hopped back up to 8XJ to see for herself, and she did slightly notice a very slight change in the walls inside. Steven and Amethyst were impressed.

"That's sweet! Here, uh, what can you tell from this one?" Steven asked, going up to another hole in a wall off nearby, about two levels up. Peridot thought about it for a brief moment.

"That would be 8XG, and if I'm not mistaken, she has pinkish skin much like your typical Rose Quartz," Peridot confirmed. This was very interesting, and amethyst looked on down to Steven and Peridot, seeing that this trip was having some fun after all. Good thing too.

"Okay, Peridot, let's try … this one!" Amethyst then made a huge leap up to a very high hole, a good thirty feet up. This one Peridot had to better consider, but it took her little time to work it out, and she had to back up to the opposite wall to better see the hole Amethyst was standing in. Her visors sure came in handy here.

"That's 8UZ! A blue Amethyst!" Peridot called. Whelp, this all was very impressive to both Amethyst and Steven, as Amethyst jumped down back to ground level.

"Not bad. So, is it all Amethysts here?" Amethyst asked. Peridot shook her head.

"Not necessarily, but it was the main type that exited from this place. However, other types of Quartzes had emerged from here."

"You mean like Star Quartz?" Steven asked, as Peridot walked over towards another wall.

"Star Quartz's gemstone had to be injected directly, so no. I'm talking about Gems that were officially made within this planet. This hole here -" she pointed over to a broader hole along the ground, "- is one of the Topazes created. And up along the south wall -" she said as she pointed to a cluster of holes south of them, "- is a group of Citrines."

Their minds were boggled at this.

"You're pretty amazing, dot," Amethyst complimented. Peridot smiled, but with so much already happening, one way or another, the smile quickly went away. But now, something else began to occupy her mind, as she thought back to just how much she was … well, not there. Once upon a time, this Gem would've been marveled and fascinated by what could be done here. But now …

"... This used to make sense to me. Formless, stray energy gathered to create new, useful Gems. I thought we were creating life before, so many Gems come in and out, so many new faces. … But life doesn't start in a Kindergarten. … It ends here."

The distraught Gem walked along down through the Prime Kindergarten, eyes gazing up at all the empty space, silent injectors, and cold air. Cold. Dry. And quiet. Those three words summed up what this Kindergarten gave off to her, and what others would come by.

"I've gotten used to plants everywhere: bugs and breeze, and sunshine. All of that has been sucked out of this place. It's with the Gems that were produced here, and now, this place is nothing but a miserable husk. … I didn't understand before but … I guess I can see why you all didn't want this to happen. …"

Peridot quietly continued walking until she found a nice rock to sit down on. Amethyst and Steven looked to eachother in concern, as Peridot laid down, her eyes to the sky. It was so blue before, but with the white haze, there wasn't anything to be had here. Not even the warmth of the sun could reach this place.

"And now nothing will ever grow here again. All of the Gems that were made here are now gone, and no more will ever be made here again."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Amethyst, a Prime Kindergarten Gem, quickly corrected.

"Oh. Well, almost all of them. Either way, nothing's gonna be living here anymore. Not then. Not now. And never again …"

"Uh, Peridot?"

"Don't try to cheer me up, Steven, it's just facts. I can handle it," Peridot groaned, not seeing what Amethyst and Steven were seeing.

"Peridot."

"What?" Peridot groaned, looking down to them with little enthusiasm. Amethyst and Steven began to back up a little bit, their gaze not focusing on Peridot exactly. The green Gem was not amused.

"How cliché of you two," Peridot groaned. But then Amethyst began to summon her weapon, as a large shadow then began to cover her body, and the rock she was on. Whelp, she wasn't being tricked, there indeed was something behind her, and what it was apparently made Steven and Amethyst freak out. Peridot slowly got up …

"... HWAAAHH!"

Tactical Ruby maneuver: Right to the face! Whoever was standing behind her was knocked off its feet, stumbling to the ground, a little bit dazed but not too hurt. In fact, shortly after, they began to hear someone laughing.

"That's some kick. For a Peridot, you hit hard," the figure joked. The voice sounded a bit vaguely familiar (okay, a LOT familiar) to Amethyst's voice. She had light bluish-purple skin and white hair, standing as tall as a standard fighter Gem. Her gemstone, located on her right hip, had a circular light lavender gemstone with a hexagonal facet.
Oh, and she was a Gem. Amethyst to be exact. Amethyst Facet-5 Cut-8UZ.

"Amethyst?" Steven asked, as the other Amethyst got up.

"Yep, that's me, 8UZ of the Prime. You just come out, deep cut?" 8UZ asked, referring to Amethyst. Amethyst was just taken aback from the identity of this Gem alone, let alone the question.

"Eh, no. I've uh -"

"Wait a minute," 8UZ kneeled down and got a closer look to Amethyst. In particular, the gemstone on her chest. The gem saw her own reflection and did some mental comparisons.

"NO WAY, it is you! Amethyst 8XM! I'd know that cut anywhere," 8UZ said in surprise. Amethyst and Steven glanced over to Peridot, who cleared her throat.

"A cut of a gemstone can identify what section of a Kindergarten they're from," Peridot said, though admittedly she too was a bit surprised to see that Amethyst was identified in her cut so easily when, according to the time she came out, none of the others would've even seen her.

"Oh, this is HUGE. Wait til the others hear about this."

"Wait. others? Are the others with you?" Peridot inquired.

"Sure, all of the division's here. They're just down that way, come on," said the other amethyst, already walking off to rejoin the others.

~~~~~~

The walk with this other Amethyst didn't really last as long as the walk up to the Kindergarten itself, but it still took some time for them to even get there. Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst shared a similar intrigue with eachother on the idea that there were still Gems roaming around the Prime that weren't corrupted or shattered already.
And really, it didn't take too much time left until they began to hear the sounds of activity. Just around the next corner, as 8UZ casually walked on, the trip laid witness to the full cut of the 8 division, all gathered together within the Kindergarten. It looked as if they've stepped back in time, to a point when the Kindergarten looked as "active" as it was while in operation: many amethysts chatting and fooling around with one another. Amethyst just stood there, mouth agape and eyes starry. She may have seen her own cut while on Homeworld, but this was unreal. Not that she was complaining, that is. All these Amethysts, each one the same height but with slight differences to one another in gem placement, tone in voice and tone in colors.

"WHOA. Amethyst, this is all your cut?"

"Y-Yes!" Amethyst said in a hush. 8UZ went on over to a group of these Amethysts.

"Yo!"

"Hey 8UZ, what's up?"

"I'll tell you what's up: you're not gonna believe this. Look who I found by the Kindergarten borders," 8UZ said, presenting Amethyst to her. Amethyst snapped out of it for a moment, but suddenly she was screaming, a huge smile on her face.

"AAAHHH! OH MY GOSH! My own cut - ALL HERE!" Amethyst beamed, going right over to them. She was more than happy to welcome Amethyst in, much like 8UZ able to recognize what cut she was from in no time at all. Peridot and Steven went over to them as well.

"This is great! They're all like your sisters, Amethyst," Steven said.

"I know, isn't this great?! FINALLY I get to know what I've been missing!" Amethyst beamed, the other Amethyst fluffing her hair a bit.

"Great to finally see ya, 8XM. You were right under me. We all waited but, nothing. Hey, name's -" he was about to introduce herself, but Amethyst wanted the fun to figure this out for herself.

"Ah ah ah, wait, don't tell me … 8XL!" Amethyst guessed, impressing her fellow Gem.

"You got it!" 8XL said. Amethyst can't miss this opportunity. Amethyst got to a good spot to see the cut around her, and she began to try and recall what Peridot had said earlier. She started to look over the group of Gems around her, trying to remember the details, until she started pointing out Gems.

"Let's see … and … AHA, you must be 8XJ!" Amethyst said, pointing out a Amethyst from the crowd, this one having curly hair just as Peridot had said. 8XJ gave her a thumbs up, and Amethyst tried another one.

"Sweet! And … you're 8XG!" Amethyst said, pointing out another one closer to her, this one having colors much like a Rose Quartz. Right again!

"Not bad, sis. You read up on us before showing up, or what?" 8UZ asked.

"With a hand from my friend over there," Amethyst said, thumb pointing to Peridot. From the position now, 8XJ started to see the Cutie Mark amethyst had on her face, kneeling down and her finger poking it.

"What do you call this thing?" she asked.

"Oh, that ol thing? My Cutie Mark," Amethyst answered. This reveal did surprise a good number of the Amethysts there, as none of them even had any cutie marks on them to speak of. come to think of it, they never seen a Peridot with a cutie mark either. 8XJ picked up Amethyst.

"Dang, a Deep Cut AND the first Cutie Mark'd Gem. Who'd of thunk it?" 8XJ said, psyched to hear that of her.
Steven and Peridot were simply watching off aside as this all was going on, seeing Amethyst having a blast. Made them almost forget that they had their own crisis going on, but even with this, Peridot still had at least one question for them before going off any further.

"We got so much to catch up on! Hey, guess what we saw before coming here?" said 8XL.

"I'm probably gonna guess it wrong, so what?" Amethyst asked with a grin.

"Ready for this? A TRI-STONED. Concrete Gem! I only heard that something like that's unheard of!" Amethyst herself wasn't sure what a Concrete Gem was, but she did recall some of the others mentioning something about Concrete as they explained their travels on the Space Station.

"Prime, Prime, Prime, you Amethysts are so cliquey," said a voice. It didn't sound like an Amethyst, but some of the cut moved aside and soon saw a Jasper standing there - the same one Team B had rescued and basically assembled back together!

"Skinny J, you made it! Hey, where's Carnelian?" asked 8XG. Skinny just smirked.

"Celebrating."

And just like that, Amethyst was suddenly lifted off the ground by Carnelian, catching her by surprise at first, but becoming hyped fairly quickly. Carnelian of course felt just as psyched to see Amethyst.

"I'm not the shortest anymore!" she cried, racing around with Amethyst as the purple Gem laughed. Well, it would seem that Amethyst was gonna be pre-occupied for a good while, and Steven and Peridot both weren't sure on what to do. The odds that the Kindergarten Gems would end up coming back around were a bit rare, and they didn't have Garnet around for the moment to even ask so what should they do?

"Nice for her to find her family, huh?" Steven said.

"Seems so. Though I have to wonder what they're doing here in the first place. …" Peridot pondered on this for a bit.

"Well, either way, the Kindergarten is sure more lively."

"Steven, this doesn't prove anything," Peridot griped, walking off ahead. "They may be back, but this place is still drained of life. And now nothing will ever grow here again, not even this flower!"

… And just like that, both of them froze. did Peridot really say that right? Looking down to the ground, Steven and Peridot soon found that they found something growing within the kindergarten after all! The flower in question looked rather tiny, resembling that of a small buttercup, with gray petals that held a odd resemblance to Peridot's Cutie Mark. It even had a similar sheen to the light as well, much like metal or steel, so it was unclear if this was a real flower or a fake one.

"WOW, that's Earth for you - always bouncing back!" Steven beamed, looking to the flower on ground level. He gently touched the flower, and while it appeared metallic, actually felt soft to the touch. Peridot wasn't convinced however, going on ground level herself.

"I don't know. This could be nothing more than an anomaly," Peridot observed, also touching the flower. The intriguing part was how well it resembled the flower she had on her cheek. Appearing like a flower one would find in a party store, but in reality a flower grown out in the garden.

"Hey, Peridot, c'mere!" called one of the Amethysts.

"What is it?"

"8UZ's been telling us that you got some strength on those limbs. Wanna show us?" she offered. Peridot got up, taking her mind off of this random flower that had just appeared for a brief moment.

"... Oh alright. I got literally nothing better to do," she sighed, beginning to walk off towards the Amethyst in question. Steven took a slight pause by said flower before he too went off.

…….

With the newly discovered flower out of the mind for at least a while, it was downtime with the group of the 8 cut. Since they've never had the pleasure of meeting up to this point, they took their time to catch up on stories, and as the amethysts told what they've been up to since leaving Earth behind, Amethyst gave them more than enough info on her own adventures, including of course how she got her Cutie Mark. A chance of re-telling that story had been far too rare for her.
With this story telling as well, also came Peridot's turn to actually show off what she could really do. Seemed that training with Ruby did give her a bit more of an edge in her fighting style, it just enough to keep the bruisers' attention as she did a few practice punches and kicks. Peridot had admittedly been a little out of practice though, as it had been a while since her last sparring with the red Gem.

"The Gem knows her stuff," commented one of the Amethysts.

"Yeah, and looks like Ruby-style too," said another. Peridot knocked up a rock, and with an uppercut kick, swung it high into the air. This tossed it straight up towards an inactive injector, hitting it in one of the legs. With it being twenty feet up, that wasn't too bad.

"Hey, P, where'd you get those moves from?" 8XG asked.

"I've accomplished time to better train myself with the Crystal Gem Ruby, joined by the Crystal Gem Garnet on occasion," Peridot explained. Although she did feel down a little from reminding herself of that issue, it did feel nice to get some attention from the other Gems.

"That where this came from?" she asked, referring to the Cutie Mark again. They took the time to tell them what Cutie Marks were about, as much as they could understand, but Peridot had yet to give them the idea on how she got hers. And THAT, accompanied by the injector above, gave Peridot the perfect opportunity.

"Actually, this Cutie Mark is from something different. If one of you can loosen one of the legs on that injector up there, I'll show ya," Peridot said. The group looked up to said Injector, which itself was precarious with a weakened leg already.

"Alrigh. 8UZ, wanna do that?" 8XL said. 8UZ already felt the strength in the Peridot's legs, she had to see this! In a few jumps from hole to hole, she went right up to the injector. Some of the Amethysts backed up a bit, but Peridot stood there boldly, only stretching a bit as they began to hear the injector weaken from 8UZ's own strength on it. Pretty soon, like an apple plucked off of a branch, the injector popped off and began to fall right onto Peridot … just for the Gem to raise her hands. Just like that, the Injector stopped altogether, much to the shock of the Amethysts. With a slight strained groan, Peridot tossed it to the side, the injector landing in a thud.
There was some silence at first, but then all the Amethysts cheered and applauded the feat she had done.

"WHOA, you clobbered that thing without even touching it!" gasped 8XJ.

"I know, it's sweet. I got Ruby to thank for that too," Peridot admitted with a smile. In a way that was correct influence wise. All of this was being observed by Amethyst, Steven, Skinny, and Carnelian, who were having some down time themselves. Amethyst was sitting on a boulder, Skinny leaning on it as Carnelian and Steven stood aside.

"Geesh, your Peridot's getting along pretty well with your sisters, deep cut," Skinny commented.

"She has that way with people," Steven said, seeing her having fun with the Amethysts.

"I can see that. Heh, a Gem with a Cutie Mark. What'll they come up with next?"

"Things that grow in the Kindergarten," Carnelian pointed out, bringing their attention over back to the flower. Well, she got em there.

"Good point. Really though, I've never seen anything growing here, and I've been hanging around this joint for 5,000 years," Amethyst said, thinking back on it. The only thing that really grew in the Kindergarten, if it counted, was dust. no way could any normal flower just grow in a place like this.

"Like I said: Earth's always bouncing back," Steven said. They all looked to the flower, which despite all of the empty, and dead space everywhere, looked surprisingly healthy for what it was.

"WOW: Cutie Mark Gems, a Peridot that can float injectors, and now a flower in the Kindergarten! Blue's gonna be psyched when she gets here!" Carnelian said, unable to contain herself.

"Hold up, Blue Diamond?" Steven asked.

"Who else decided to send us here?" Skinny shrugged, "She's gonna be back here in a day or two, so when she gets here you can show her that flower if you want to."
They would. Normally. But being told about Blue Diamond just reminded them both about another Diamond they've gotten a lot of information on already, and … kinda why they were here in the first place.

"Eh … maybe? Can you give us a sec," Steven said. Skinny allowed them that, and he went off with Amethyst over nearby the flower, just out of earshot.

"Don't tell me: Pink Diamond, right?"

"Blue Diamond was closer to her than any of the other diamonds. … If anyone should be told about it, it's her. We really should," Steven insisted. Amethyst though was not in the mood for a bad time again.

"UGH, this again? Steven, I know you wanna help them, but I'll go and tell her, you just -"

"WE should tell her," Steven cut in, "I have her gem, she was my mom, I should be the one to say something. Besides, I guess what really matters right now is how they feel about it. It might be hard, but she should know."

Steven stepped on a land mine.

"But what about you?! You were always under all this pressure to be like her! But... Was she even like her? Was anyone ever like her? She was supposed to be so great! She was supposed to know everything... And... ugh... She was supposed to make everything better!" Amethyst retorted. This sudden snap got Steven completely off guard, backing up as she went on.

"It's not fair! We shouldn't have to deal with any of this, we shouldn't have to fix any of this, we weren't around for a stupid war! This... This is everyone else's problem... This is nothing to do with us."

"Amethyst? … Are you okay?" Steven asked. Amethyst snapped back to what she just said to him, looking down to the flower.

"I-I'm fine! Steven, I'm trying to find out how you feel about all this! You just left me in the dark on that train here. Ugh-She's ... Your mom, okay? Doesn't really affect me."
Amethyst really needed to change the subject fast before this could go any further, and seeing the flower gave her one.

"H-Here, look, you wanna show Blue Diamond something, let's show her flowers!" Amethyst insisted.

"Wait, Amethyst, what about -"

"Don't worry about it, listen," Amethyst cut in, "There's an actual plant growing here, right? And it looks like it can survive pretty good here, so who's to say no other plants can? What do you say we gathered up some plants, bring them here, and get a garden going? How does that sound, garden bro?"
Well, the idea of making a garden grow here sure sounded pretty good. Steven paused and imagined what the Kindergarten could look like with, well, a garden in it. Steven didn't take too much time to think on it. Maybe this could help Amethyst as much as it could help the Kindergarten, whatever the issue was.

"Alright, you sold me. Let's garden the Kindergarten!"

~~~~~~

Things sure got busy after this project got started: Amethyst, Steven, and by extension Peridot, went on back to the barn house for a quick moment and returned with a number of gardening supplies. Much of this included the typical items: plenty of potted plants, some digging equipment, bags of soil, and of course the tractor. Not too bad for a start, and they got plenty of ground to get started from.
First step: turning up the soil. With some help from the other Amethysts, they found a nice spot further down the ways, and they began to move some rocks out of the way. Plants couldn't take root too well with so many stray boulders all over the place. While moving all the boulders was fun to do, they still were a bit perplexed with the exact goal, some seeing Amethyst roll a giant boulder away as she walked on top of it, as Peridot followed close behind with the tractor turning the soil up. Must be some sort of training they were doing.
Second step: digging holes. By the time they got to this part, Carnelian decided to have a go at this. Steven and Amethyst dug a few holes, just deep enough to get the plants inside, but not too deep. Carnelian though didn't get that and just started digging like crazy for a bit, before Skinny plucked her out, smirking but shaking her head. The digging also got some dirt on Peridot, which Carnelian couldn't help but snicker at, just for the green Gem to toss some dirt at her too. Might as well have some fun while working on this. Amethyst was seeing this, and could only smile.
Third step: planting the flowers. This step was pretty easy, as they went on around to bury the potted plants into the ground. This part needed a more gentle touch as to not hurt the flowers being planted here, and this was more done by Peridot and Steven, though the Amethysts did decide to join in and spread some of the bagged soil for them. If this was something for their diamond, they might as well pitch in some more. Once they all were planted, in came the fun part.
Fourth step: water plants. And did they have a hose to handle this? Nope. Lapis? nope. But they were good and armed up with a few sets of water guns. At first, the group just shot the plants directly, but Peridot quickly corrected them on what to do on that, and they got up along the walls and shot down instead. This was to resemble the rain that would come down to the Kindergarten.

The garden sure looked spiffy with a nice row of sunflowers lined up along the floors of the Kindergarten. Since the first flower was growing fairly well, they made the work closer to it, and much of the sunflowers now surrounded the metallic looking plant. Peridot sure felt pretty good to see the Kindergarten a bit more lively again like the rest of the planet, and Amethyst … well, she was feeling better too.

"Well, will you look at that? Now that's some plants," Amethyst said.

"Yeah. OH! wait, one more thing!" Steven said, rushing off for a brief moment. Soon, he came back for one more little bit of icing for this cake: a flamingo. The crowning achievement to finally finish up the garden itself.

"Tada! I declare this garden, complete!" Steven announced. Peridot was feeling happy with this whole thing.

"Hey … thanks for doing this with me," Peridot said.

"No problem. I was fun," Steven replied. both he and Peridot looked to the garden, feeling satisfied and accomplished in their little task.

"I'm just glad I'm able to fix something," Peridot said. It would be time for things to be fixed. They took some time to admire their work, the garden standing pretty good with the sunflowers standing tall in what so many would consider dead land. It was so lovely, they almost forgot that the small flower was still standing healthy inside. Looking up though, they began to see that it was starting to get late.

"Well, time to head on back. Hey, wanna grab a bite to eat? Heard Fishstew Pizza's having a discount special," Amethyst offered.

"Already? but you just got here," said Carnelian.

"Don't worry, we'll check back tomorrow on the garden," Steven promised. He was getting a bit hungry anyway, so perhaps some food would do him pretty good. Amethyst and Steven started to head off, but Peridot was still over by the garden they've finished working with.

"Hey, P-dot, you coming?"

"You two go on ahead. I'm gonna stay here nd keep watch over this some more," Peridot said, as she laid down to look over the small metallic flower that gave them the idea at all. And who could blame her, really?

"Alright then, see ya later. Come on, Steven, let's get our pizza on," Amethyst said, getting a headstart. Steven was happy to join her, as Peridot and the others of the cut admired the gift for Blue Diamond's arrival.

They brought something good to the Kindergarten.

…….

"Here you go. A pizza with, literally everything on it."

"Aww yeah."

Now off at Fishstew Pizza, Amethyst and Steven got the time to get a reward for their hard effort. For the pizza itself, a normal pizza this size was enough to share between two people, but as for the toppings … well, it looked less like a pizza and more like a mound of food slapped on a pizza crust: basil leaves, shrimp bites, pepperonis, tomato slices, and even a full-sized red fish: head out one end, tail out the other, the rest buried in cheese and whatever else. Amethyst's eyes sparkled, before Kiki gave the two a set of spoons.

"Here you go. you're gonna need these," Kiki advised, and honestly that could go without saying.

"Thanks, Kiki," Steven said. Kiki went on back to the front counter, as both Steven and Amethyst began to get into their meal, Steven taking scoops with the spoon as Amethyst ate hers much like a taco, which was probably the safest way of doing this, eating it as a pizza.

"So," Steven said, after having his first bite, "How's it feel to meet the family?"

"Surprising. I mean, I've been seeing these holes all over the Kindergarten, but now they're more than just holes. They're holes, that were once full!" Amethyst replied. What're the odds her specific cut would end up coming off back around here?

"I'm glad to hear it," Steven said, working another scoop of the pizza, "And you know, this is pretty good. Working on the garden in the Kindergarten, meeting the other Amethysts, learning how the holes work. It's all pretty nice, but …"
Amethyst, who was smiling softly through much of his talk, lost that smile by the end of it.

"But …"

Steven sighed.

"Well, it's the Diamonds. I know you said it doesn't involve us, but in a way … it kinda does."

"OH NO, Steven, come on, we weren't -"

"Involved in the war, I know. But I think we should do something. I've been trying to think of something to say to Blue Diamond. So, what do you think about -"

"Hold up," Amethyst cut in, not looking too happy, "You mean this whole time we've been in the Kindergarten working on the garden, and you STILL were thinking about that?"

"Uh … yeah. It's kind of a big thing."

*THUD* went her head on the table. Steven jumped when she did that, the meal surprisingly still in tact. Amethyst have had about enough of this.

"Okay, you know what Steven, don't come."

"What?"

"You heard me, let me handle this, Steven! No more adult should be putting anything else on you. Just let someone else take care of it for once!" and with that, Amethyst suddenly went off on her way, exiting the place and leaving Steven with quite the order. Since no one else was there, the conversation was heard loud and clear by all the co-workers inside, leaving a bit of an awkward moment.

"... Wait. What's happening?" Kiki asked.

…….

While it was a bit unprecedented, Amethyst went straight back to the Kindergarten fairly early on, taking the situation on herself. If Blue Diamond was going to be coming by, and if they were gonna tell her anything, then Amethyst placed it on herself over dragging the others with her. This felt … familiar. Not the exact same, but still close.
It was starting up nighttime when she got there, full moon raised, and she didn't see much of anyone this time. All those 8 division amethysts, Skinny and Carnelian must've wandered off a bit to look around the planet, leaving Amethyst by herself, going right off the Warp Pad and off down the Prime Kindergarten. She didn't get to about thirty feet when she heard the Warp Pad go off again.

"Steven," she groaned, before getting a head start. She would guess that Steven would follow her, and she even saw him off behind her, shouting to her to get her to stop, but Amethyst was not having any of it.

"Amethyst, we need to talk!"

"No we don't!" Amethyst shouted, keeping in front of him as fast as her stubby legs could keep her.

"Just talk to me! You'll feel better!" Steven called again, as they rushed passed a corner.

"Get out of my head!" Amethyst yelled.

And suddenly, she stopped. After passing a corner of the Kindergarten, Amethyst's sights saw a … more depressing scene. Steven caught up with her, but he quickly saw what was going on himself.
There. Right in plain sight, was the garden they had left for Blue Diamond. Or rather, what was left of it. All of the sunflowers they've planted just a few hours ago were laying lifeless on the dirt, petals fallen, stems weak, and buds dry. All of their hard work meant nothing for the Kindergarten, as the land drained what life was left in the soil of the flowers. Even the flamingo they left seemed missing, the standee snapped at the stem, and the flamingo piece laying in the remains of their garden.
And there was Peridot as well, sitting nearby in defeat, with a water gun empty, and gaze staring off back into the empty gray space above the lifeless plain.

"Peridot?" Steven quietly asked. Peridot did not look happy at all.

"I failed again. Big surprise. Why did I expect any different?" Peridot groaned.

"W-Well, maybe if we try again -" before Steven could finish, Peridot jumped to her feet and was suddenly yelling right in his face!

"IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK! IT'S NEVER GOING TO WORK, OKAY?!" Peridot cried.

"HEY, watch it, we're just trying to help!" Amethyst said.

"Well SOME HELP you are!" Peridot snapped, "Thanks a lot for showing me that when something goes wrong, it won't ever get better again! There's no hope in ANYTHING getting better, and we can't get anything back: not our home, not our friends, and NOT THIS CRUMBY PLANET EITHER!" She kicked one of the dead sunflowers hard before continuing, "We might as well just grab it all and throw it all away, and toss ourselves down with it, BECAUSE IT'S ALL JUST HOPELESS TRASH!"

"But Peridot, even if the sunflowers didn't work, we know something can grow here," Steven said, referring to the single, metal flower, which itself was the only thing remaining in this land of the dead. A small beacon of hope that, for the moment, Peridot couldn't see.

"This clod's just like us: too dumb to GET WITH THE PROGRAM!" Peridot shouted, raising her foot, and slammed it down onto the flower, shaking the foundation of the entire kindergarten around them. … Which made absolutely no sense.

"Peridot?"

"Uh …" Peridot felt a bit mixed by this. On one hand, the anger she had before quickly shifted to sorrow when she moved her foot off of the flower, seeing it smashed weakly. But on the other end, what made the Kindergarten shake like that? That couldn't be her doing that, no matter the dramatic effect. She lifted her foot, and this time tapped the ground, getting an even stronger vibration, making the green Gem jump. What else was making that kind of impact, if not her?

"That's it, on your feet!"

"Hey, hey, easy, where's the fire?"

Odd, but you know what they say about curiosity. The trio of Gems moved off a little bit over to the next bend in the path, and not only did they find the other Amethysts again not too far away, but there was … someone else. Someone who clearly was forcing these Gems into submission. Carnelian amongst the crowd was thrown by, landing on the ground by some other amethysts. The dim light began to reveal the horrifying truth.

Rupee's back.

"Now all of you rocks, even you pathetic off-colored clods, get on your feet, and get in that ship," Rupee instructed. The three looked over to where she was pointing, and the found that there was indeed a sort of ship docked not too far away, presumably what made the tremors earlier.

"Who're you to order us around?!" yelled one of the amethysts. Sounded like she had been around for a little bit too. Rupee was a bit more bitter than before (maybe), and the main response was the Amethyst being grabbed by the head and thrown into the ship. This surely got them all looking a bit worried.

"Now that I have your attention, listen up: White Diamond wants all of you off this crumby rock and back with her, now get in there. It's under Diamond orders," Rupee ordered, pointing inside the ship's main cockpit, the thrown Amethyst still dazed inside.

"What's getting to you? We didn't know anything about some transfer - again," Skinny commented, arms crossed.

"And neither does Blue, and let's keep it that way."

"What?!" Before Skinny could get an answer, Rupee grabbed her, and like any other nuisance of hers, threw her into the ship.

"What's she doing?" Peridot asked.

"I don't know, but we have to help them! Amethyst, think you - … Amethyst?" Steven and Peridot realized a little too late that Amethyst was already gone, and after a little bit of looking, they found the small Gem trying to sneak up on Rupee. Her weapon was already drawn, and she was determined to get the big Gem off of this rock herself. No way was she gonna watch her sisters get taken away, not if she could help it.

"Amethysts. What a waste of my time," Rupee commented as the group started to head off inside the ship. "You're lucky White Diamond doesn't see any Gem as worthless, otherwise I'd not bother putting you to any use."

Rupee began to scrape the ground with her foot, seeing the dust come up. "… This planet. Those Crystal Gems are roaming all over this place, pathetic excuses. Those Gems are gonna get what they deserve.We all only get what we deserve. ..."
ATTACK! Amethyst jumped out of her hiding place, almost immediately sending her whips right at Rupee. In a smirk, the Rupee grabbed the whip just before it could get her face, the sound of the cracking whip startling much of the cut, some immediately giving a diamond insignia.

"Remember me, Rupee?" Amethyst asked, whips at the ready.

"... No," Rupee coldly stated, starting to pull the whip towards her. Another runt could be something for White Diamond to work with. Amethyst landed and yanked her whips out of her grip, the spiked balls on the end of the whips cutting into Rupee's hand just enough to make her let go. Rupee growled, as Amethyst armed herself up with double whip power. Before she could go in though, Steven blindly rushed up to her side, bringing out his shield.

"Of course, someone like you would need backup," Rupee commented, pointing to Steven.

"Steven, stop it!" Amethyst demanded.

"Don't worry, don't let Rupee get to you. We got this!"

"Ok, THAT'S IT!" Amethyst grabbed Steven, and threw him aside. and just in time before Rupee barreled right into the other quartz. A bit of a surprise, but Amethyst knew this fight was for her to deal with, not him. Rupee could care less either way, as long as she would put them in their place. The purple Gem was rammed right into the wall, and then thrown all the way to the otherside, dangerously close to the gemship parked. The hit was a bit brutal.

"Amethyst!" Steven gasped, rushing to her aid. This time, Amethyst couldn't do much, and Rupee spurred into action again, grabbing Steven by the back, and swinging him up high, before smashing him into the dirt!

"Hey. Look what I got?" Rupee mocked, holding the now weakened Steven in her hand like a prize.

"LOOK HERE!" and out of nowhere, Peridot got her own action to work. no matter her feelings, she could at least make sure no one is shattered in her line of sight, using her metallic ability to launch a piece of injector metal at the Rupee's head. The hit stun her, but more over how out-of-nowhere it was rather than the impact. Amethyst got herself up again, just to see Peridot and Steven now caught up in the fight. This just made her upset, but not for the reasons one would think.

"Give it up, you two!" Rupee stated firmly, "I got no time to deal with a group of defective runts."

"And you got NO PLACE to be here!" Peridot snapped, Steven bringing up his shield. Rupee just huffed.

"I'm a Gem under White Diamond, I have the right to go ANYWHERE. Now, you two either come back with me with this cut, or you two can stay here as a bunch of shards."

"I'm not gonna let you take these Gems!" Steven stated. That just made Rupee laugh.

"Let me? You can stop me even if you wanted to!" And to prove her point, she grabbed Steven's shield, yanked it away, and snapped it in two like a twig. She was about ready to go in to -

*BAM*

It came out of nowhere. And it didn't hit Rupee. Steven and Peridot, stunned and shocked, were knocked a good twenty feet away from the other Gem, leaving Steven with a cut on his face due to the spikes. The wound itself wasn't anything major, but it was when they saw the spiked whip, and Amethyst holding it, did the shock come through. SHE struck them blind.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of it?!" Amethyst snapped, "This isn't your fight, you don't need this! What's it gonna take for that to get through to you?"

"What do you mean?" Steven asked. Amethyst thought she was good earlier, but now she had to spell it out for him.

"You two really want to know how I feel?!"

"I thought I was pretty clear about that," Steven said, humbly.

"I thought I was clear, too!" Amethyst said. "I feel like I don't wanna say, "What about me?" Okay!? And I don't want to be bent out of shape! I don't wanna be stuck in the past, and I'm not responsible for what Rose did! None of us are! Not you, not Pearl, not Garnet, none of the Crystal Gems!" With it spelled out a bit more, Steven began to feel slightly guilty for pushing Amethyst like this. She said this tons of times, and he didn't pay it mind.

"But I am responsible for me! And right now, I am NOT gonna dump another thousand-year-old complex on you or anybody else! I'm ending it right here!" Amethyst turned away from Steven and Peridot, her hand aimed to the sky as if on a stage. "I am the ding dong sunshine future, your friend forever!"

After that, amethyst slowly started to calm down, before turning to Steven and Amethyst with a softer expression.

"... And I'm not gonna fall apart on you."

Steven and Peridot glanced to one another, but they had little time to actually get this to work out, as Rupee got herself snapped out of it, and focused her attention on them again. Amethyst armed up for the attack again, seeing Steven raise his hand to feel the cut on his face.

"Sorry for hitting you, by the way," Amethyst said, before walking over to confront Rupee.

"What Rose did? What're you talking about?" Rupee asked, though she was more annoyed than anything. Amethyst was in no mood to answer to someone like her, and now with Peridot and Steven off aside, she had all focus on her.

"That's not your problem. Now, They've had enough already! NOW BEAT IT!" And just like that, it was amethyst who took the first charge, running straight for her. Rupee wasn't fazed, and was actually thrilled as she too rushed forward. They both slammed into one another, and Rupee was bumped back a bit, as Amethyst was launched off pretty far, landing her in top of an injector along the wall. Amethyst was not down for the count just yet, and leaped off of the injector in a rapid spin. She kept spinning once she landed, darting forward. Rupee simply made a side-step to dodge it, but Amethyst had her whips out, and one actually got to her leg, gripping her. Amethyst spun around over and over and over again, until Rupee found herself wrapped up in Amethyst's whips. This kept Rupee still, and Amethyst stopped her rolling, seeing Rupee struggling in her binds. Seeing her like this did get the Amethysts nearby laughing a little bit.

"STOP LAUGHING!" Rupee demanded. But Amethyst was not done yet: she wasn't gonna allow Rupee to keep going with this, so she jumped high and started spinning again. They weren't sure if Amethyst even realized it or not, but as she was spinning, the Gem was actually glowing slightly, just before launching forward. A shooting star.

*POOF*

And down landed Rupee's gemstone. Taken down once again, and this time, Amethyst got her stone and got it bubbled. It was probably for the best considering their situation. They heard the cheers from the others off nearby, and Amethyst went right up to Steven and Peridot. She only had one question for them.

"So. How do you feel?"

They both glanced to eachother before answering at once.

"Pretty good."

"... Good."

~~~~~~

They used the train again for the ride back home, and there was a bit of silence between Peridot, Steven, and Amethyst. They may have gotten the Amethysts handled, and saved from White Diamond's … whatever the heck she would've done to them, but with this sudden bit of drama at the end of it, it left it kinda quiet.

"Well this has been quite a day," Peridot finally said, all three of them staring up at the ceiling.

"Tell me about it," Steven sighed.

"Alright, I will: We've gone through all day running around in both your room, and now the Prime kindergarten, the whole time trying to work out what we should feel about Pink Diamond, and to seemingly distract us from the fact that we've lost pretty much everything because of it. …"

"You're pretty direct about that, aren't you?" Steven sighed.

"It is what happened," Peridot stated. Some more silence hung in the air, the only sound being that of the train tracks underneath them. The full moon kept a good light on them, so when they both looked over to Amethyst, they saw that she was a bit quiet herself. Seeing her too reminded them of what she had said to them both, and with everything now calm, they thought over what she meant.

"... Hey, Amethyst?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah?"

"Were you … trying to cheer us up this whole time?"

"Yes," she groaned, "Ugh, don't you two know you deserve it? You … great … people."

more silence. Amethyst pretended to be asleep, as Steven and Peridot looked out to the cold fields of grain again, the fields looking silver in moonlight instead of amber. Steven eventually spoke next.

"Hey, Amethyst?"

"What?"

"... I can't believe I'm saying this but … I think you're officially the most mature Crystal Gem."

Amethyst's eyes shot open on the realization.

"OH NO. Gross, that's what this is, isn't it?" Amethyst said.

"Pretty much."

"No! Nyoooooooh!" Amethyst cried, pretending to have a tantrum, with her hands and feet banging the ground, as the others chuckled. Amethyst eventually joined in their laughing, as all three of them then looked off to the fields off nearby. They sure looked lovely, especially with the moon shining down onto them.

"Still wanna talk tell em about this?"

"I do."

"Ok. Let's go."

Well, they were feeling better as they went off towards home.

Army of One

View Online

Mask Island.

Even in such a warm and tropical place, there was a sense of bitter cold. Especially for one in particular, as she tried to move on, taking in what information she had made herself fall under. Trembling. shaking. Her body may be barely showing it, but her mind was in horrid turmoil. She here she thought she had figured it all out after her own bit of questioning, but that as it turned out was nothing compared to this.
So much so in fact, that she split in two …

"SHE LIED TO US! She lied about everything! She held our hands, looked us right in the eyes and told us to NEVER question who we are as Garnet! We never questioned ourselves! OR HER!"

"We couldn't of known!"

"No, YOU couldn't have known! You never know what's going on - that's what I'M FOR! But I NEVER looked into her. I trusted her. AND I LET HER MAKE FOOLS OF US ALL!"

"WAIT, Sapphire, let's just calm down and talk about this. Just, talk."

"About what? That our whole relationship is BASED ON A LIE?! What else is there to say?"

"SAPPHIRE, WAIT!"

~~~(hours later)~~~

"And that's the whole story."

While many of the Crystal Gems had flown the coop far as they knew, there were still some who had stuck back, and after getting them and the Mane Six together over by the barn house, since the Temple really wasn't the best spot for it. Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot had gotten themselves on back immediately after their train trip, joined by Twilight and Connie the following morning, but it did take a while to get what they could back together. The reactions of the group here were a bit mixed, some more affected than others.

"Pretty wild. Right?" Steven said.

"Wild? My stars, this is beyond just wild, this changes all of history as we know it! O-Oh my goodness, I-I think, I … oohh," Rhodonite proceeded to faint on them, Amethyst quickly changing to a couch to catch her. How fitting, only it wasn't a white unicorn doing it this time.

"That's something I'd expect from you, Rarity," Tiger's Eye sighed. The Rutile twins nodded in agreement.

"Come now, I'm not THAT dramatic," Rarity stated. Oh, the irony in that statement.

"So Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond are … the same person?" Fluttershy pondered.

"Well no wonder they ran off! Their leader was their enemy too," Rainbow Dash realized. The idea that they were trying to fight the same one that was with them the whole time would be enough of a mind twist for anyone involved in the war.

"I assume the other Diamonds don't know about this yet, Steven?" Flint questioned.

"Not yet. Blue Diamond's supposed to be coming to Earth to check on the Famethysts, so I thought of at least telling her then," Steven explained.

"By the way, you seem to be taking this well, Flint," Tiger's Eye pointed out. Flint just shrugged.

"I already figured Rose didn't shatter Pink Diamond in the first place, so her BEING Pink Diamond doesn't really mess with it too much."

"Well let's hope they're handling it better than Peridot."
The attention then moved over to Peridot off nearby the barn, who was just laying there. She was glad to find someone around that was still Crystal Gem, but there were still holes missing and she was still distraught over that, finding a box to huddle up in. She was not really as involved on the matter as the others were, and it'll still be some time yet to actually get better.

"I don't know. You guys are handling it better than Garnet did," Amethyst said, rubbing the back of her head.

"How so?" asked right Rutile.

"Why?" added left Rutile.

"She unfused over it."

"WHAT? Noooo!" Pinkie Pie cried, having some tears down her face. The whole idea was a bit of a surprise, though what to do was still hanging in the air. Pearl, Lapis, Jasper, Garnet, Emerald, Star Quartz, all of them they hadn't seen since this little revelation, and who knows where they could've gone off to? Clearly far since Peridot didn't find much in her night-long search since getting back from that dream of theirs.

"But where'd they even go?" Fluttershy asked.

"I have no idea. Let's just hope Pink Diamond doesn't figure this out. She'll shatter herself for sure."

"GOSH Flint, tone it down!" Tiger's Eye gasped.

"If only we were all dogs, our problems would be solved!" Pinkie declared.

…

"... WHAT?" Twilight asked.

"Just ignore her," Flint sighed. Pinkie felt insulted and was right at Flint's face.

"Hey, I'm serious!" Pinkie retorted.

"Since when?"

"Alright, calm down everybody!" Applejack suddenly said, "They'll think better of it and be back. Come on, this is the Crystal Gems we're talkin about, they won't just ditch everyone so quick, right?"

"They did looked pretty quick to go off," Steven admitted, though not happy to say it. He didn't want the team gone same as anyone else.

"And without Garnet …" Flint didn't really need to really finish the sentence to get the point across. Garnet was the one keeping the team together, and without her it was just a matter of time before they would all just take off. It just happened so soon, and so sudden. They could be anywhere by now. …

"We'll find them."

The whole group looked over to Fluorite, who for the most part had been rather quiet about this whole thing. Hearing all of this though, and working it all out in her slow way, Fluorite was ready to head on her way.

"You can stay. We can go and help look for them. To make sure they're alright. And maybe, just maybe, even bring them back home," Fluorite made clear, getting up and starting to go off.

"Uh, maybe, but where do we even look? We literally got nothing to go on, Fluorite," Tiger's Eye reminded, but fluorite kept going.

"I thought you heard me. You can stay. We can go and help look for them," Fluorite repeated. This time, much of the Off-colors started to see what she was talking about, Rhodonite snapping out of her fainting state and sitting up fast.

"You don't mean …"

"We won't be long," Fluorite said, beginning to go off away from the barn. No time like the present. Amethyst, tired of being stuck as a seat for Rhodonite, shapeshifted back to normal with Rhodonite falling on her.

"Well, she's keen. We'll stick around and try to figure out where they are from here. Fluorite can't find them out by herself alone," Flint confirmed. They may have scattered, but they all couldn't of completely left, so the least they could do was keep some idea.

"Maybe I can find out something with the Cutie Map. It has both Equestria and Earth mapped out, maybe that can help us find where they went."

"The Cutie Map? Is that what you're calling it?" Tiger's Eye asked.

"It keeps activating our Cutie Marks in some way, so it sounds fitting to me," Twilight said, pointing out her own Cutie Mark as a visual point.

"Good idea, Twilight. You go off and do that. The second you figure out let us know, and not a moment later," Flint instructed.

"Don't worry, I'll be on it," Twilight promised.

"And don't you worry about a thing, Twilight. You got a whole bushel of helpers right here," Applejack promised. They were all in this together, and they all got a game plan. The Crystal Gems as a whole had been saving Equestria and Earth alongside the elements of Harmony since the first day they met. And now, they have friends to check in to.

"Commence operation: Gem Friend round-up! GO!"

~~~~~~

The game was set. Fluorite made her promise, and she was willing to keep it as such. The fusion herself moved off on her way from the barn, off towards a more secluded spot. It wasn't too far from Beach City, but not exactly right next door either, pitting her at least a mile or two away from city borders. The Off-Colors were at the barn with the remaining Crystal Gems (whatever was left), Elements of Harmony and whatever other help they could bring about. Fluorite felt in her mind, heart, and soul that they will all be fine without her for just a short while. The idea of Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz being the same person, while she didn't say it, barely bothered her. After all, there was a time when she didn't even believe she even existed in the first place, and much of her involvement was just about as real as the Osicone once was. And this revelation confirmed it. She really wasn't real. At least, not in the way Pearl and company had been telling them.
How were the others to know, though? Rose Quartz never really told them much of anything except for Pearl, and even then Pearl had to keep it quiet herself. No one was to blame, no matter how much they wanted to, and now, Fluorite had to make sure they were all okay and try to bring them back around.

She had to come to terms first. She simply stood there for a while, eyes closed, hands clasped together. Her body may be still, but her mind was in a bit of deep discussion, or at the least a lot of chat. This kept up for a minute or two, before her body slowly began to glow … And just like that, her body split up, each revealing a different Gem. Six Gems totally to match each one of Fluorite's gemstones:
The first one to form up appeared to be a blue Gem, her gemstone located on her navel. Her skin was that of a pale blue, with her eyes and hair a far thicker, deeper blue. Much of her outfit mainly consisted of a sleeveless, Homeworld design, varying shades of blue with a Blue Diamond symbol at the center of her chest. It was clear which Diamond she used to serve before becoming Fluorite.
The second to form was a Sapphire. A light purple sapphire to be exact, and while much of her appearance looked much like a standard Sapphire: purple dress, and long poofy hair, her gemstone was located right where her eye should be, making this one a seemingly blind Gem. At least one would assume that. Her diamond symbol was yellow, indicating Yellow Diamond loyalty unlike the first one. A lavender Sapphire.
The third ones came in the form of three Peridots, all landing together at the same spot. They all mirrored eachother and looked similar to the Crystal Gem Peridot, making them all Era 2 Peridots. Their outfits weren't too complicated for a Peridot, making them look less like Peridot and more like that of a foot soldier like a Ruby. Aside from different shades of green, the main way to tell them apart was the placement of gemstones: one on the forehead like the CG Peridot, one on the right side of the chest, and one on the left side. Head Peridot, right Peridot, and left Peridot.
The last one came in the form of a Pearl. Much of her appearance mirrored that of Blue Pearl, from the similar clothing to the placement of her circular gemstone. The main differences though was that her dress was longer, and her colors were red instead of blue. A Red Pearl.

"WHA! AH! W-We're apart! I didn't agree to this yet, c-can we just get back together?1 I mean Fluorite was just fine!"

"Take it easy, Pearl-z. If we go around as Fluorite, we'll never catch up to them," head Peridot explained, the other peridots nodding in agreement.

"True, but it's been a long time - a VERY long time."

"What're you talking about, we unfused just two months ago!" right Peridot reminded.

"Well it feels like a very long time!" Red Pearl argued.
A whistle from the blue Gem got their attention, but apparently it only had to give them a single look to actually get the point across. It wasn't an angry look, but still a firm one that spoke enough to them both.

"Anatase's right," head Peridot said, "We shouldn't be arguing about that when everyone else's gone. Who do we go for first?"
A question brought up right away, but one that should. They can't just pick someone at random and bolt for it, they need to get some sort of tact on this first. As they were trying to think, Lavender started to actually walk away, already a good twenty feet away by the time they began to notice.

"Hey, Sapphire, where're you going?" asked the trio of Peridots, all in unison. Lavender stopped and turned back to the others.

"To Jasper," Lavender simply replied, before continuing off ahead. Future Vision at play no doubt.

"Alright, let's get the mission started. Commence operation: Gem Harvester! … Friendly mode."

Op. Gem Harvester (friendly ver.)
Phase 1: Jasper

"Well, it's not exactly the best place to go. This kindergarten is disgusting," Red Pearl said, as they went on through the area. The group of Gems, although some not as willing, continued going on through to try to find the first Gem, which they seemingly figured would end up somewhere here. The Beta Kindergarten had seen better days since the Gems had last seen it all: still wrecked up since the Cluster incident. The hole leading to said Cluster may be filled, but much of the upper areas still looked as wrecked as ever.

"Rush job," said left Peridot, checking out a sideways hole in the wall.

"How many of you wanna guess it's Jasper who's here?" asked left Peridot. Head Peridot and right Peridot turned to her.

"I'd say so. This is a Kindergarten made up of red sandstone - one of a number of minerals used to create a type of Jasper. But this one looks far too disorganized for a Gem like - oof!" head Peridot got cut short when she walked into Lavender, who was aiming her "gaze" over to one of the many holes in this Kindergarten. A large, perfectly-shaped hole for the perfect quartz.

"Oh my," Red Pearl gasped.

"The perfect hole," said left and right Peridot. Head Peridot though didn't think so.

"Don't be silly. Here, let's have a closer look … Anatase, a boost?" Head Peridot said. Anatase picked her up and tossed her up to the hole. With all the other holes so disorganized and disorientated, how could this one be any different? Being big didn't mean much. Head Peridot began to study the hole more closely, feeling around the walls and floor as she did so.

"You see, the problem here - wait, oh, wait, oh, no, um. Now this part... hm. There's this thing where if you count the steps to the back I can..."

No good. Even when going all the way to the back, head Peridot simply walked on out, defeated, as she hopped out. She was a bit mixed: amazed, but also having her pride shot down.

"She's even got frictional rock melt. It's glass all the way to the back. Actually, I uh, I've never seen an exit hole this perfect," head Peridot admitted. If this did belong to Jasper, it was no wonder then that she was considered the perfect Quartz, and a veteran hero of the Gem War.

"So she is the perfect Quartz! … Well, I mean, she used to be, there's other gems stronger than her now, but as a Jasper she's surely close," Red Pearl noted. This was mainly off of the stories they were told, but still worth noting.

"Over here," said Lavender.
Off ahead again. The group went over to Lavender, and soon the group of Fluorite then looked further down the Kindergarten, and peeking around the corner, they began to see that they weren't alone in this canyon.
Jasper! Their Jasper! The orange Quartz had basically isolated herself in the Beta kindergarten, going around, seeing the place she was made in and reflecting off on what she had heard. Much like the others, this news of Pink Diamond really struck her a bit hard by the looks of things.

"There she is. Who's going up now?" asked head Peridot.

"Eh, I don't know. You think she'll try to attack us? I mean, she hasn't seen Fluorite unfused before," Red Pearl said.

"I don't think she'll be that distraught," Lavender said.

"She's a quartz though!" right Peridot said. Head peridot quickly clamped her mouth shut.

"Will you be quiet, she'll hear you before we're ready!"

"I'm. Whispering!"

"Well now we're both quietly screaming!"

"I can hear both of you," said Jasper, unamused. Well, so much for that. Much of the group, not ready for it, bolted off to hide somewhere, and the only one that didn't get anywhere in time was head Peridot, who Jasper plucked out of her hiding place like some lost pup. The Peridot could only hope she didn't try to kill her on the spot, but Jasper was in no mood right now.

"Peridot. What do you want?" Jasper asked.

"Um … to see if you're okay?" head Peridot said. Jasper needed little time to see that this wasn't the same peridot since there was no Cutie Mark on her, but she wasn't in a mood for a fight. Jasper just gave a huff before dropping her to the ground.

"I'm fine. Go away," Jasper simply said, before walking away through the Beta Kindergarten. Head Peridot got herself back up as Jasper walked on, not noticing the rest nearby. Head Peridot got back up to her feet, thanking her lucky stars that Jasper didn't pummel her on the spot, but Jasper clearly was in a bit of a mix of places right now if she wasn't up for any fight. If anything, she'd take whatever chance to at least get her skills up, but not today.

"Sooo … is this what you've been up to?"

"What's it to you?" Jasper questioned.

"Well, I think that -"

"Go bother someone else," Jasper cut in. Sounded like her past self was starting to show up again, and head Peridot took a few steps back. As Jasper had her back to her, head Peridot looked over back to the team, anatase giving a hand gesture for her to try and keep going … as much as she didn't want to.
With a gulp, and a tug on her collar, she strolled over to Jasper's side, the orange quartz doing some sparring practice on some rocks. Head Peridot didn't say much at first, just standing off at a good distance, hands behind her back, and waiting for Jasper to take notice. Which really didn't take too long.

"Now what?"

"I was just thinking that uh … SO. Some of the others think something's uh … bothering you."

"We'll nothing's bothering me except you, now go away."

"OH! Well, uh … Ok. If nothing's wrong, I'll just … be way over here." And head Peridot scurried off, leaving Jasper by herself. She made her way to the rest of the Fluorite team. Not much success here, really, and probably a good thing since any more prying would make Jasper completely go off on them.
After pummeling her rock, Jasper stopped her own bit of beating and took a walk off passed them, down the same path they already took. For the team, they had a good idea on where she was going, and when they caught up to her, sure enough, she was looking right up to the hole she came out of. The symbol of a perfected Jasper quartz in a Kindergarten of Off-Colors. Jasper could see a crack within the rock dangerously close to her, appearing like lightning shooting down, aiming directly on her head. In an odd way, it reminded her of her own bit of trauma when it came to a vicious storm.

"Well, look at her," Jasper said, seemingly to herself, "The perfect Quartz, must be nice. Being the only good thing to come out of this rocky mess. … A job for Pink Diamond's war. She must've felt very proud to be called that all the time. If only she knew it was all just some child game."

Jasper felt her fists clench a bit. It took little work to decipher who "her" was, and for Jasper, she felt sorry for her in a way. A Quartz made completely perfect for … well, nothing. What's the point of being perfect if she didn't know what she was perfect for. Sure it was for a war, but why? Jasper wished she had an answer for her, hand to her head as her teeth gritted.

"She was so stupid. Pink Diamond was missing, and she kept fighting the very owner of the planet! What's wrong with her? … What's wrong with me? …"

"I don't see anything wrong with you," said a voice. Jasper would bolt around, but she kinda expected company to still be around, because of course it would be.

"Bout time you came out. I talked about my feelings, I hope you're happy," Jasper said.

"In a way but more importantly, what about you?" Lavender asked. Jasper groaned. She knew where this was going.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll come back to the team in a day or two. That good enough?"

"Of course, come on let's leave her be now," Red Pearl quickly said. There was no need to stay around longer than they had to, plus there were plenty of other members to go and look for. It'll still take some time, but for now, it was best to give this Gem her space. It's the least they could do. On the bright side, at least Jasper had some time to think about how to actually take this.
Anyway, after checking in with Jasper, the group began to head on towards the Warp Pad.

"So, Sapphire, where do we go from here? You know? Well, of course you know, you have the Future vision," Red Pearl said. Lavender nodded, not moving her so-called gaze to her fellow Gem.

"I do. And there's a human that could help us locate her, and a ship that will get us there."

Phase 2: Lapis Lazuli

The group took some bit to steady themselves, but soon they've gotten themselves from space sky, and to the moon surface, as they landed off not too far from the Moon Base, using the admittedly low-polished Galactic Ray to get there (it as it turned out, somehow was one of the few notable items not taken by White Diamond). Opening those doors showed the group of Gems how little had changed of the icon of Pink Diamond's reign. All of them paused to look around, with the exception of Lavender. She wasn't able to see any of it anyway, so why wait around?

"It hasn't changed," said the Peridots in amazement.

"I know right. Now, That uh … Ronaldo … thing. Did he say he was human, I-I'm not sure. Anyway, he said he saw a water angel fly up here, so Lapis has to be somewhere," Red Pearl concluded. However, no sign of any Gem was anywhere within the Moon Base. Nothing present much except for the moon's own dust inside. Lavender was already figuring out a set of stairs further off to the back of the moon base, which for some reason were already up.

"Hey, wait for us, Lavender," called right Peridot, her and the other two Peridots going to catch up to her. Red Pearl and Anatase did the same thing, and followed her up to the secondary level. Anatase stopped for a brief moment to look over to one of the murals on the bottom wall, in particular Pink Diamond. She simply sighed before going up after the others.
When she did, the whole group found themselves … somewhere. It didn't look like a room all that much, if not some lonely beachline, looking out to a calm ocean on a sunset day. It would be sunset by now if they were on Earth, but seeing this on the Moon Base did catch them off guard a little bit. However, in this light, it didn't take very long until they began to see a orb off in the center of the room. An orb with a lonely blue figure sitting there, humming to herself.

"Lapis!" shouted head Peridot. Lapis suddenly stopped and spun around in fear, seeing all of these new Gems that suddenly showed up. At first, she got her water wings out, ready to fly away.

"Oh no, already?! Stay away!"

"Lapis, no!" shouted Red Pearl. But Lapis reacted a bit quick, and her water shot at them all. The group quickly scattered, and gave her an opening to go and run off out of the room, the orb shutting off, and the room turning back to normal.

"Wait! Lazuli, come back!" left Peridot insisted.

"We didn't mean to scare you!" called Red Pearl. The whole group rushed down to get her before she could go away. By the time they got down though, Lapis Lazuli was already right by the door, already open, and already ready to go.

"Where're you going?!"

"As far away from Earth as I can! I knew she'll come here, I'm not going through it all again!" Lapis shouted. They figured she was referring to White Diamond (who else?), and when her saying this it was figured out now that she thought they were her subordinates. Lapis Lazuli was about ready to fly, but Anatase suddenly rushed out, and as Lapis got airborne, grabbed her by the foot. Immediately Lapis Lazuli tried to fly away, lifting Anatase off the ground. Lavender, the Peridot Trio, and Red Pearl all went and grabbed him, in the end forming a chain of eachother with Red Pearl at the bottom, each link to the chain holding on tight. Lapis was in panic, and her wings flapping like crazy, but then she took a look down towards Anatase. Anatase didn't look very malicious in this attempt, and actually had a look of worry edging her face. The eyes began to look a little familiar to the water Gem …

"... Fluorite?"

Anatase nodded. Lapis's wings stopped flapping after a bit, and slowly she started to go back down to the surface. It didn't make her feel any better knowing who this group was, but at least she stopped running away.

"Much better," sighed Red Pearl. They didn't need to go off on a fly through space just to get her side of the argument.

"Don't tell me. The others sent you up here?" Lapis presumed.

"Well, we had to talk to a Ronaldo first to figure out where you went, but other than that … yeah," Red Pearl replied.

"They're all worried about you," added Lavender. The Peridot Trio all nodded in agreement, but Lapis Lazuli wasn't convinced, and simply walked by them, going back into the Moon Base.

"I bet they are. How do I know they're not just lying about that too?" Lapis asked.

"Lying? Lazuli?" asked head Peridot. Lapis stopped when she reached one of the murals, Blue Diamond specifically.

"That entire time. The Gem War. Pink Diamond started something that never needed to happen! All my suffering started because she couldn't -" Lapis couldn't bring herself to finish the accusation, knowing where this Diamond was pinned on now. "... She lied to everyone. And she lied to me, they lied to me."

"How?" asked the trio.

"The Crystal Gems told me so many stories about "Rose Quartz", and even after everything that happened, I only stayed because I thought … I could finally be free. To be happy. Steven was the first person in so long who actually talked to be back on that shore, and the others accepted me for me. They never just used me."

"And now? …" asked Lavender.

"And now I don't know! All those years trapped inside that mirror was so horrible, but at least before I can say there was a sure reason for it. There's no such thing as a good war. But now I don't even know if there was even one at all! How's there supposed to be a line between right and wrong if there was none to begin with?! All that time … because of nothing ..." So the issue with her was trust. Believing who was truth and who wasn't. None of them were trapped in a mirror, but the isolation did sound a bit familiar.

"Lapis, don't fret. None of them knew it either … well, ok, Pearl knew, but no one else did," Red Pearl said. Lapis didn't see that as any help.

"How would I know that for sure? … And wasn't there six of you?" Lapis questioned. Red Pearl and the trio didn't realize until then that Anatase and Lavender had walked off on them. They've been gone since Lapis had gone through the first part of her explanation, and when they started to look, a whistle from Anatase got their attention back up to the second floor. What did they have in mind for them?
The rest of them got up there after a bit, including Lapis Lazuli, and they found that the orb in the center had gotten active again. This time it showed another area of Beach City, somewhere that Lapis Lazuli knew like the back of her stone. The Barn House. At the moment, as sunset was going around, they all could see that the Barn had some bit of activity going on: Flint and Rhodonite were seemingly discussing something, probably the situation at hand, and those that didn't run off looked just as troubled and as worried as Lapis was. They were Crystal Gems too, but she didn't see any that were involved in the war like she had: Flint, Peridot, Jade, and the other Off-Colors. As this was just a hologram though, none of them could hear exactly what they had to say, but Lapis Lazuli had been around them long enough to read what their emotions were, or at least what they could be. As Flint and Rhodonite were over at the chalkboard with various faces and check marks, they possibly were going over where they could've gone off to. Peridot looked VERY distraught about this, more so than the others but mainly because so many of her friends had just ran off, the green Gem curled up in a nearby cardboard box.
And it wasn't just Gems there: the Mane Six (or four, rather) were also trying to figure this out, and trying to comfort the others on this big news. It was then that Lavender spoke.

"Look at them. Do they look like they don't care?" asked Lavender. While she didn't see the situation herself, the idea was still there. Lapis took a moment to look at them all, and eventually she went over to the orb. She sighed, and switched it from the Barn House, to the shores she started with.

"... I want to believe you."

"Lapis, if you don't believe us, why don't you just come on back and see for yourself?" head Peridot asked. Lapis turned to the others.

"I want to! … But I just can't. Not after the way I left. What would they say? What if White Diamond shows up? What if something bad happens?!"

"Well, what if something good happens?" asked head Peridot. Lapis paused, but then she started laughing, hand up to forehead. It wasn't exactly a laugh of joy however, but more on one of confusion. Lapis simply stayed quiet for a moment or two, before she looked up. What indeed was a Gem like her to do?

It all became so lovely.
Those bluest skies above me.
Those funny feelings I have never felt before I met them.

She got up and started a gentle dance, her fingers tapping on the orb so they would change to what looked like apart of Mask Island, the beautiful sun dancing through the leaves of the trees.

I thought to stay a while.
I even learned to smile.
So many colors I have never even known.

Her hand graced the orb again, going back to the barn house. Much of the group was still in discussion, but some were sitting over by Peridot. And Lapis's shadow fit just enough within a space between them for her to sit down as well.

Maybe I'd find myself sitting on that distant shore
Maybe I'm not alone ...

(Music playing: 0:10 - 0:25)

"Lapis, you don't have to be alone," Red Pearl insisted.

"I don't want to be alone, but what am I supposed to do?"

"Come back, that's what! Everyone misses you," said head Peridot.

"I don't even know if that's true anymore," Lapis sighed.

… Anatase then walked out, and began, the scene changing to that of an open field, leaves blowing in the breeze.

It all became wonderous.
All of the life around us.
So many feelings we have never known before we met you.

Anatase began to handle her own dance, as if she was actually there on the field, in a gentle spin as the leaves went around her.

I got to stay for some time.
On a world yours, and mine.
A new experience I have never even known.
Maybe you'll find yourself sitting on that distant shore ...

She started to go back to Lapis, and then extended her hand in friendship.

Maybe you're not alone.

And then the orb began to flicker, the entire room turning dark time and again. The group got a little troubled, but Lapis Lazuli stayed still. Her memories were haunting her now. First it showed the mirror ...

Then I see the colors fading ...

Then it showed Sombra ...

Gentleness of light escaping!

Then it showed Malachite ...

Shadows of my fears invading!

And then White Diamond herself.

Have I seen this all before?! I KNOW -

It all turned back to normal when the orb regained its power again, showing the whole Barn House like nothing happened. Lapis felt her own arms wrapping around her.

that there's something residing
My terror deep inside me
I no longer know how you could be so bold ...

As she sang, some of the group began to go seemingly to find where the others had went off to. As they left, they walked right through her, as if Lapis Lazuli truly wasn't even there. Lapis simply watched them walk off.

Maybe I'll find myself smiling on that distant shore
Maybe I'm not alone ...

Her song ended just as the orb had finally rested its images, the power finally draining completely, and turning back into the same room it was to begin with. The group tried to help her out in this mess, but it seemed Lapis Lazuli might be in a bit more trouble than Jasper was. Jasper may be thinking about herself with Pink Diamond, but at least she didn't feel like the whole world lied to her, unlike Lapis.

"It's hard for me to just drop what happened, but I … I guess I might've over-reacted, huh?"

"Probably," Lavender said. Lapis got up and tried to activate the orb again, it having just enough power to show the Crystal Temple. It standing proud against time and space. It was a example of how much time could change something, but even after everything she was told, and how long it had stood, Lapis Lazuli could see that it still stood strong, even with parts fallen off and missing, and even now with the Crystal Heart in such a dreadful condition.

"Prime example, right there. She's broken up, but she's not leaving," Red Pearl pointed out. Lapis knew she wasn't alive, but somehow the point was still across.

"You know, you're right. what am I doing out here over just a fact, when I've already done so much with them without even meeting Rose? … I think I'd rather be at home now," Lapis confirmed. Memories of her friends all down on Earth, there's no way she could just go off on them, not like this. If their friendship would end, she didn't want it ending this way, or at all for that matter. Still, that was good news to hear for them.
With the decision decided, Lapis began to go with them down the stairs, and ready to go off home. While much of them did go, Anatase took one more look to the Crystal Temple. She looked a little but … perplexed by what she was seeing. But this perplexation didn't last too long before she went to join the others. By the time she caught up, Lapis Lazuli was already ready to fly off.

"You sure you don't wanna come with us in the ship?" offered head Peridot.

"No thanks. I can fly back from here," Lapis replied. Looking off towards Earth, Lapis Lazuli opened the doors, and with a flap of the wing, began to fly away. There were friends she had made that didn't even involve Pink Diamond, and even if the Crystal Gems might've lied to her, there still was those who she can't just leave behind.

"Fly through Lazuli," the three Peridots said, giving a salute to her as she flew off on her way. Lavender was already heading over to the Galactic Ray. Well, this Sapphire foresaw at least one more person they could find where this was going.

Phase 3: Diopside

"You sure this is the right place, Sapphire?" left Peridot asked, not long after the group had landed. The group landed the Galactic Ray over by a forested area, many of the trees only having their leaves at the very top like mushrooms. Though, they weren't here to check out trees, but more over checking out a particular Gem-related sighting off not too far away. In fact, it looked visible from where they landed, just down the hill.
A Gem ship. The Ancient Gem Colony Ship looked similar to a flying saucer and made of a dull gray, stone-like material with three legs, most likely deployed as landing struts to aid in landing the ship. The paint on the ship, which would normally be a pink color like the Diamond that would've owned the planet, had completely eroded away apart from a small amount on the rim of the far edges.
And the Gem ship was already open: the front door left open by whoever entered. All of them peeked on inside the colony ship, getting a good eyeful on what was within. There was a long communications center with several features to communicate throughout said ship.

"Any Gem in here?! Preferably one that's non-corrupted, and not wanting to hurt us?!" right Peridot called, her voice echoing throughout the ruins of the colony ship.

"I don't think any Gems' been in here for thousands of years. Not that I doubt you, but you sure this is the right place Sapphire," Red Pearl asked, despite the question meaning exactly that. Anatase and Lavender moved off over to the control pad off at the other end of the room. They both nodded to eachother, and Anatase began to work out the switches and screens on the control pad, seeing that the cameras showed a number of areas within the ship. They didn't really show too much at first, and nothing to catch their attention as the rooms were either empty, or the camera showing just static. As they were looking, Lavender felt something press against her leg, and she gently placed a hand on the head.

"Peridot, everything will be just - … fine."

Well, it wasn't exactly one of their Gems, but it was indeed a Gem. A centipede-like Gem with bird-like mandibles, a single eye, dark green on the back and light green on the belly, with numerous bug-like legs.

Well, first shock of the day.

And looking just behind them …

"Help me … please? …" A Centipeedle mother, holding Red Pearl in her mouth. She was just holding her there, as if showing off the catch of the day to both Anatase and Lavender. The trio of Peridots were further away, coiled up together by another Centipeedle mother, several smaller centipeedles crawling out. Anatase walked over to Red Pearl and pulled her out of the mouth in one yank, Red Pearl freaked out and covered in green saliva.

"Can we fuse now?" Red Pearl meekly asked. There was little time to actually answer that question, as one of the Centipeedle mothers screeched good and loud at them ,making them all scatter before she could bite them again. The centipeedles began to scatter too, crawling along the walls to get a better vantage point on the trespassers. The second Centipeedle mother hissed, keeping the peridots close to her as the other three went over to them. The Centipeedle mothers hissed directly at them, ready to fight them all, but before anymore punches or bites could be done, someone else stepped in.

"Ok, I'm back - … What's going on?"

"Diopside! Stay over there!" Red Pearl ordered. Diopside never seen Fluorite split before, but then again, they didn't look like White Diamond associates either. What Diopside was more surprised over was the situation itself, and the Centipeedle mothers attacking the group. Instead of leaving them alone though, Diopside whistled good and loud so the mothers would see her. The group were suddenly ignored, the peridots freed, and both mothers looked down to Diopside …

And one of them started to rub her head against her. In affection.

"It's okay, you were caught off guard. You didn't ruffle them up too much, did you?" Diopside asked. The Centipeedle mother shook her head. This was … a change of events.

"... WE'RE ALIVE! Less importantly, what's going on here?" left Peridot asked. The centipeedles and Diopside looked over to their uninvited guests, and they did take note that Diopside didn't look too distraught about much of this.

"Oh, sorry they were so rough. They don't like new Gems to just show up to their home," Diopside said, hand gently rubbing one of them on the head, the Centipeedle giving a contented purr, like that of a cat. The smaller Centipeedles didn't try to attack this time, now knowing their mothers weren't as aggressive as before.

"The others never told us you were friends with these things - ow!" Red Pearl was cut short by Anatase, flicking her head, before she could end up saying something she'll regret.

"What brings you over here?" Diopside asked.

"We came to see if you're alright," Lavender answered. Diopside paused, knowing what they were talking about but before answering Diopside began to look them over a bit more closely. Her gemstone eye changed focus a bit, before Diopside started to figure them out.

"Wait, you're all Fluorite!"

"Good guess," said the Peridot trio.

"You're looking better," said Lavender. Diopside nodded.

"It took a while for me, but I got some time to think and talked it out. I'm fine now," Diopside said. That was good to hear, and they didn't need to go into too much trouble this time.

"That's good, so maybe you can come back and show whoever's left you're alright?" Red Pearl insisted.

"Oh. Still gone, huh? Well, I just got here, I wanna hang out here for a while. I'll come back when I'm done," Diopside promised.

That sure went a bit easier for the group. Lavender and Anatase looked on as the Peridots and Red Pearl were more calmly greeted by the Centipeedles. Lavender went on into thinking.

"The others should be finding some more by now. We're doing pretty well so far."

~~~~~~

She wasn't wrong. The Fluorite group may be doing well with Jasper, Lapis, and Diopside, but they weren't the only ones going out to locate the others. In this case, after some Warp Pad use close to sunset, Steven, Amethyst, and Connie got themselves from the Barn House, and off instead to the volcanic areas near the Forge. You could probably guess who they were going off to find. Heading down the similarly known path, working off of memory, it didn't take them more than ten minutes.
The area around the forge was probably the warmest area at the moment, considering how close it was before the first snow would arrive, so need for any winter wear wasn't as needed as they thought. The Cluster's involvement here, much like the Beta Kindergarten, still left it's scars here, one of the hills even splitting in two.

"So, you wanna ease her into the big news, or do you think telling her about the rest would be easier?" Connie asked as they went along.

"Bismuth's more open-minded, so maybe we should get the big news over with," Amethyst figured. It was a bit of a long shot though: for they knew bismuth had some prior involvement with rose quartz before much of this even got started.

"I just hope she's okay. She worked with Rose personally and got in a bubble over it. Let's just try to lay it on her easy," Steven decided. A pretty easy gesture more or less, and something they felt was good for her. Good time to make a choice too, as it wasn't much longer on their walk until they reached the Forge's front door, which itself was already open. The three could hear Bismuth's work going on inside, so if that wasn't an indication, they weren't sure what was. They all looked to one another before they started to head on inside, Steven taking the lead with Amethyst and Connie following behind.
One step through those doors, and they soon saw the Gem in question, over in the center of the room and working on some weaponry as a blacksmith does. She didn't look too bugged, or distraught, and didn't even see the trio come in as she was a bit focused on getting a sword all prepared, the sword made up of red amber by the looks of it as Bismuth pounded it into place.

"Bismuth?"

"Oh, kids! Steven, Connie, Amethyst, nice of you to come by. Here, I was just about to come back to give you a little something," Bismuth said, just finishing the sword in question. It sure looked nice, sharp, and fitted the redness of the lava behind her pretty well. By the sound of her tone, they weren't sure if Bismuth was even aware the others were gone, let alone the Pink Diamond reveal, and the blacksmith gave the sword to Connie.

"Oh. Thanks Bismuth," Connie said, holding the sword. It was still a bit hot from just being created, but not hot enough to burn Connie's hands.

"Well, I thought since Rose's sword has been taken, I'd make you a new one. NOW you mean Bismuth," Bismuth joked, before throwing in a few chuckles at a job well done. Bismuth though was quick to see that they weren't as psyched about it as she expected, Connie a bit unsure of it actually.

"What's up, you don't like it?"

"Oh, no, I love it! But that's not why we're here," Connie made clear, placing the sword by her side.

"Well, what's up?" Bismuth asked. It took some mental thought on the trio's part before they came to the conclusion that if any of them were going to tell her, it might as well be the son of the very Gem in question. No more hiding, and no more waiting. They already messed up when they couldn't get the information out in time for the others missing, and they weren't gonna make the same mistake here. Steven looked up to the perplexed and curious Bismuth.

"It's about Rose."

And so Steven went on explaining the story behind Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond. The time it took to explain it all went for about twenty minutes, and even then they knew they didn't put in all the details, which some he admittedly forgot himself or didn't think were needed. But the point to Bismuth was still made across: Rose quartz and Pink Diamond were the same person, whether she wanted it or not, and whether she liked it or not. Steven, Connie, and amethyst sat together, as Bismuth sat across from them, hearing every word said, and taking it all in.
To put it simply, it was a lot to take in.

"Hmm."

"Yeah. … So. You okay?" Steven asked.

"Hmm. Yeah. Hang on a sec," Bismuth said before getting up. The three just watched as Bismuth walked over towards the lava waterfall, and went on ahead to dunk her head right into the flow. They could hear bubbles going in said lava, and muffled screaming for a good ten seconds. What a hit. Soon, straight away after getting her head out -

"OH MY GOSH!!! It all makes sense now!" Bismuth gasped, her mind boggled at all this.

"YEP, pretty crazy," Amethyst said.

"Sorry we couldn't tell you sooner. We tried to find you but -"

"No, no, Connie. I'm just glad you told me at all," Bismuth sighed. It was probably good she was told now and not let off any further, none of them want any repeats of their first ever interaction. Looking to the lava pool at the bottom of the lavafall, She took a seat and dipped her feet in, the lava bubbling a little bit. But while that would burn the feet off of others, bismuth found it as soothing as a jacuzzi, and just as nice of warmth.

"Guys come on in, the lava's great," Bismuth offered.

"We would, but, we're not lava-proof," said Steven. Bismuth chuckled before looking on to the lavafall in front of her, seeing a faint reflection in the flowing, glowing mass of magma. Seeing the flow had a sort of soothing sense to her as she began to remanence bout her time way back when the Crystal Gems were in their infancy, alongside the Gem war it seemed.

"You know, I was so excited to show Rose the Breaking Point," Bismuth began.

"The Breaking Point. Isn't that the weapon you made to shatter diamonds with?" Connie asked, going off of vague memory of what she was told by the others.

"That's the one. Can you imagine how ready I was when I went up to her? Hey Rose, check out this cool weapon I made! I'm gonna shatter YOU with it!" Bismuth laughed about the pretty good memory, but her laughs were only her own and she eventually ended in just a long sigh. Amethyst sat down alongside her, along with Steven who kept his feet away from the lava, as they all looking into the bubbling, rippling pool. Thinking on it, maybe those weren't the best choice of words to use. Not that it mattered.

"I really thought all of our problems would go away if we could just shatter a diamond," Bismuth then said, hands up in display with a smile, before both quickly went away and the look of distraught came back before saying "... guess she took my advice before I thought of it after all."
Bismuth knew things had changed since the Gem War ended, and since she got back, but this was on a whole new level, even for her. Her leader, her friend, turning out to be the thing they were fighting against. With the story though, it sounded like it had to be that way, and one can't change the past … well, not safely if you count Starlight Glimmer, anyway. And even if it was an option, it was best to not tempt the butterfly to go a different flight path. Silence hung in the air for a bit as they took time to consider, before Steven himself gently placed a hand on Bismuth's lap.

"I'm … sorry. About all this," Steven simply said. Rose herself was not around to do it, so it might as well be him, even if it wasn't his fault. Bismuth herself just sighed before placing a gentle hand on his own.

"Thanks. For talking to me."

"Wow. You took it pretty well. Better than the others did," Connie admitted, as they all got up again.

"How so? You seen them lately?" Bismuth asked.

"They all ran off. Even Garnet unfused over it," Amethyst said. This actually brought Bismuth to alarm.

"What?! Noooo, they're my favorite couple!"

"Don't worry, we're trying to find them right now. Flint and Jade are off finding Sapphire, and the Off-Colors and Elements of Harmony are working as much as they can to find the rest," Steven explained.

"Let me guess: Flint thought I ran off on you guys too?"

"We … all kinda thought you did," Amethyst admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. Bismuth stayed quiet a little bit. she didn't really check in much since seeing the zoomans last, so in a way that was kind of her to blame. Bismuth then smiled.

"Don't worry about a thing. Don't forget: I got your back," Bismuth reminded, fluffing Steven's hair. A callback to the past, but still good to know that Bismuth would be staying around still.

The blacksmith was not going anywhere.

~~~~~~

While winter's snow hadn't officially started just yet, the bitter sting of it was just as rough of a feeling, and came early for one Gem in particular who's mind was still deeply muffled and distraught. And in such an ironic way, her gaze was stuck looking up to a statue figure of the very Gem that started this grief of hers: Rose quartz. It was Rose's fountain alright, but the tears that streamed down her face had now frozen thanks to Sapphire's dear grief and mind fog.
She just laid there, hands holding her up on the rims of the now frozen fountain, ice forming up all around her in a blanket of ice. No snowfall had the pleasure to grace her skin, or gently come down to greet her. She felt alone, stuck, and with her emotions in turmoil she can't even think straight - future vision or otherwise. She didn't care though on what images were flashing through her head, for her emotions were only focusing on just one: Pink diamond. How could she just go ahead and use them like that? Even with the whole story, it wasn't enough to convince Sapphire that it was all just something that they should've been dragged into. Why couldn't Rose ever tell them, why couldn't Rose ever tell her? Making her think these things, and all the while not a single question was ever brought up to her.

NOT. EVEN. ONCE.

"Sapphire! Sapphire!"

Even from such a distance, the blue Gem knew that voice all too well. In her state of mind though she was not wanting any sort of company, not even from her own friends. Or so-called. Flint and Jade were soon to arrive to the scene, and they were actually surprised how quick they found her (the fountain was really just a guess on their part after discussion). The two arrived over by the front gate to the fountain, and were quick to see Sapphire.

"Sapphire, there you are -" Flint was quickly cut off when a just icicle shot out from the ground, stopping dead still and aiming directly at them both, making them stop in their tracks. Sapphire didn't give any reply to them, but she knew they were still there, not moving an inch. not that she could, as the ice was forming icicles around her legs.

"Everything we were running from … she was right there, all along. Using us for her … little war," Sapphire spoke, her voice hushed. They both knew this was dangerous to even approach her, so the two consulted together on the matter. Who should go in? In the end they both went over to her.

"Making me believe in a better future that I couldn't see, because it wasn't real ... And now here we are, our friends, shattered, and corrupted. … What a long road she took to torture us all like this …"

"Sapphire, you know she didn't want to hurt everyone," Jade said, hand on her back. Sapphire though, in her distraught state, didn't think that was anything true anymore.

"I don't know that! I clearly don't know anything!"

"Okay, calm down Sapphire," Flint then said, "It was impossible for any of us to know, don't be so hard on yourself."

"But why did she have to drag the rest of us into it?! She could've done it all herself, but instead she had to lie to us! She had to lie about everything," Sapphire stated. Despite knowing that Pink Diamond did try what she could do before White Diamond made things clear to her.

"You know that isn't true. Look, let's just go off back home, and we'll discuss it with the others."

"Discuss what? How the Crystal Gems are nothing but a sham? We all were played fools to her, and none of us saw into her!"

"Sapphire, calm down, this isn't as big as you're making it out to be. Come on, let's get our minds clear back home -" Flint was cut off as he was trying to get Sapphire back home, only for Sapphire to yank her hand away. Flint may be taking it will, but he didn't see it as bad as Sapphire did.

"Don't pretend like you knew everything! You've never even been in the war," Sapphire snapped. Flint was starting to get annoyed with her.

"I don't need to: you fought, you won, what more do you want?" Flint questioned. Jade began to get a little worried.

"Uh, Flint?"

"What do you know?! I've lost everything because I joined her! I was a pure member of Blue Diamond's court -"

"And you still are!" Flint cut in, "Besides, who's fault is that? She gave you the option, but it was you who took it." flint ended the statement with an accusing finger aimed directly at Sapphire.

"Of course you'd say that - you'd never know what pain we've been through in that war. All the friends we lost -"

"Sapphire, come on already, you're better than this! Are you hearing yourself? If Pink Diamond wanted to torture you, she'd sent you to White for experimentation, or heck, she could've killed you on the spot if she wanted to. Now come on back before any of the Diamonds realize you've all gone," Flint instructed, starting to walk on back to the Warp Pad. Sapphire felt cold, but not in the literal sense.

"... So you don't care about us. You only care if we get you into trouble. That's why you want us back together, is it? How can you be so cruel?"

"Sapphire, of course he -" Jade was cut short again.

"NO, I want to hear it from Flint," Sapphire stated. Jade, silenced, again.

"You are the Crystal Gems, your priority is to protect Earth from anything that causes this planet harm - you can't do that if you're all split apart like this!"

"Is that all you're worried about?!"

"It should be the only thing to worry about! The war's been and done, it shouldn't be your issue!"

"You only think that because it's not your issue! If you're not gonna help then why don't you just leave, you horrid hybrid!"

Sapphire stared Flint down with anger in her eyes. Attempts to find them, and all Flint wanted was for them to get back to work, far as she knew. Flint can't say he hadn't felt this way before: Ruby already giving her own fair bit of mind not long after Sapphire disappeared. But that didn't make it feel any better for him.

"Uh, Sapphire try not to be too hard on him. I mean, you were -"

"It's alright, Jade. I'm going anyway."

Jade looked confused.

"Going? What do you mean?"

"I can't stay here with them. All my work to save you, dealing with the cluster, Pink Diamond's murder case, and rescuing Pearl, and this is the thanks I get? Don't know why I bothered in the first place. I should've just left you all at the get-go, could've made my life easier, but instead here I am risking my neck for you all the time."

"Flint, wait, she didn't mean it -"

"Stop," Flint snapped, making Jade jump back. It's the first time Sapphire saw him actually snap at Jade, the only Gem he cared deeply for and who he already saved.

"You're no better: I have to carry you around all the time, you bunch of dead weight. I'd be better off without you! All of you!"

Jade felt as if her own gemstone would crack by his words, as he turned his gaze to the distraught, and shocked Sapphire.

"And Sapphire? I don't care how close you were to Rose, I'm gonna make this clear: None of this even matters anymore, and never will be, and you know why?" Flint went right up to her, kneeling so he was eye-level with Sapphire to deliver one final, and cold-hearted message to this Gem.

"... Because she's already dead. … I want you to think about that while I'm gone."

Sapphire wanted to correct him, but she couldn't come up with anything as she simply stared at him. Plus, she was already mad at him, so it clouded her judgement just a bit beyond how it would be. With those words imprinted in her head, Flint got up and he began to turn, and walk away. This time, regardless if Sapphire would go and follow him or not. In fact, he didn't want it: he heard Jade take a step forward, and he responded with a shot of his pistol dangerously close to her feet. He probably would've shot her off her feet if she didn't fall back first.

Flint left the Crystal Gems, and neither had the will to stop him from going.

And only then did the snow finally start to fall.

…….

"Sure she's over here?"

"I know she is."

Hard to say for poor Sapphire how long she had been just sitting there since this. Time itself had kinda gone away from her within the first snowfall of the season. But while they fell gentle around her, the poor Gem was stuck with nothing but the cold. It may have not bothered her before, but the words Flint had echoed in her head refused to go away. And she refused to go away from the fountain either, which probably was good as Jade had gotten a few of the ponies (AJ, Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy). Twilight had to put the map on hold for a little bit, especially after hearing what had happened.

"What do you want now?" Sapphire asked.

"Easy there, it's just us," Applejack reassured her, but Sapphire was too mixed up to even really consider what to say.

"Jade told us what happened, Sapphire," Fluttershy said, landing over nearby her. Sapphire couldn't even look at them. "It's all going to be okay."

"He doesn't know what he's talking about. It doesn't matter because she's dead … so what, I'm supposed to just let all this slide? Our whole reason for even doing all of this - gone. Our friends: corrupted and shattered, all for something that didn't exist!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, I draw the line at that," Applejack got in, "You sayin none of that stuff we did was real?"

"No, I meant what we done in the war. We were all made a fool of, and all she did was use us."
Jade had already explained much of what she said before they arrived, so she didn't need to elaborate much further. Sapphire was so used to the facts being brought to her, and her to have everything down pact. But nothing was going to help her here.

"But what about all that stuff you did after Rose? Er, Pink, or whichever," Rarity reminded. Sapphire glanced her way as she continued.

"Alright, so Rose wasn't exactly … who she said she was. But keep in mind you've done quite an amazing record after her passing."

"I DON'T KNOW THAT!" Sapphirer shrieked, "Rose never told me anything, she wouldn't tell me anything, and I went along with it like it was supposed to be okay! How am I supposed to know for sure?"

"I thought you'd say that," Twilight said, as she then began to levitate the supposed answer to the problem. Sapphire didn't know anything, and with much of the group all but gone still, there was one solution: a sort of white elixir, or drink, kept within a similar-looking bottle. Or similar to the Mane six in a vague sense, but Twilight felt this would suit best as she placed it gently in Sapphire's hands.

"Just before we met, Zecora showed me this potion which allowed me to look into the past. Maybe if you drink it, it could show you the same thing," Twilight suggested. Sapphire wasn't too sure at first, looking down to the option itself, but if she was to truly see what happened outside of the words Pearl had said, she might as well give it a go.
As the others watched, Sapphire Brought the bottle to her mouth, and gave the potion a few good chugs, not a drop missed. The taste itself was a bit bland, if not a little bitter, but as Twilight Sparkle had with her taste of the potion, the effects of it were swift. The others jumped back fast, as Sapphire's eye suddenly began to glow a bright white.

"S-Sapphire!" gasped Jade.

"Hold on now, it's okay. Twilight's gone through this before, she'll be fine. Just give her a minute," Applejack insisted. Jade was a bit worried for Sapphire. With how distraught she was already, any more trauma would be horrible on her. For the moment, Sapphire simply stood there, staring off into what past events had transpired, going through her mind like the Future Visions she had given sight into. At first, much of these visions she was seeing of the past were just as Pearl described: starting with showing Pink Diamond first coming to Earth, and going from there. She saw the attempted murder of Pink by White, and the war to follow, not to mention the end result of the corruption light, which she now knew was a ruse for the Cluster. The flash of light lasted a good minute and a half before it finally ended, bringing Sapphire to her knees.

"... Well, at least I know Pearl wasn't lying … again," Sapphire said at last.

"It may not be the same story you were told, but Pink Diamond did her best. She truly did care for you," Twilight made clear, but Sapphire was surprisingly still not convinced.

"But how am I supposed to actually know?! She tried keeping Earth from becoming a colony, that doesn't explain -"

Then it started: Sapphire stopped her banter when she felt something poking her in the side. The portal keys were active again, this one belonging to Twilight, as it kept hitting itself onto her until it got their attention. Been a while since they've gone off since Applejack had to go to Klugetown for the set of keys to begin with.
The key, after getting the full attention, began to bounce and roll off over a little bit further away until it reached the gate, getting itself into the nearby wall and opening a portal door. A bit out of nowhere, but the key was persistent in getting them moving, as it quickly rolled on back, and tried to move Sapphire along.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Sapphire finally said.

The group went on through the portal, and the end location of said portal was in a more familiar location: the carwash. A bit of an odd place to pop up in, but soon after all of the ponies had gotten themselves through, they began hearing some commotion off not too far away.

The distinct sound of a key running away from Steven.

"NO, come back!" Steven called, trying to get the key back. Steven's key was up and alive again, seemingly getting on pry either while Steven was gone, or when he got back. Regardless when, Steven finally caught his key in a slide, stopping right in front of Sapphire.

"Sapphire!"

"Steven," Sapphire gasped. Steven jumped up to his feet, hugging the admittedly cold Gem. However, the keys were getting a bit too impatient, and actually both keys rolled off away, unaware to the others just yet.

"Steven, you're back. Did you find Bismuth?" Rarity asked.

"She'll be coming by soon, she's doing great. But, are you alright Sapphire?" Steven asked. Before Sapphire could answer, they began to hear a sound of a lock opening, just to find the keys already opening up something on the ground. Typically a door would open up for them, but this time the opening was only small enough for their arm to slip through. Not that they needed to go through anyway, because something actually popped out.

A video tape.

And only then did the keys stop acting up, and the door closed, and the keys lied stiff once again.

"What's that?" Sapphire asked, perplexed. Twilight walked over to the video tape, levitating it up to eye level. It looked rather mundane, nothing out of the ordinary about it, but then came the two words written in cursive on the label.

"For Steven. … Steven, you make this?" Twilight asked.

"No, I don't think so," Steven replied, taking the tape. Sapphire and Steven looked at the two words for a moment or two, and considering the situation, this could only mean one thing. …
And after a short bit of wiring, and getting things connected, they soon got a small TV and VHS hooked up together. It was a bit of short notice for them to work with, but luckily for them Greg had a lot of spare stuff inside that van. It was where he lived after all.

"So, you two gonna put it in or not?" encouraged Twilight. Steven, who was still holding the tape, decided to get this going, and got the tape in the VHS.

"Here we go," sighed Sapphire.

And so, the tape began. As with any VHS tape, it started off with a bit of static snow, but eventually something did begin to show up. It looked like it was summer in the area, over along the beach with the cool waves gently going along the sand. It honestly wasn't anything too fancy, or anything too extravagant that the Portal Keys would make them see. Sapphire wasn't really too thrilled herself. The scene turned to static again, and then it simply showed the ground of waves at a closer glance. again, nothing too fancy to think about.
but then the scene turned to the Temple. This did show at least when this tape was even made, namely because the tape showed the Crystal Temple … well, like how it was currently: no Beach House up front. However, there still was a Warp Pad visible at the front of the cave, so that said it was before White's little thief of their home and traces. Once again, while a bit intriguing, nothing too fancy. The camera shifted a bit back to the view of the beach, but then someone went on into frame: Greg.
Greg did look a little bit different of course, a bit younger with a head of hair (or at least, more hair). He went across the frame in a sort of funny crab "prance" as it were, arms out like a crab. They all then heard a female voice give a soft laugh.

"What're you doing?" she chuckled …

"Steven. That voice," whispered Applejack.
The screen went static shortly after again, and this time it showed Greg laying down on a beach blanket, snoring in a deep sleep, unable to notice that he had a seagull just sitting on his stomach. The same voice giggled slightly seeing this admittedly cute moment.

"Greg made a friend," the voice said. and just like that, the seagull squawked, and Greg jumped back in a startle, only leaving the figure behind the camera laughing.
It was then the scene cut once more, and this time it was Greg just standing in front of the camera. He looked a little bit nervous actually.

"Go on, tell us who you are," the voice insisted.

"Sorry, getting a bit of stage fright," Greg said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I know the feeling," Fluttershy commented.

Eventually Greg got to word on the video. Or at least he tried to.

"Uh. M-My name is Greg - no, no, this is wrong!"

Suddenly the screen turned static again, and shifted to a small blue crab on the ground. The camera was shifted up again, and this time Greg looked more of that of a rocker: guitar in hand, foot on a rock, and shades over his eyes - typical cool lingo.

"They call me …" he strung his guitar and said, "MR. UNIVERSE! Get ready, baby, you're gonna have the coolest dad this side of the cosmos." Greg then began to rock out on his guitar for a bit, acting cool and hip, and the voice behind the camera tried to better get this ending fixed, but only got a sort of magic flair to go by the screen.

"that the right one?"

"Uh … maybe?"

"Oh, what does this do?"

In a click, in came the star iris in, just before static filled the screen again. A personal upgrade to said camera if one had to guess.
The scene showed a bit of a calmer moment, and Greg probably not aware that the figure behind the camera was still recording the moment. A few seagulls were scattered around, enjoying the day themselves like seagulls do: some flying, some scurrying on the beach, all captured in frame.

She then began to speak again.

"Isn't it wonderful, Steven? … Life here has so many possibilities, and every living thing has an entirely unique experience. The sights they see, the sounds they hear, the lives they live. It's all so complicated, and yet … so simple. I can't wait for you to join them."

With what Sapphire said, they knew what was coming: Rose turned the camera onto herself.

"Steven. We both cannot exist at once. I'm going to become apart of you. And you need to know that, whenever you love yourself … that's me. Loving you, and loving being you! That's because you're going to be something extraordinary. … You're going to be a human being."

"Rose!" called Greg off-screen. Rose smiled to the camera.

"Take care of them, Steven," Rose simply said, just before the screen turned static for a split moment. It showed rose, walking out towards Greg, standing over him with her stomach notably larger than normal. didn't look like Steven's introduction to the world may not be for too long. The camera just ended when the two leaned in to kiss, leaving nothing but static. Sapphire was not impressed.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked.

"Nothing. Just like all of that," Sapphire said.

"Wait, there's more!" Rarity said, looking back to the screen.

"No, my future vision already saw this the moment -"

*thud*

Well, that changed her mind. And seemingly, Ruby wasn't the only one that could pull her disbelief in the Crystal Gems. The screen was a bit blurry at first, and it appeared a bit later at night, when many of the people were off asleep, and many of the other Gems (including Sapphire, I suppose), were off and away at the Temple. It didn't look like she was at the Temple, and was instead off down the beach. The thud was her accidentally dropping the camera, it just sitting there on the sand before she would pick it up again. … There's a good reason why she isolated herself though. Rose took a check into the camera, and … well, she looked tired. Exhausted, even, as if she had ran a worldwide marathon or something. She only paused to wipe away some sweat from her forehead, before finding a good spot to place the camera down, showing a good backdrop of the ocean, and rose went and sat down with a thud. This must be later in time, since she not only looked bigger in the stomach, but also she looked worn out with making this happen. She panted a bit from the walk, tired, and her body felt … well, weak. Or it looked that way, as if she was struggling just to keep herself together.

Then she spoke.

"Everyone. Greg, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl. … Steven. I've been a bit selfish," Rose began. "... I was told by a wise Gem that I … wouldn't be around for much longer. At first, I felt alright: I would live on in my son, and he will look on to the Gems in my passing … but, after thinking about it, I realize now that means there's … things. Very important things. That I'm going to be leaving behind. I have to say this now. I'm … not who you think I am - I'm not Rose Quartz! My true name, my birthname, is Pink Diamond."

Rose only paused to feel what one would describe as a kick from Steven, which in turn made her slightly weaker still. Her body started to morph a little bit, shining slightly, before she retained her form. If she were to shapeshift now, Steven wouldn't exist, and she can't risk losing her unborn child so quickly. If they would've found this first before Pearl would say this, they probably would be left shocked, and Rose probably figured such by what she said next.

"I know you might not believe me, I don't blame you if you ever believe me again. I was told if this were to be let out at the wrong time, it would mean we'll lose everything. Everything we'd fought for, this planet, us. It would've been for nothing. I know it's not right to keep this all a secret from you, but … now. I don't have long. I just wished I could've gathered the strength to tell you in person."

Her body glitched again, this time dangerously close to becoming Pink Diamond again, when Rose forced herself back to normal. Sapphire and everyone else could see the struggle she was going through just to keep this alive, to keep Steven alive, and it was draining what energy she had left. Even for a diamond, this was hard.

"I … I hope you all understand. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If you find this tape, please try not to be too hard on Steven. I was wrong to keep this from you! But it's too late now. … And I just want you all to know. I love you. All of you. You've all been so wonderful, and smart, and did better for the planet than I ever had. ... It's been so fun being with all of you. …"

A tear slipped down Rose's smiling face just before the tape finally ended, leaving the screen as nothing but static snow and white noise. Guess that was what the keys wanted to show them. much of the group were left in tears on Rose's farewell, Sapphire the most torn. This can't be a lie, especially with Rose's confession, and just how worn out she looked.

"Oh my Celestia," Rarity breathed, wiping a tear from her face. Sapphire went on over to the end of the van, sitting down right by the rim, thinking about what she had just witnessed.

"Sapphire? You okay?" Twilight asked, wing around her.

"... She followed us."

"Huh?"

"All this time we thought we were following her, but … she was following us. She was swept off her feet by this place, and by everyone else. Just like how I felt when I met -"

Then it hit her.

"RUBY! Oh no, we got to go back right away!"

…….

"Ruby! I'm so sorry! Where...? Huh?"

Nothing. Sapphire's vision had lead her from the carwash and right on to the temple. For some reason she thought Ruby would at least go there, but with the tape, and all of the distraught, it would appear she was just too late to get her. But that didn't mean there was nothing there though.

A note. for Sapphire. Left on the ground.

Lone Wolves

View Online

Sapphire - you were right .. I need some time to think so I am running away. Ruby.

The message was brief, and short, but that was the main idea of what Ruby had properly left for her back at the Temple. Sapphire was devastated at what she was seeing here, feeling more tears coming down her eye. Those harsh words she yelled right at Ruby was echoing in her head again, only reminding her why Ruby would go off on them like this.

"Oh, Ruby," Sapphire sobbed, "I'm so sorry. You left before I could take back all those horrible things I've said to you."
It sure felt that way to poor Sapphire. Rarity took the letter and looked it over herself, levitating in front of her face.

"O-Okay dear, let's not break down. Again. M-Maybe she couldn't of gotten far. She had to have dropped it off here before leaving, right?" Rarity said, folding up the letter neatly, and putting it aside.

"Maybe someone had seen her," added Fluttershy. None of them seen the letter beforehand, so perhaps that could be the proper case, but that didn't seem to really help Sapphire out so much. And here she thought she had an actual handle on her own ability, just for THIS to happen and mess it up all over again. Before they could try and figure out anything else, a familiar figure started to come up to them from the beach.

"Hey, Sapphire, you're back!" said Amethyst. "Hey, did you see the others?"

"Not a thing, but we'll keep trying," Twilight promised. Sapphire began to weep again, taking Amethyst by surprise. It was then she saw the letter, and as Sapphire tried to remove some tears from her face, she read it over himself.

"Sapphire, relax. This isn't the first time Ruby's disappeared, and the last time she did she was controlled by Sombra remember?" Amethyst reminded. Sapphire, with a stream of tears still down her face, took a moment to sniff before answering.

"I know, but that was different *sniff* she didn't choose to do that, a-and I KNEW she'd come back! But now … now … I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!" Sapphire went back to crying again, wailing in agony. Amethyst and Steven shared some glances, as Applejack went up to her.

"There, sugarcube, everything's gonna be fine. Hey, you got future vision right? Don't you see her comin back?"

"Huh? Oh! Maybe, but -... she's so wonderful. *sniff* and spontaneous! I've no idea what she could - … WHY WOULD SHE BE A COWBOY?!"
Sapphire broke down again, and tossed herself into Fluttershy's hooves as she cried her soul out. Fluttershy gently wrapped a wing around her, feeling a bit emotional herself for this experience so far.

"Sapphire, it's gonna be okay. She'll come back, she has to. And if she doesn't that … means, no more Garnet. A-And what will the Crystal Gems do without Garnet?"

"Oh Fluttershy! HOW WILL I EVER GET HER BACK?!"

"I … I don't know! Y-you two are amazing together, I-It can't end like this!"
And like that, poor Fluttershy started to cry too, both holding eachother as tears streamed down. The others were worried for her, but flint could see that now was not a good time to get too deep into it, clearing his throat.

"Eh, right. Okay, I'm gonna go and try to find her. The rest of you try and keep her calm, will you?" Amethyst instructed, already going out before there was an exact answer. An answer may not be needed though, as the ponies did go over by both Fluttershy and Sapphire as the two continued crying their eyes out. Amethyst looked back to Sapphire and the ponies for a brief moment, seeing that this crying wasn't gonna stop anytime soon.

Now. Where to look?

~~~~~~

"Okay, let's see. If I were Ruby, where would I go?"

The purple Gem went along out of town by this point, believing that Ruby wouldn't be sticking around anywhere near Beach city after how much was done. Bismuth was pretty good, sure, and seemingly Sapphire was just good enough, but Ruby might be a bit of a harder challenge to make. She did feel a bit bored trying to look around though the beach.

"Ok, ok … she's known to take things literally, so she would run away either to the country, or to the ocean ..." Amethyst waited a bit to think this over, her eyes glancing from the ocean waves on one side, and to the grass on the other.

"Ok, time to get out the ol' trusty coin!" Amethyst decided, her hand going into her hair. She learned the trick from Pinkie Pie, and after some searching, she pulled out a good-sized coin.

"Okay: heads the ocean, tails the country." With a flick of the coin, the copper piece landed on heads ... just for Amethyst to flick it onto tails with her foot.

"OH, look at that, tails! Alright, off to -"

*squawk*

A quick catch of her attention, as she looked down the beach to see a seagull by the shoreline. Not the best time for the bird given the time of year, but it was on its way towards Beach City when it saw Amethyst. However, the squawking wasn't aimed at amethyst exactly, but instead someone off not too far away.

"Hey, quit it. Get off, bird, I'm busy!" said a familiar and annoyed voice. Amethyst went over to check it out, and who did she find?

"YO Flint!"

Or, she assumed it was, the bird pecking at something invisible. It didn't stay that way for too long though, and sure enough Flint was standing there, swatting the bird away. Amethyst was glad to see him, but the feeling was more one-sided.

"Dang. Just one day, and I'm already running into you again," Flint sighed, as Amethyst went over to him.

"So, how're you holdin up here? We got Bismuth back on board, and Sapphire's chilling back at the Temple. ... Eh, crying her eyes out," Amethyst informed casually. Flint figured she wasn't told what had happened just yet, but he wasn't in the mood for her company right now.

"Oh. It's you. Look, go back to the Temple will ya?" Flint stated, before starting to walk off again. Well, cold.

"Did you hear what I said? What, you "off-duty"?" Amethyst questioned, no longer as chipper, and quoting her words. Flint groaned.

"Off-duty? I'd like it to remain off - I left the Crystal Gems."

"... WHAT?! WHY?!" Amethyst gasped, suddenly rushing up in his way.

"Amethyst out of the way."

"But what the heck, man, sending us off to find the others was your idea, you can't just walk out on everybody!"

"Watch me," Flint simply said, before stepping over Amethyst. Amethyst stood there dumbfounded at first, before she spun around.

"What's your problem? I thought you weren't bugged by Pink Diamond."

"I'm not bugged - why should I care about a dead Gem, I'm not involved in her stupid war," Flint coldly questioned. He expected this statement to rile up Amethyst like it did with Sapphire, and readied for her to either go away or attack him -

"Oohh. Yeah, I'm bugged by that too."

"Y-You are?" Flint asked, legitimately confused.

"A little. I mean, why should we be held responsible for what Rose did? None of us knew what even happened, and we're all treating it like it's our fault. I'm not letting it bother me."

"... FINALLY," Flint sighed, "It's about time at least one of you gets it."

"Yep. ... So this means you're coming back?"

"No."

Well, it was worth a shot. Flint began going off away and added "You deal with your own problems, I got my own targets to look for."

Flint began to go off alone again, but Amethyst began to think a short bit more before she too went on to catch up. She figured the ponies would do better at comfort than she could anyway, and it didn't take her long until she caught up with Flint further down the beach, the Gem not noticing Amethyst coming up to him until after she was only a foot away.

"You too, Amethyst?" Flint questioned, Amethyst going up to his side. Flint didn't really mind this much though (not as much as one expected anyway), and they began to continue on.

"Yeah, it's cool. So, where're we going first? The battlefield, the Sky Arena? Or maybe -"

"Amethyst, I'm not looking for any of them."

… Well that was fast.

"Dude, you literally just said you're gonna look for them, like, thirty seconds ago."

"No, you said that. We both know they'll come back eventually, and besides, I got something more important to look into," Flint said, as they continued. Amethyst could see the logic about it. After all, Ruby had been gone away from Sapphire before, and the two had managed to get back together one way or another, regardless if it was intentional n their part or not. Still, when it came to Flint she knew whatever was important, was indeed something important.

"Don't tell me: some corrupted Gems to check into? The zoomans back on Mask Island?" Amethyst asked, as she stopped by a turnedover conch shell, peeking into it by pushing it with her foot.

"Both of those are good, but no. I'm interested in the monsters."

"Monsters? You sure you don't mean the corrupted Gems, because you got way plenty of that."

"Amethyst, you know I'm not."

"Eh, nope. I don't," Amethyst shrugged.

Flint sighed, as he and Amethyst went off inland to the countryside. "Amethyst, you've been around on planet Earth far longer than I have. Before the Mane six showed up, what was the most magical thing you know of?"

"Ummm … well, Gem stuff. We got Warp Pads, Gem weapons, that magic door at the Temple."

"Right." Flint took a moment and as they went, Flint focused on some hologram images with his gemstone to better explain himself and these monsters. "But these creatures: the Remorhaz, the Thunderbird, Grootslang and those two doppelganger snakes, Quetzalcoatl, they all -"

"Whoa, whoa, stop there," Amethyst cut in, "How'd you know about big Q?" The question made Flint lose focus and the holograms were removed.

"You, Steven and Peridot were being attacked by Bismuth, Obviously someone would come and investigate," Flint answered. Amethyst found the situation a bit vague herself, but kinda hard to forget a giant feathered snake that could deflect a "Breaking Point".

"Anyway, they don't have anything relating to us whatsoever. And I wanna figure out where they're coming from," Flint finished.

"That's easy: the girls told me they met this guy named Mushussu, and he told them there's this universe just like ours that had gone through the same thing, and our world's just following it's footsteps," Amethyst answered, the memory clicking in her head. Flint wasn't as convinced.

"Yes, but it's how that's got me curious. Amethyst, these things can't just come up out of thin air, they have to come from somewhere. Even Twilight said so."

"Dude, that's with making hair."

"What's your point?" Flint questioned.

Well, Amethyst wasn't gonna get through to him, and even if she wanted to, she'd fail miserably compared to his wit.

"So, where're we going to start this "study"?"

"Well, actually. …" Flint stopped, and pulled something out from his own gemstone, a matter more acquainted with Pearl moreover. Though, this item was very small, so the least Amethyst could see why he could carry it about in his stone so easily. The object looked like a slip of paper, a pamphlet really, about what appeared to be named "Dakota State Zoo" (an animal zoo, not a human zoo).

"I think I found a good place to start."

~~~~~~

So, after a bit of a travel, it was off to the zoo in question. Flint and Amethyst both had just got through the front entrance, and already found themselves seeing what this place had to offer. While it wasn't the most popular place nor the most crowded for the time of year, the Dakota State Zoo still had its fair share of animals from all over their world. Not many of them were out though given the cold weather, but it was still a good place to start.

"And you pick a Zoo because …"

"Because these monsters all were animals themselves," Flint replied, "The Thunderbird was some sort of eagle, Grootslang turned out to be just some adder -"

"OK, OK, no speech, I get it," Amethyst stated, making sure to get the point across before he would drone on any further. Amethyst waited for them to go off and check the other animals out, but instead, Flint decided to head off to the maintenance staff first. Amethyst didn't feel up for that, so she went off ahead, taking a glance back to Flint before doing so.

"Excuse me, but can I have a word with you?" Flint asked, getting the janitor's attention.

"Can I help you?"

"Just wanna ask a few questions, if I may. Concerning some animals. Have some paper and pen?" Flint explained. He wasn't sure if the person would believe him or not, but if these were more local creatures, he needed that confirmation out of the way first.

"Eh … not on me."

"Oh. Well I'll just describe the animals we've -"

"HEY FLINT, check this out!" Amethyst suddenly said, finding something a lot more entertaining to do. If not a bit reckless. You could probably guess what since she was inside the Lion's exhibit.

"Amethyst, get your head out of that thing's mouth and get back here!" Flint demanded.

"Come on, it worked on Lion, why not with -" the less-than-enthused Lion cut Amethyst short and bit down on her head. Normally this would be bad, but this Lion not only didn't taste much to be worth it, but all the hair on Amethyst left a bad taste in its mouth, so it just spat Amethyst out over by the borders of the exhibit. No surprise there.

"Uh … should I be uh -"

"No. No you shouldn't," Flint said, as he hopped into the exhibit, and plucked Amethyst out, the Gem a little wet from saliva as the lion was coughing out some of the purple Gem's hair. Amethyst smiled, but Flint was in no mood for it.

"Amethyst, can we focus please?"

"Fine, you're the boss," Amethyst shrugged. He then went back to the janitor.

"Now, you've worked a lot with animals here at the Dakota Zoo, correct? Perhaps you can help clear a few "unidentified species" for us," Flint explained.

"Me? No, you should talk to the Animal curator. They got the know-how on animals more than I do, I just clean up the place."
Flint wasn't familiar at all with zoo positions, but if the curators do know more about this, then perhaps it would be good to talk to them.

"I see. How do we find them?"

"They're roaming around, you'll find them handling the animals," said the janitor, as he went on back to his work.

"Well you heard him, Amethyst. Let's start asking around."

…….

Even with the two going around, they weren't the only odd ones out in this zoo. As Flint and Amethyst continued on, the two began to make their way to another exhibit. In this case, the two went on over towards another opened exhibit, seemingly dealing with a big cat again. The big feline inside of the enclosure though wasn't exactly all hyped on seeing them, simply laying down on a set-up jungle gym lookout, as if the cat was sleeping on its side. As they went, Amethyst saw the sign for the enclosure, but covered it up.

"So, Flint, is that a Leopard, or a Jaguar?" Amethyst said, pretending like it's a legitimate question. People always did have trouble telling the two apart, and Amethyst was no exception to this when she saw the animal, but she thought it would be fun.

"I wouldn't worry about it. See anyone in there?" Flint asked, not seeing much at first. So much for the guessing game. Amethyst groaned before looking in, leaning over the fence boundary of the enclosure, but didn't see much in their either. All she did see was a lone cat laying out in the cold, either not caring for the attention or just too tired. Eventually though, Amethyst and Flint began to see someone just exiting the enclosure, seemingly defeated about something.

"Excuse me, but are you one of the curators here?" Flint asked, immediately going up to her as Amethyst just checked out the animal inside the exhibit.

"Yeah, I am," she replied. Just what Flint wanted to hear.

"Great, I want to ask a few questions about some animals me and my friends had to contend with. You know, identification."

"Alright, shoot."

Flint cleared his throat and then began his memory on these animal descriptions.

"Let me know if any of these sound familiar. A giant snake with bird-like wings and feathers along its back."

"Um … no, I don't think so."

"Ok then. How about a giant Eagle with purple feathers, appearing in a thunderstorm."

"... NO."

"Twenty-foot Giant centipede with a cobra hood and bony cutter jaws?"

Now she looked at him like he was crazy.

"Um. I think I heard that off of a video game, but other than that …"

Well, no luck.

"Well, thanks anyway. Amethyst, come on, we got others to talk to. One of these humans has to know what we're talking about," Flint said, as he walked passed Amethyst. The purple Gem though didn't listen at first, just staring at the feline inside the enclosure, the creature barely even bothering itself with whatever was there. Amethyst saw a bird land nearby, even hopping on the cat, but nothing happened except for a flick of the tail. The curator for the feline didn't take much time to notice Amethyst.

"Not even with a bird on her."

"What's with that cat? Is she sick or something?" Amethyst asked. Flint stopped after a bit and looked back. She didn't feel like she would have to ask if she didn't see the bird just moving about on top of her. The curator sighed.

"She's been like this for days," said the curator, "We've tried everything we could but nothing's working."

"So … she is sick?"

"That's the thing: our veterinarians checked her time and time again, and they keep saying she has no disease, or physical ailments, or anything."

"So, what then, too old?"

"Jaguars live up to twenty years, and ours is only five, so no. Poor Rouge."
The curator went on back to her work, and amethyst took one more look to Sunflower before joining Flint.

~~~~~~

For much of the day at the zoo, the pattern went on like this: they would go up to one of the curators within one of the numerous exhibits, Flint would ask about the animals they've seen before (specifically the ones he listed before arriving), they would give their answer, and they would move on. Unfortunately though, not even the Thunderbird's description sounded much familiar to any of the curators, much to Flint's ever-growing dismay and annoyance.
Another thing that seemingly repeated with these was Amethyst: who at each stop tried to lighten the mood a bit in her own way. Mostly it was just her messing around, but Flint was either too busy to notice Amethyst much, or was in no mood to even bother himself, much to her ever-growing dismay and annoyance.

In the zoo, both Amethyst and Flint did find somewhere to get some downtime and try to catch up with eachother on the situation. In some larger zoos, eateries can actually be put inside, and for this case they found a small area with plenty of picnic tables to take a seat at. Flint kept working out his mental notes, and as for Amethyst, she got her own meal all handled in no time at all. A sub with … literally everything on it.

"Yesssssss!" Amethyst beamed, eyes sparkling at the sight of the monster sandwich.

"Okay, so it's clear that these creatures: Q, Grootslang, Remorhaz, not even the Thunderbird sound remotely familiar so that rules out the idea of them being local creatures. … Amethyst, are you even listening?" Flint looked back to only see Amethyst stuffing her face with the mighty sandwich, pausing on the spot when Flint addressed her.

"Yeah," Amethyst simply said, her mouth full. She swallowed her bite and readied to bite again, but Flint snatched the sandwich away, leaving her only biting air.

"Can't you pay attention for one second? We're trying to handle a mystery behind these things, and you've only goofed off all day!"

"Hey, no I didn't!" Amethyst retorted.

"Really?" quizzed Flint, "So playing horsy on a Zebra, chasing some antelope, and playing tap-a-mole with a … well, a Mole, isn't goofing off?"

"Ok, fine, I was. But should it really matter how they're appearing? We've fought monsters, this isn't that much different," Amethyst asked.

"Have you forgotten that Grootslang snatched Blue Diamond, Amethyst? Or what about those Tindalos that just attacked about a week ago? If we can find a source to how this is going on, then maybe we can at the very least slow it down."

"So, what if there isn't an answer? Seriously, take it from me, magic's not the most textbook thing," Amethyst said, as she reached for her sandwich again, just for Flint to block her reaching hand.

"Which is why we should work this out before the next "appearance" decides to have us for it's side dish," Flint put in, "Like I said, everything has to come from somewhere."

"Hmm … Ah, the Stars! Those came out of nowhere."

"A star is made when atoms of light elements are squeezed under enough pressure for their nuclei to undergo fusion," Flint said matter-of-factly. Amethyst paused for a minute.

"Dang, since when did you get a nerd brain?"

"Peridot went on about that for a good hour before while she had her limb enhancers," Flint replied, not stopping Amethyst from snatching her sandwich back. "But the point still stands: something is bringing them around, and I'm gonna find out what it is. It can give us some advantage over these things, at least."
As Amethyst chewed another large bite of her everything meal, she then began to recall something she had heard earlier.

"If you're so down for this, why don't you start with Rouge? That Jaguar's sure got something going on with it that's not-medical and non-normal."

"That's not our problem, Amethyst. We came here to investigate, not medicate - that's the vet's job. Besides, the human race hadn't figured out every single disease known in existence yet."
Amethyst shrugged, and swallowed up the remains of the sandwich in one big gulp. The gesture did make Flint feel a little uncomfortable.

"Don't do that."

So after their break, they continued to go off and have a good look around, trying to figure out what kind of answers the zoo would have to offer for them. However, they really didn't come up with much of anything by the end of the day. Regardless on which curator they talked to in whichever field of animal study, it wasn't amounting to much. If anything, this only proved Flint's point that these animals were being conjured, or at least being brought here by something, he just wasn't sure what.

"Okay, we should have one more to talk to, and then we're good. This better be worth something," Flint groaned. So much work and little to show for it frustrated him more than anything else.

"Sometimes you just have to believe in things, even when you can't figure 'em out," Amethyst said.

"I'm not denying they don't exist, but I am denying that they just "popped out of nowhere". How does a giant bird of a thunderstorm, a feathered serpent, and some giant "insect", just appear like that?"

"Magic," Amethyst simply said. Flint slapped his forehead.

"Any actual answers?" Flint groaned.

"Hey, at least I'm coming up with something, you've just been going around asking every person you see."

"I don't draw conclusions on nothing, Amethyst! Now come on, there's gotta be someone we haven't talked to yet," Flint said. Eventually though, Amethyst stopped moving altogether, looking off away from him and over to another enclosure, this time being the elephants. Flint didn't seem to notice this, and kept going along, too caught up in thinking to even realize Amethyst wandered off.
The enclosure for the elephants was empty outside since winter arrived, but Amethyst found an interior enclosure for them to stay in, which for this Zoo was able to enter for the public to see. For Amethyst, it was a break from the seriousness, but that didn't mean it made her feel much better. She had tried all day, but it seemed that it wasn't even worth it. She sat down over by the enclosure, one of the elephants taking notice of her.

"What's with everyone?" Amethyst sighed, "I mean. Yeah, Rose Quartz wasn't Rose Quartz, but ... you didn't all have to just run off like that. It's like they just forgot everyone else. Seriously, did they forget everything we did already? Heck, Rose wasn't even around and look: we saved Homeworld! We've gone through so much in the first place, you know? ... And now here I am, stuck with some strung-up cop, bent on cracking down some-" and she said this with her jazz hands, "- "magical animal" case."
Amethyst just looked down to her feet by this point, when one of the elephants reached down gently, her trunk gently pressing against her head. It was kinda hard to get passed an animal with ears like that, and this one heard every word. Amethyst felt goosebumps as she felt a low rumble from said animal as it gently rubbed her head.

"Hey, get off me," Amethyst said, though she wasn't too harsh about it, gently moving the trunk off of her. The old elephant didn't become too rough, but she did however get Amethyst's attention.

"... Wait. didn't one of those curators mention something about this?" Amethyst wondered. The long day did give Amethyst some time to learn a thing or two about animals, and one of these did involve a peculiar "myth" about elephants (and no, it's not their memory - that was obvious). The old matriarch gave another low rumble and then took a look over through one of the windows over by her enclosure. The window was small and placed up high, and the elephant lifted her trunk and was seemingly pointing to outside. What was it she was trying to show?
Amethyst's curiosity got to her, and with a easy jump got herself up to said window to see what it was she was looking at. Turned out, the elephant's window had a perfect view of one particular enclosure, one that Amethyst had seen pretty early that day. With one difference.

.......

"What do you mean Rouge's gone?!" Flint demanded.

The main question spun around the place the moment Amethyst got the first members of Zoo staff to check in on things. Several of the curators were going about the area, checking for any signs of Rouge, but didn't find very much. No one was really up for talking to Flint because of this.

"I told you, Rouge just left!"

"But didn't they keep saying she didn't move for days on end, why would she just start off now?" Flint questioned, arms crossed.

"I don't know, I just found out," Amethyst insisted, "Maybe she finally got out of that funk of hers."

"Nah, man nah. ... Well, I'll check it," Flint retorted. Any animal, especially one that had basically gone lame for days wouldn't just spring up and leave like this. As Amethyst watched, Flint didn't hesitate in jumping right into the enclosure to figure this little problem out.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be in here!" one of them shouted.

"Oh, hush, I'm just studying," Flint simply remarked, before he began to check said enclosure. Much of the enclosure remained pretty much untouched for the most part. No signs of struggling, no pawprints, no claw marks on anything. It was as if no Jaguar was there to even begin with. He began to walk around for a bit to make sure, but could find nothing of the sort anywhere. Flint even hopped up onto the same spot where Rouge was laying, and looked around a bit for a better perspective on it, but it still didn't seem to work too well. ...

Then he got an idea.

"... Hey, everyone out of the enclosure and circle the viewing area!" Flint instructed.

"What? Why?"

"If the cat got out, what's the point on looking in here?" Flint inquired. A good point. Though a little bit hesitant, those working for the Zoo decided to go out of the enclosure anyway moving out from a door in the gate. It was soon only Flint standing in there. ... And he drew his weapon.

"You got nowhere to go now. Come out," Flint instructed.

... And the cat actually responded.

But this was no ordinary cat. Flint began to hear some growling and, seemingly from a failed plan, she started to come out of hiding from. At first the big cat didn't look too bad, but clearly something had changed: the body was far larger, yet thinner than normal. Her chest was far larger especially, and her face looked flatter than normal. The cat now was almost as large as him, even if she was crouched down in attack mode. They've seen her earlier that day, and she did NOT look like this. It actually looked less like a Jaguar and more like a giant Serval. Not even the fur looked correct, a redder color over the typical yellow complexation.
There was some silence for a moment, the large cat and Gem in a stand off with eachother. If this was indeed her plan, it apparently backfired, and Rouge was not happy clearly. The curators were scared, some going off to get some animal control on the scene.

"Whoa. Flint, watch it!" Amethyst yelled. Flint didn't need to be told twice, and soon, both of them started to make a slow, antagonizing circle. One step at a time. Each fighter sizing eachother up. They all waited for one of them to jump at eachother for some sort of fight to break out, as Rouge looked more than willing to do just that. Rouge got out her claws, her teeth barred in primal warning, as if taunting the Gem into shooting her. The stand off eventually got them in a full 180 to how it started: Flint within, and Rouge not.

A critical error.

In a sudden bolt, the creature made its own 180, and bolted straight for the boundary! Any normal jaguar wouldn't even dare attempt this, but this messed-up feline was a lot more bold than any normal cat, and with one roar and leap, got herself just outside the enclosure walls! Rouge was in no mood to go in and get any Human or Gem, more focused on trying to get herself out of this wretched zoo, immediately making a mad dash for whatever exit she could find.

"Rouge is loose!" gasped one of the curators.

"Well don't just stand there, come on!" another said. Amethyst and Flint regrouped, and began to tail them.

Further ahead, Rouge had gotten a pretty good lead when compared to the curators, but that didn't mean human beings weren't a problem: a number of other visitors to the Dakota zoo were other obstacles in the way of this speedy cat. She also had to watch out for the tranquilizer darts that were being shot her way. Bolting one way, and jumping to another, the darts weren't able to make any connection, narrowly missing her as she tried to find a way out. The other enclosures she raced by went up in alarm, especially the parts with herbivores in them, making the animals panic inside.
In her mad dash all around the Zoo, she got herself running right into a corner of the Dakota State Zoo fence borders, leaving the animal trapped, leaving so many of the others off in the dust.

"Where'd that kitty cat go?" Amethyst asked.

"What were you thinking?! Challenging her to a fight?" one of the curators snapped to Flint.

"OK, not one of my better ideas, she couldn't have gone off too far," Flint said. This was kinda his fault, jumping in thinking this was a fight to begin with.

*GGRRROWL!*

"Get ready," warned Flint, but it was the curators who went in before he could. The cat, despite the situation, was still their responsibility and they didn't want to kill Rouge no matter what the case may be. The jaguar was growling, and roaring … and sounding in sudden pain.
And then she came out. But now this was no longer a Jaguar, not at all. The reddish jaguar now was completely red in the fur, the tail had brutally split up in several places to appear more like it had five to seven tails behind her. The forehead now had a horn jutting out of it, curved like a rhino's horn and reddish in color.

"I'm going to assume transformation isn't a Jaguar thing to do," Amethyst said. Could they even call her a Jaguar anymore? The only thing that showed Rouge's true identity now was the spots along her body, but that was about it now. Rouge looked around, her vision a bit hazy, but she looked as freaked out over what happened to her as everyone else was to seeing her.

"Take aim," one of the curators instructed.

"No, wait don't!" Flint yelled, but it was too late. The animal control officer aimed a tranquilizer dart at the confused creature, hitting her directly. The dart got her upper leg, but the sting, accompanied by all the confusion, tipped her over the edge. If she can't run, then there was only one other option. Fight.
The huge feline gave a warning roar, not even close to a Jaguar roar, or any cat for that matter, and her tails suddenly started to flick and whip around Rouge spurred into action, and charged forward as the man was getting a second shot loaded, her enlarged paw slamming the gun out of his hands. Amethyst got to action now, and got her whip wrapped around the cat's back leg.

"Gotcha," Amethyst said smugly. But this cat was not sticking around for any of this, and immediately started to run, Amethyst suddenly being dragged around the zoo by the other end of the whip. She only let go when she ended up slamming into a garbage bin, leaving her covered in the stuff as the big cat raced away. Flint skidded to a halt in a slide next to Amethyst.

"You good?"

"Yeah," Amethyst said, eating a thrown away water bottle from her hair before continuing the chase. Or at least, they would've if the cat was still around to catch. However, Rouge had already reached the wall, and with her newfound size and strength, made a huge leap over the boundary fence and disappeared. Many of those witnessing the event tried to find her, but Rouge was far gone by the time anyone got to the fence.

Rouge the new monster.

~~~~~~

Well, the results were not so good for Flint and Amethyst, as the two strolled off away from the Dakota zoo. The true shot to finding this little extra mystery out, and she ran away far beyond them both. Flint was surely frustrated, but Amethyst didn't find it too bothersome. After all, it could've been a whole lot worse.

"Well that could've gone better," Flint sighed.

"Don't sweat it, least no one got pummeled," Amethyst said, playfully punching him. Flint wasn't too thrilled about it however.

"I can see that, but now I'm stuck tracking that creature all over again. This is a big deal - the first actual creature we found in action transforming, and now she's flown off on us to who-knows-where! I got to find where Rouge went," Flint explained. Amethyst though started to think a little bit.

"Wait. You said that wasn't our problem earlier."

"I did, but that was before she turned monstrous. Now it is my issue, and now it's the closest thing I got."

After a short bit though, amethyst actually started to chuckle.

"You softie."

"Excuse me?"

"Let's review: we've gone up and down the zoo all day asking around, I went on about Rouge and you said "it's not our problem". BUT you went into the cage and confronted Rouge. You didn't have a thing to get from it - you just wanted to help."

"What? Amethyst, don't be silly," Flint said, turning his gaze away. Amethyst laughed.

"HA, caught! I figured you out!"

"Oh … Ok, fine, so I'm not made of stone," Flint grumbled. But he then turned back to Amethyst. "But don't think I haven't figured you out either."

"Huh?"

"You've been messing around all day long, just to try and cheer me up. That's it, isn't it?" Flint concluded. Now it was Amethyst's turn to act flustered, but more because Flint said it in a older, and more blunt way. Amethyst stopped as Flint kept moving.

"Amethyst. I don't hate any of you at all … but if you're all going to act so ridiculous like this, I'm not going to stick around to see what that'll lead to. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to live."
Flint turned and went away after that, his cloak making him invisible after a few steps. Amethyst, despite all her attempts, was no longer feeling thrilled to the dark Gem. However, she didn't come up with anything besides a glare on her face, before she too started to go.

She knew better than to try and force someone like him into anything.

Open your Eyes

View Online

"Come on, work with me. How do you work? …"

Two days passed since that involvement with Steven's room, and with time more for herself now, Twilight sparkle went off to some of her own study. It was difficult to say on where the others were, and as she was trying to check the worlds on the specialized map in Everfree forest, she didn't feel like she was getting much of anywhere. It had activated time and time again, but it had been hit with a bit of a snag lately, and had been dormant for quite some time. She placed her hoof onto the map itself, as if hoping it would explain itself, but no luck. She kept trying to ponder, holding up her Portal Key as if it could tell her, but nothing much happened. Her eyes moved back to the map.

"If there's a time for you to help, it's now. You came from the Tree of Harmony, I know you did, you had to of appeared for a reason," Twilight said, looking up and down both maps, but not able to find much of anything. The map was still dormant, and had remained that way for a while. She began to pace back and forth.

"Come on, Twilight, think. If I can get this map to show us where the others are, we can bring the Crystal Gems back together. Just got to figure out how this works," Twilight reminded herself. She had looked up and down the map for who knows how long, and nothing really gave her much of a clue. Twilight tried to think, and then one idea came to mind.

"What if I …" Twilight started to focus the magic in her horn, and with a magic beam, took one shot at the map. The map shimmered a little, but that was about it. No other reaction really came up from the map at all. Twilight groaned, and sat down.
At least, not what was expected: the map did do something, but all it did was re-preset that same flower over in Mistmane's village. Twilight felt this wasn't getting much of anywhere, as they already got the flower as it was. … but then, something else started to flash on the map. Flashing red. If anypony knows any color, Twilight knew that could mean bad, and looking over too she saw that there was something else being pointed out on the map.

A shovel over Klugetown. And another light moving.

"Wait a second … I swore I saw that somewhere before, but where?" Twilight pondered, hoof to chin as she tried to think, as the icon moved off on its way. However, Twilight shook it off.

"Oh, what am I saying?! The Crystal Gems are gone, they have to come first. Now, how do I -" before Twilight could finish, the light ended up going by her field of vision again, and shifting from the Equestrian map, to the Earth map. Twilight trotted over to another part of the map, eyes locking onto the shovel in question until it stopped over another area of the world, this time looking like some sort of city.

"Empire City? Steven did mention -" Twilight had to slap her own face that time. "Stop it! The others are devastated right now, and without the Crystal Gems, there would be no one to protect Earth! Think, think, think!" Twilight was starting to worry herself silly, pacing a bit faster as she tried to think on where they would end up. But as she tried to wrap her head around this problem, she began to hear someone rushing down from the stairs leading to the cave … or more, tumbling down the stairs.
There, sitting dazed and a bit bruised up was Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie. It was a bit of a tumble, but Starlight looked completely freaked out, jumping to her hooves faster than Trixie did.

"TWILIGHT, thank Celestia! I-Is she here?! Please tell me she's here!" Starlight pleaded, trying to find out where this "she" even was.

"Wait, she who?" Twilight asked.

"Pink Diamond!" Starlight replied, troubled as ever. Twilight was only reminded of the predicament off back on Earth, as technically she had been with Pink Diamond for years now.

"Pink? Uh, no, not really."

"Oh no. SHE'S DISAPPEARED!" Starlight gasped.

"WHAT?!" Twilight shrieked. As if all this confusion wasn't bad enough, now Pink Diamond had gone missing too?! What a time for that to even happen. Twilight began to feel her panic, and quickly tried to calm down.

"Told you so," Trixie said, before Twilight used her breathing technique to fully calm down (which took a few tries).

"Ok, ok, Starlight, where's the last place you've seen her?" Twilight then asked.

"Back on Earth, on Mask Island. I thought she came back already. Oh, I looked everywhere, she's nowhere here!" Starlight Glimmer said, biting her hoof nail a bit. A bit soon, but they were responsible for Pink Diamond's care, and if the other Diamonds would find out she was gone, who knew what could happen?! Twilight didn't want to even consider what they would do, giving a nervous gulp. She had to relax her a bit though, first.

"Okay, Starlight, breathe. Just relax," Twilight said, starting to show the breathing technique of hers. Starlight began to do the same, and after a little bit calmed down. Trixie sighed in relief.

"Finally," said Trixie, "Any more of that panic, and I'd have to drag you back to Canterlot."
Twilight looked over towards Trixie with some disapproval, which made Trixie hold back on her comments for a bit as Starlight got back around.

"Ok, now where's the last place you've seen her?"

"It was during Sunburst's visit, we went to Mask island. I thought she came back because the key portal was still open," Starlight explained. Twilight knew this was just another thing to try and handle, and while the Crystal Gems were important, with nothing to go on she had to get to Pink Diamond first. But the answer to finding her shouldn't be too hard, when she saw the key left on the map.

"Okay then, we'll just go back there and see if we can find her," Twilight decided, flying over them and over to the stairs. That was good enough for them. It seemed pretty straightforward enough, and Twilight Sparkle got the portal key to get the door open. Starlight didn't hesitate and rushed on in, Trixie following behind. They both had a good friend in Pink Diamond, and they wanted to at least figure out if she was alright. Or very least not get in trouble with the other Diamonds. Twilight kept it open for them, but took one more look over to the map before she went through herself.

Just as she left, two more came down.

"You sure this is what the map's doin?" Applejack asked.

"It's what happened to me, darling, so I'm pretty sure it's got to do with the map," Rarity replied. All of a sudden, Starlight was off in front of them. Guess the map was giving a call to the farmer pony again. Both she and Rarity trotted over towards the map, and sure enough, there was the marks showing the locations, with the Shovel being a more prominent light amongst the number of others, flashing in tune with her Cutie Mark.

"Wait … OH, NOT AGAIN," AJ groaned, seeing where this was hovering over.

"What?"

"Rarity, I've been in Klugetown already. Nothin but a town full of pick-pockets, swindlers, and smart-allices," Applejack explained, remembering her own experience inside that place. Thinking about it though, AJ did have her Cutie Mark do this before, but she didn't even consider that the map had anything to do with this. Bow now seeing this, seemed that she had a bit more to do than she thought. Rarity looked over to the red symbol on the map.

"Uh, Applejack. Remember when you talked about Rockhoof?"

"Yeah, what of -" AJ stopped herself, the idea almost immediately clicking in her head. If the map had Rarity go to get Mistmane's flower, then …

"Oh, ponyfeathers."

Two teams, two locations, looks like they know what they're doing today.

~~~~~~

"Okay, she should be somewhere around here," Twilight figured.

After the portal jump from Equestria to Earth, Twilight, Trixie, and Starlight were off back on Mask Island again, the last place they saw Pink Diamond at. It hadn't been more than a few days since this news came about, so she couldn't have gone off too far.

And no sooner after they got to the beach, they soon found her alright. With the days going by, it was a question of how, not if, Pink Diamond heard of the news by now. The trio of ponies got themselves out towards the beach, and soon they took sight of Pink Diamond still checking out the island in her own way, alongside some of the zooman. The zooman may be newer to some of the concepts too, but Pink Diamond still had some things to learn from them, which in this case looked like some fun in the surf they remember from Pinkie Pie. Good time to show up, as Pink Diamond just ended up crashing in the surf, sliding back on shore, but with a smile on her face.

"Cannonball!" she shouted while laughing alongside the zoomans.

"Guess she hasn't heard the news yet," Twilight thought. But then again, someone would have to do it soon, and if there was someone to do so, it would have to be her friends before someone else does.

"Pink, there you are! Boy, we got so worried," Starlight said.

"Well, she did, I knew you'd be fine," Trixie said. Pink Diamond looked up to her friends, sitting up and turning around. Seeing them though did remove the smile on her face.

"Hey, I'm fine, look at me, fine. Can't I explore around Earth without somepony over my shoulder?" Pink griped, before standing up.

"You're welcome," Trixie said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, what did you think was going to happen, you've been gone for days! I've looked all over Canterlot and Ponyville for you."

"I'm a Diamond, remember? It's gonna take WAY more than a few days to shatter this rock, and you know it," retorted Pink Diamond. That seemed to be her main excuse for everything, but when Twilight heard this off not too far away, she couldn't help but feel the revelation Steven told nag at the back of her mind. Should she say something, or -

You all had good intentions. But you know that the truth is always better than a well-meant lie.

"No. no, It has to be done," Twilight realized. It was never good for history to make a repeat. She needed a minute to calm down, calm breathing exercise used, before she moved over to Pink, as the "Diamond" dried off her hair a little bit. One issue though: how to go into it?

"HEY, Pink. So, you're having fun here, I see."

"Heck yeah," Pink Diamond said, changing the subject quick, "You wanna join? I'm trying to figure out how to work these things." Pink then showed them a wooden surfboard, or once was as it looked broken in two.

"Eh, no thanks. Look, Pink I-"

"Well, fine, you hang out on the sand then. Maybe Jasper could join me. Hey, any of you know where she is?"

Well, now or never.

"Yeah, about that, uh … I kinda have something important to tell you," Twilight said, rubbing her front hoof much like Fluttershy would normally do. Pink Diamond found this a bit curious, and she gave Twilight her attention. Twilight was walking on egg shells at this point, trying to figure out how to word it correctly so she would believe her, but not get torn up on the news.

"Ok, how do I put this? … My friends and I figured out something. Involving you. And … not you? Maybe? It might be a bit to take in but … um …"

"UGH, say it already!" Pink demanded, "I got waves to catch!"

"Ok, ok! … Pink, you're … not. Pink Diamond. Not really."

Twilight couldn't of said it more awkwardly if she tried.

"... Huh?"

"It's like this. You see … you said you remember yourself in the palanquin on Earth, and then you just "woke up" here. Well there's … more to it: White Diamond was on her way to, well, shatter Pink Diamond. She kinda … maybe created some fake shards. To kinda fake her own death, and White took those shards back with her, and they turned into … you."

The silence was a killer. Twilight was so troubled on explaining this to Pink Diamond properly, especially since she had no memory of White's involvement but had apparently, everything else (possibly). The truth was always better, but sweet Luna, it was hard. All Twilight could do was sit there, waiting for what Pink, any by extension Starlight and Trixie, had to say about it.

"... You do know I'm right here. Right?" Pink asked, presenting the gemstone she had that, by all rights, should be the exact one in question.

"Yeah, you're there, but … you were kind of a copy," Twilight said again, ears folded back, and Twilight recoiling a little bit. Pink Diamond didn't look too convinced unfortunately.

"Who told you?" Pink questioned.

"I heard it from Steven, who heard it from Pearl, who was there to see it herself," Twilight explained, but this just got Pink Diamond laughing.

"HA, like I'm gonna go along with some half-baked story by a Pearl. I was just poofed, that's all, and I am back! Come on, let's catch those waves before the tide goes down!" And Pink Diamond went right off back into the water before Twilight could better explain. This was … unsettling. Twilight, troubled and worried, was turned of her attention when Trixie tapped her in the shoulder.

"The heck are you doing? I don't wanna run around looking for her again," Trixie quietly questioned.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. And the truth's always better than -"

"Uh, no offense Twilight," Starlight cut in, "But are you sure that's the true story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Twilight, this "Pink Diamond's just some copy" thing kinda came out of nowhere. You sure whatever Steven told you is what really happened? Besides, Pearl was under some of White Diamond's influence last we saw her … right?" Starlight explained, as Pink Diamond swam out to find a good wave with some of the zooman. Twilight honestly didn't consider that, but even if so, it didn't change the fact so much of the group high-tailed it because of it.

"Yeah, I don't know what you two are talking about, so I'm just gonna go over here," Trixie said, moving away from the situation, moving at least twenty feet away to do … something else.

"Well, maybe, maybe not, but this made the Crystal Gems separate. I know Pink Diamond was alive well after the Gem War."

"Then, where is she?"

"Uh … Steven's mom. Rose and Pink were kinda the same person."

"Hmm … ooooohhhh. Ok, I get it. Do they know about this?"

"The remaining Gems are trying to find the others, my friends too, and I was trying to see if the Cutie Map would do anything before you and Trixie showed up."

"NO, the other Diamonds! Blue, Yellow, they would've known this right?"

"I'm honestly not sure. Steven mentioned something about Blue Diamond arriving, so, we'll meet with her and explain when she gets here," Twilight explained. Pink suddenly popped up behind her.

"There's nothing to explain!" Pink Diamond insisted. "What do you know anyway, you're just a pony."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"YOU know how Gems are created?" Pink asked. Twilight was about to say, but Pink covered her mouth and added "Don't answer that." before walking off.

"Where're you going?" Starlight asked.

"To get a second opinion from somepony who still has their pebbles in a row," Pink Diamond replied, before marching off to the nearest Warp Pad to do just that. Needless to say, this was going to be a little bit troubling to work with.

~~~~~~

After the Warp Pad, Pink Diamond went on from Mask Island after too long, and off over to the Barn House. With the Crystal Temple no longer in commission, the barn house had become a more commonplace for the Gems to at least hang out, so Pink Diamond got there first. Though, she would've gone their regardless. Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie followed her along over through the Portal Keys, though they were slightly behind, and just find her right at the barn door.
In particular, right by Peridot's little box. The others still hadn't come back yet (the majority anyway), so she was still moping, not reacting all that much to Pink Diamond standing right above her. … or the blanket of snow that now covered most of her with the exception of her face.

"Peridot? Wake up!" Pink Diamond demanded.

"... I'm not sleeping, Pink," Peridot groaned, again too miserable to care … for the first few seconds.

"GAH! PINK!" and just like that, Peridot was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, stumbling out of her box for the first time in days, jumping to her feet moments later. Pink Diamond picked up Peridot as if the girl was a kitty cat, bringing her up to her feet.

"Twilight said you've worked on the kindergartens, right?" Pink asked, before dropping her.

"Uh … Yes? I am a certified Prime Kindergartener to -"

"Yeah, yeah, look do me a favor and tell these three clutterheads that I'm a Diamond, and not just some fool's gold look-alike," Pink Diamond instructed, knowing the three did indeed follow her on back to the barn. Unfortunately, Peridot started to hesitate, knowing well about what she was talking about and on that note, how she heard of it.

"Um … You're a diamond, and not just some fool's gold look-alike."

"HA! There, see?!" Pink said, now having a reliable source, as Peridot was still trying to get herself together.

"She literally just said what you wanted her to say," Trixie pointed out, not very impressed.

"EXACTLY!" … And then Pink realized what she meant, as Peridot was suddenly hiding off behind the barn doors. She didn't want any more diamonds upset with her, real or fake.

"You do mean that, right? You're not just saying that?" Pink Diamond asked, leaning down to the now freaked out Peridot.

"Uh … noooooo?"

"No to what?"

"Stars, give me strength," Peridot thought, tugging on her collar.

"Pink, stop it. Can't you see she's freaking out already?" Twilight remarked.

"Yeah, so what? Come on, Peridot, out with it: am I a real Diamond, or not?!" Peridot couldn't take it, and she quickly hid underneath another box. The green Gem couldn't get her mind together, being distraught with everyone else gone AND dealing with someone that could shatter her at any moment. At least before she had her group on her side, but not the case here.

"NO!" she shouted from under the box. Pink pulled off the box, finding Peridot huddled up.

"No?"

"Yes. … No. You're not a Diamond. A-At least far as I know, I-I just heard about it a few days ago, hehehe … don't hurt me," Peridot meekly explained, ending in a bit of an awkward smile cross her face. Pink Diamond was perplexed at first: Peridot thought this was it too? …

"... AH, what do you know anyway?" Pink spat, "You're a Peridot, you go all over the place, clearly you don't have time to know for sure!"

And feeling frustrated again, Pink Diamond just left them there at the barn. Peridot wasn't sure if she could feel relieved or worried, but no matter the case, they need to keep a good eye on the Pink Gem for a while longer, at least until she could calm down. Hopefully.

"What's with everyone?" Pink asked herself as she went, "I know who I am, don't I? I mean, I have all the proof I need right here!" She looked down to her gemstone, which shined in the light. That bit of self-reassurance did bring a smile to Pink Diamond's face, though the others following her didn't feel like this was such a good idea. And things were just about to get worse as the group of Off-Colors were coming along back (Fluorite being the exception).

"I predict Pink Diamond will be in a rough mood," said Padparadscha. That statement made Pink Diamond stop altogether.

"Excuse me?" Pink questioned. Rhodonite didn't want to get her upset, and cowered behind the Rutile Twins, as Pink Diamond went over to investigate.

"Hi, Pink, haven't seen you in a while," left Rutile said.

"How're things back in Equestria?" added right Rutile. Pink Diamond though didn't look in that good of a mood hearing this herself.

"Peachy. You?" Pink simply said. Well, this could get her mind on something else for -

"You don't sound too peachy," Tiger's Eye said, "I mean, guess who wouldn't be after finding out they're a -"

"DON'T SAY THAT WORD!" Pink suddenly snapped, going right up to Tiger's Eye.

"What word, I didn't even finish yet. I'm just saying it might be hard to find out someone's a fa -"

"THAT ONE!" Pink cut in again, hand over the Gem's mouth.

"O-Ok, ok, we won't say fake anymore!" Rhodonite pleaded, just to find that she said the word again. Pink Diamond stared daggers at Rhodonite, terrifying her.

"Well if you all think that word's so fun to use, then why don't you all use it FAR AWAY FROM HERE?! LIKE ACROSS THE SEA!" Pink bellowed, making them all freak out a little bit. Some of them did go off a good distance while others were left startled and wide-eyed. … and this extended to the ponies off nearby, along with Peridot.

"What're you looking at?! The Off-colors and I are just HAVING A CONVERSATION!" Pink snapped.

"Oh Celestia, not again," Twilight thought, getting some bit of memory from one other event. In fact, it all felt Deja Vu to her because of said event.

"Easy, Pink, easy! We know you're a bit taken aback by this, but that's not a reason to throw your anger at -"

"What anger?!" Pink snapped, silencing Starlight Glimmer.

"Uh … that. Right there."

"WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT ANGER?! I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT! I'M NOT UPSET, AND I'M NOT ANGRY! DO I LOOK ANGRY?!" She says as she looked ready to kill somebody, or somepony.

"... Is that a trick question, or a rhetorical one?" Tiger's Eye quietly asked.

"GAAAHH! GET AWAY FROM ME!" And now her anger boiling over, Pink Diamond took off on her way, ground shaking slightly as she stomped off, grumbling to herself the whole way. Not exactly the best choice of words to say on Tiger's part.

"Oh Celestia," sighed Twilight.

…….

Left off alone again, Pink Diamond had stormed well off away from the barn, off to who knows where. Sounded like everyone had this strange lie in their heads, one way or another, and at this point she was just looking for some straight response to this amount of confusion. This was just ONE STORY, and for some reason not only did everyone buy it, but much of the group split because of it. It made no sense, especially to her.

"For stars sake, what's with everypony? "HEY, Pink, guess what? You're a fake this whole time!" What a load of rubble!" she ended her statement with a strong kick on a stone, sending it off miles away. It's a wonder how it didn't shatter on the spot.

"What changed? Blue said I'm Pink Diamond, Yellow said I'm Pink Diamond, Homeworld said I'm Pink Diamond, so what's this joke about? … Is this a joke?"

Pink actually slapped herself back to her senses.

"Pink, quit it. This is nothing more than just some half-bit story by some Pearl. Where is that Pearl, anyway? … Wait, no, where're the rest of them? Didn't see them at the barn, none of them went by Mask Island. … Oh clod, they all didn't believe it, did they?" Pink Diamond felt a bit disappointed with the Crystal Gems about this realization. They had been a bit quiet lately, but if this was the reason why, then this "lie" was just too much. There's got to be someone, somewhere, who didn't have this lie hammered in their head. She took a deep breath before rethinking her strategy.

"Ok. Ok. Look, there's got to be someone here that can give it to me straight that isn't influenced by -"

"Topaz! TOPAZ!! Where're you, you big boulder?"

Convenience can be quite a random occurrence, can it?

It was a bit of a walk off the beaten path, but after about a minute or two of following the sound, Pink diamond then noticed one other Gem she, admittedly, hadn't seen yet personally.
Aquamarine. One would wonder why she hadn't been seeing the others over the last weeks. Then again, one had to wonder why she was even staying around on the planet at all. Well, both of those questions did have a simple answer to it, as Pink Diamond looked around the area, seeing a bit of local metals, engines, and other things. Aquamarine wanted back home, and she and Topaz had been busy working a machine to get there. … with mixed results.

"That lazy boulder, what does it take to get proper metals for a ship to get home?" Aquamarine griped, flying back and forth around what one would call a basic ship (maybe). It wasn't easy for two Gems who were never made for building. Still, the exposition did bring Pink Diamond up to speed on what they've been up to since they got back. Like Pink could really care about that.

"An Aquamarine? Heck, let's try it," Pink Diamond thought, before starting to go over to her. Aquamarine was busy working with what they had left, using her wand to move the items into place. Pink Diamond wasn't noticed just yet, and she glanced off aside to see there was … well … a picture of a rocket they were working with. No diorama or blueprint, just a picture of one. She may not be familiar too much with this stuff, but she had enough common sense to not base something off just a picture - Trixie told her that a dozen times with a few bad drawings from some school fillies and colts she found before.
All Pink Diamond needed to do was give this Gem a good whistle to make herself known. Aquamarine instinctively went into a "diamond insignia" motion with her hands. The metal she was working with dropped too. Seeing the diamond present was both a surprise and a joy.

"Oh, it's about time someone would find me. It's a pleasure to see you, my diamond, I do want to apologize for some of the incompetence, but I can assure you -"

"Yeah, yeah, I don't care."

Well, that was blunt of her.

"Oh … well … neither did I," Aquamarine said, tugging on her collar. Pink Diamond went on over to her, Aquamarine landing over by Pink's feet.

"Yeah, okay, look can you clear something up for me? What is this?" Pink Diamond asked, getting to the point, and presenting the gemstone on her stomach to Aquamarine. the pixie Gem was a little confused by the question.

"That's a Diamond … you know that," Aquamarine said dryly.

"And you can confirm that, right?"

"The proof is right there. Didn't they tell you?" Aquamarine asked, admittedly a little quizzical of this question. Not a typical move for a standard Homeworld Gem to question any Diamond but 1.) this was a rather silly question for a Gem to ask, as all Gems were usually told up front or knew instinctively, and 2.) Pink Diamond never truly was an "honorary" like the others, so Gems did talk more casually to her over the others. Pink Diamond glanced down to the gemstone again.

"That Crystal Gems' Pearl said some story about what happened to the real Pink diamond, and that I'm just some byproduct, or a f-" Pink diamond didn't even want to say the word. "Uh … copy, I guess."

Aquamarine took a minute, but ended up laughing at the idea.

"What a ridiculous suggestion! You not being Pink Diamond when you're just standing right there, gemstone and all!"

"That's what I said! FINALLY, I find someone with some sense," agreed Pink Diamond. Aquamarine felt her ego being stroked by this comment.

"Well, there was hardly any doubt. Your fellow Diamond's lucky to have me," Aquamarine boasted, with a proud smile as she was flying again. Pink Diamond could see that in some way - Aquamarines are high in the hierarchy after all, but there was one question though.

"Really? Then what're you doing here?"

Pride shot down in one question.

"I'd … rather not talk about it," Aquamarine said, a slight blush on her face, and not looking to Pink Diamond.

"Did she dump you?"

"W-What? Of course not, why in the stars would she?!" Aquamarine snapped. A reaction more on impulse and not on thinking, as Aquamarine couldn't even imagine why Blue Diamond would remove her.

"O … K. So why are you here?" Pink asked again. Aquamarine checked around first before telling her, as if seeing if there was a crowd around.

"I was stuck, ok?" Aquamarine admitted. "The Crystal Gems got me, but they thought it was such a swell idea to come here first before going to Homeworld. I ended up dropped off here."

"And you're making a carrot to go home in?"

"That is a ship … as embarrassing as the Earth's architecture is." Aquamarine then pointed over to the picture off nearby again, further seeing the inspiration Aquamarine was trying to do. Pink Diamond though didn't care much for that, but still had some smile on her face that SOMEONE finally had some common sense, even if they weren't aware of the full story.

"Pink! where're you?!" a voice called.

"Well good luck with that," Pink Diamond said, before turning and walking away.

~~~~~~

"So, she still doesn't believe you?" Connie asked.

After getting Pink Diamond back with them, they got themselves from Earth back to Equestria, Pink Diamond keeping by the library in Twilight's tower for a bit, as the others ended up coming together. It really was a bit of mixed emotions: on one hand, yeah she had to be told this eventually, but then again the idea that this could either be some trick by White Diamond to throw them for a loop, or for that matter just some lie at all did make some bit of confusion rise up. Was Pearl telling the truth about Pink Diamond, or not?

"She's kinda stuck in denial," Twilight sighed, "She spoke to Peridot and the Off-Colors already, but she's still convinced she's the real thing."

"So what's wrong with that?" Trixie questioned, finding the whole situation a drag personally.

"Well, nothing I guess. If she thinks she's Pink Diamond, why not let her?" Starlight admitted, shrugging. Out of everyone present, Starlight and Trixie had the most doubt on the situation.

"Because she'll run away if we don't tell her first. Again," Sapphire replied, including Pink's little run-away to check out Earth (if that really counted), but it only made sense in it's own way.

"And how do you know that?" Trixie asked.

"We've … had some experience on that," Steven replied, rubbing the back of his head. Such important information like this shouldn't be told through the wrong sources, and they had a bit of run of luck on that as it is: especially with the first "Rose Quartz killing Pink Diamond" revelation from White Diamond. Steven felt devastated on that news first time around, and he didn't want the same feeling to befall onto this Pink Diamond if they could help it.

"But you already told her up front, and she still won't listen. You got any other ideas?" Tiger's Eye said. Options were limited, but they do have one piece of pure evidence that Steven brought with him from the Carwash. It's what showed Sapphire the truth, and no doubt it would be enough to show Pink Diamond.

"I think we got something to show to her. Just give me a second," Steven said, getting up.
With tape in hand, he and Sapphire went off towards the next main room, within the library of the tower. For the moment, as probably expected, Pink Diamond herself was going through some of the books. While normally she'd be bored out of her mind doing this, but she was actually having a smile on her face looking at one of the books concerning half-dragon breeds. This was being joined by Spike, who had nothing else to do. Pink Diamond didn't notice them coming in until after a short bit.

"How come you never knew about these things? Twilight kept telling me you're a Dragon."

"Not all Dragons know eachother," Spike replied.

"Uh. Hey, Pink," Steven said nervously, "See you're liking the book, hehe."

"Eh, I've already read through it," Pink Diamond said, showing Steven the book in particular. Steven saw a few notable names inside it, the title reading "Zhulongs, Zilants, and other Half-Dragon Creatures". But then, the quick-catching Pink Diamond noticed Steven's tape.

"What's that?"

"Eh, hey Pink Diamond. So uh we got a little something to show you," Twilight said, trying not to make off any -

"If this is another brain-washing attempt, I already got confirmation thank you very much!"

Nevermind.

"Confirmation?" Starlight asked.

"I found an Aquamarine working on a ship-looking carrot, and she said straight out that I am indeed Pink Diamond! Eat your rock out!"

… Do they really need to comment about that? Tiger's Eye nearby was keeping her mouth shut (A.K.A. Rhodonite covering her mouth). They couldn't beat around the bush, and Sapphire knew it.

"Just watch this."

…….

So, with some workings of both magic and tech, they got a TV in the tower, and got the same tape playing through for the others to watch. Sapphire could feel like she was watching herself as the tape was playing, because Pink Diamond too was little impressed with what the tape had to offer at first. So much talk about Seagulls, and this "Mr. Universe" fella didn't really do much for her, and she just flat out ignored it and focused on some of the half-dragon breeds instead. The Off-Colors took time to check this little video themselves, seeing what the full story was all about. sure, they believe it, but they never knew a video existed about the situation.
but, as before, then came the second part of the video: with including the revelation, AND the explanation the real Pink Diamond had for her friends. Pink Diamond, ever so slowly, started to pick up and take notice of what the talk was. Every word, every tone, every bit of it sounded as genuine as it can be, though Pink Diamond was looking more curious about this part than shocked or appalled. Emotional, maybe, but the proof here looked too strong to ignore. By the time the tape ended, there were some mixed baggage: Rhodonite was baling from the heart-felt words and sad goodbye, her being comforted by the Rutile Twins.

But the true wait was on Pink Diamond herself, who wasn't sure what to say about this. Did she believe this footage, or was she still in stage one/two of this concept?

"Sooo … thoughts?" Trixie asked, trying to get something out of her. They were expecting a little bit of things: yelling, some more denial, plenty of tears perhaps, but Pink Diamond began to throw them for a loop.

She began looking through the book again.

"Hmm, let's see, where is it, where is it …"

"Uh, Pink?" Steven asked, but Pink Diamond didn't listen to them, apparently busy looking through the same book until she finally found a particular creature from within said book, but the others couldn't see what it was exactly.

"She's not even listening! PINK!" Tiger's Eye yelled, frustrated a little bit. Eventually, after reading a little bit, she closed the book with a quick motion of her hand.

"Okay then, I'm gonna go walk for a bit, see you all later." And with that, Pink bolted off fast, too fast for much of them to even catch her, or stop her. One of her bag of tricks none of them could really catch on to. It took them a bit to realize she was completely gone.

"... Well, we got off easier than I expected," said Trixie.

~~~~~~

Pink Diamond did not stop her crazily-fast run from Canterlot, her speed as fast as the fastest train, and making good distance as she went. She kept the book well in hand, a firm grip as she went, for she needed the book for some referencing. She wasn't just out on a run, or "walk" as she said to the others. She ran at such a speed to almost give Fulgurite a run for her money, or Sapphire or Rainbow for that matter, and she kept this up for hours on end as she was wasting no time in getting to the next location.
Speaking of, by the time Pink Diamond finally stopped herself to get her bearings, the world around her looked less like Ponyville or Canterlot, and a bit more familiar to Neippon. One could tell that from the types of trees growing there, and once she noted this, Pink Diamond went on back to the book again, her thumb keeping on the same page she was looking to for reference. She had to lay down what animals were in Equus somehow.

And what was the creature she was looking for?

"Ok. Ok. Draconian. … Well, if anyone's going to clear up this craziness, it would be something that … *gulp* eats gemstones for breakfasts. Ok, don't freak out, you're a Diamond … I hope."
Yep, she was going there. Not a full-fledged Dragon, she had to be off her stars to try and meet one of those things, but it still was a risk to find a Draconian, especially considering it was a Draconian who nearly wiped out the entirety of the Diamond Authority in one day! And according to the information she had, and the one she saw, the one they fought was a runt! Who's to say how dangerous a fully-grown one would be. All the same, she continued on ahead, slower this time, to try and find out where a Draconian local would be.
Given how it was the very start of winter here, much of the forest had some slight frost on it, footprints being left behind Pink Diamond as she looked around the place for any signs.

"Hello?! Any Draconian in the premise?! Preferably ones that aren't hungry?!" Pink Diamond called, her volume good and loud for a royal-Canterlot vocal cord. The only main response she got from that kind of voice was that of scared animals. This was getting annoying: how was she supposed to get a firm answer if there was no one to talk to? She went and checked her book again.

"Hmm, it does say they're a older race … maybe they're extinct, or something? DANG IT, I ran out here and ditch everyone for nothing! Least give me something for my selfish behavior!" Pink groaned.

*crack*

And she got it. The voice she bellowed out was NOT ignored completely, as a figure did indeed come to her call. Some cracks from a few branches signaled Pink Diamond the oncoming force, seeing a creature taller than her, larger than her, scarier than her. Pink Diamond felt a shiver run through her, and quickly checked her book.

"YEP, you're a Draconian."

"And I'm not an idiot either. You think it's funny you just waltz in here and wake up half the country?" said PORATH. Yep, not Kyra, but the one that said Draconian forced off of his throne years ago, and STILL off on his own. And Porath's behavior hadn't improved in the slightest. More bitterness was probably the best out of it.

"... Yes. But can I ask you something?" Pink asked. She couldn't help but back up though as Porath moved in on her, growling and showing his bared teeth. True memory or fake, she didn't remember Kyra looking so big and intimidating already.

"Make it quick. Winter's coming, and I'm in no mood to mess with some runt of a -" then Porath stopped himself when he actually noticed the Gemstone on her navel. He remembered gems like this - they were the ones that messed with him to begin with. And ultimately, the ones that helped him out of Darastrix regardless of his input.

"Gem. Well, I've been wanting a snack before settling down," Porath noted, licking his muzzle before moving a little too close for comfort. Pink jumped back.

"NONONONONO, No eating, Identify please, thank you!"

"Identify?" Porath questioned.

"I'm … in a bit of a rough place. Everypony and their alicorn's been telling me -"

"Don't care," Porath butted in. Pink felt shot down. Sure the others back home didn't treat her as a diamond, but at least the Tindalos let her finish a sentence!

"... O.K. … Can you just tell me what this is so I can go home?" Pink finished, getting to the point as she presented the gemstone. Porath personally didn't care for the morsel of a Gem, as any gemstone would be tasty to a gem-eater like a Dragon, or Draconian, or whichever.

"I don't know much about Gems like you, but come on don't you know your own Gem type? Smoky knew who she was the second she popped up," Porath groaned, not enjoying the company all too much. Pink had no clue who, or what this "Smoky" was, but Pink just wanted an answer.

"Mine's a bit muffled, so make with the answer darling, please," Pink said, getting annoyed with it. The ponies would scold her for this, but Porath was a LOT more brutal, and immediately whipped her off her feet with his tail, sending her into the nearest tree.

"Watch that mouth, darling, or you won't live longer," Porath warned, immediately in Pink Diamond's face. she would threaten the diamond Authority, but once again, if a runt like Kyra could beat them to a pulp, what kind of damage could the fully-grown Porath do? Pink diamond was frozen.

"Uh o-ok, ok, let's not be too hasty!"

"Speak for yourself. I already had enough problems thanks to you Gems, I'm not dealing with more unless it's for a meal," Porath said, stomping dangerously close to her head.

"Just this one question? Just answer that, and I'm outta here!"

"... One answer," Porath repeated. Pink Diamond nodded, and surprisingly, Porath did nod his head. Guess he wanted to check it out himself, now that he had control over the situation. He lowered his head to see the gemstone, seeing his reflection in it, he looked it over carefully, sniffing a few times, and he even gave it a lick (much to her discomfort).

"... Hmm. Looks like a diamond. Smells like a diamond …" Pink thought she was getting somewhere, but then Porath gave it one more hearty lick, making sure the taste was prominent in his mouth. Anything can smell and look like something else, but one can't hide what they tasted like. And Porath gave a look of mixed disgust.

"YUCK! Quartz! not even ripe, just cobbled together like some rotten cocktail. Whatever you were made of, it's not even a full Gem!"

Pink felt … struck down. Even harder than ever before.

"I … I-It … It can't be. I am Pink Diamond."

"Shut up, already, you want an answer I gave you one, NOW GET LOST!"

Then he jumped her! Pink moved quick to avoid the first bite, but Porath was by no means finished. The retaliation didn't last for too long, for despite Pink's speed, it fell to a three strike rule: first bite didn't land, so Porath went for a tail whip which missed, and only when he spun around did his front hoof whack Pink off her feet, and onto the ground. Porath got his front hooves onto her back to keep her down, and while she did push off the ground, a crawling stance was the best she did before trying to bolt for it like some scared animal, Porath in hot pursuit. The thundering hooves behind Pink Diamond only made her run off faster, leaving Porath off in the dust.

But he still held the one thing Pink Diamond couldn't bring back with her.

Her identity as a Diamond. Now shattered. This time for good.

~~~~~~

As the winter season had officially began off back on Earth, Equestria was just minutes away from beginning it's own official snowfall onto Ponyville. The Pegasus were moving the snow clouds off into place, each one full of snowflakes, and ready to bring the winter season down onto the world below, much like every other year before this. Though, in recent years, there was one other tradition that had been going on outside of simple "running of the leaves", or cloud gathering. No, there was something else that had to be handled first for one Pegasus, as she walked alongside her now very tired pet, as he gave a long yawn. It was such signs, she knew now, that it was time for him to go off to bed.

"Come on, Tank, don't fall asleep yet, at least hold on until we get there," Rainbow Dash said to her pet tortoise. Tank nodded slowly, but the tired tortoise grew just tired enough where the cold snow began to look inviting to the reptile. Rainbow Dash picked up her pet, and allowed him to lay on her back, which the tortoise happily obliged to. Rainbow knew what they were heading for, but she and Tank both knew it wouldn't do him good to sleep out in the open.
There was an opened spot off along the edge of Sweet Apple Acres that was just the right spot, where she had been doing this little tradition of hers for a few years now. Typically it would be open for her, but this year, Rainbow Dash quickly found that someone was already there after her mad dash back from Neippon.
And she looked devastated. The news from Porath was the final nail in the coffin for her. Everyone else could easily be influenced, sure, but Porath had no such relationship to even listen to them, let along believe them. So if Porath said she was not a Diamond … well, what more is there to say? She wasn't gonna re-check with him again after nearly getting eaten, that's for sure.

"Hey, Pink, what's up?" Rainbow asked, trotting over to her to get her attention. Pink Diamond did not look happy to see her at all.

"Pink? Pink who?" Pink Diamond asked miserably, and then did Rainbow Dash see the stains from Pink Diamond's tears on her face. Rainbow Dash looked over to Tank, before walking over to her.

"Uh, Pink "you". … eh, you mind moving over? Just a little bit?"

Pink Diamond, who normally would try to assert herself, simply groaned and scooted over, leaving the ground by the tree open for Tank. Rainbow Dash scooped away some of the smaller frost from the ground, and placed Tank down beside it.

"Here you go, Tank. Have a good sleep," Rainbow Dash said. Tank gently nudged Rainbow and smiled, before slowly going over to the tree. As Pink watched, Tank took one more look over to Rainbow Dash with a soft smile, and he then proceeded to dig into the ground in his usual slow way. Odd. Tank eventually got himself comfy inside his little hole, and buried himself gently for the long winter months ahead. Rainbow Dash sighed, and smiled to her companion, saying silent goodbyes for yet another year.

"... Um … what's he doing?" Pink asked, having just enough curiosity to ask the question.

"Hibernating," Rainbow Dash replied, sitting down by Pink Diamond, and her sleeping tortoise. Rainbow could probably guess what was Pink's trouble, but she didn't want to bring it up.

"Oh … ok."

"So … um. You don't mind if I read a story, do you?" Rainbow asked, showing one of her newer Daring Do books.

"Why not? Not like I haven't read every book in Equestria already … three times. Or was it four? … Oh, who cares."

Not the best, or most enthusiastic answer, but Rainbow Dash took it anyway, and turned the book to the right page. Pink Diamond glanced to the title of the book, though, in some odd way, Pink Diamond wanted to … well vent. Talk. SOMETHING. Rainbow Dash was busy with her book, so it was gonna be a bit difficult to do.

*uuugh*

"Daring Do found herself inches from her doom, just one cut of the rope away from landing into the jaws of the dreaded Cipactil!"

*UUUGH.*

"... Ok. *ahem* But Daring Do was never a pony to give up. Thinking fast, she got her hooves swinging, each attempt making the rope weaker and weaker by the -"

*UUUUGH!*

"Geesh, if you hate the book, you can just leave," Rainbow said. Direct approach activated.

"COME ON!" Pink bellowed, making Rainbow jump out of her skin, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! LOOK AT ME! I'M MISURABLE!"
Pink struggled to keep herself together and not just cry her eyes out right in front of her. Despite her attempts, her eyes still had some form of tear coming down from her face, which was easy to catch. Rainbow groaned.

"Ok, I get it, I just didn't want to bring it up again," Rainbow replied, putting the book aside for the moment.

"How am I gonna explain this to the other diamonds? "Hey mom! Mom! Guess what? I'm just a cobbled-up quartz, I'm no Diamond at all!" A-And if I tell them that, they'll be horrified … w-what if they don't like me anymore? what if they kick me out for not being a diamond, WHAT IF I HAVE TO WORK IN THE DIRT WITH THE OTHER QUARTZES? … MY LIFE IS RUINED!" The last fear-filled statement was said as she shook Rainbow Dash, finally crying her eyes out. She saw how quartzes do things, and she didn't feel up for any of it at all! After getting her senses back together, she pulled herself out of Pink's grip.

"Okay, slow down, you don't know that!"

"But how do I know it won't happen?!"

"Uh … ok, you got me there," Rainbow admitted, rubbing the back of her head. Pink Diamond soon laid on the cold ground under her.

"Pink, look. OK, so you're not exactly the Pink Diamond everybody's talking about, but it's not the end of the world."

"Yes it is!" Pink cried. A wonder how Rainbow didn't get soaked in her tears yet. Rainbow Dash would be lying if she said she didn't expect this, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't want Twilight, Sapphire, or Starlight to explain - some people better at this. Rainbow took a moment to try and think, and came to a quick solution.

"Pink come on, lighten up. There's no rule that say's you can't be an honorary Diamond."

"IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! Gems are made for a specific purpose to Homeworld, and if we can't fit that bill, we're kicked out - I'm kicked out! I'll be nothing but shards when they're through with me, finding out that I'm just some lie."

This part bugged Rainbow a bit, giving a bit of a cringe. It was some time since she was reminded how Gems really operated.

"Eh … Pink. I'm gonna tell you something I hadn't exactly told the others about. … I never really liked this "system" you Gems do. It's all … wrong."

"Boy, is that a shocker," Pink grumbled, unenthused, "It's almost like the Crystal Gems never made that clear before."

"I'm not finished," Rainbow bluntly stated. "... White Diamond was right about some things."

"What sort of things?" Pink asked.

"She mentioned something about getting more from one Gem, making hybrids so they can do more jobs for half of production. And that there's so much trouble with the old method, and she started these hybrids for "a better Era 3". So why can't you just take what Gems come out and have them do different things? Just have the Gems themselves decide what they wanna do, or at least give them more jobs, and DONE!"

… Oh stars, that summed up SO MANY PROBLEMS in just one question. It was enough to make her blush a storm.

"Don't know how you can say that - don't you have your Cutie Mark dictating what you do?" Pink asked, pointing to the Cutie Mark on Rainbow Dash's flank. Being a pony herself, she can see why she would think that. Rainbow just brushed it off with a wave of her hoof.

"Heh. MY Cutie Mark is from my awesome talent of performing the Sonic Rainboom - Equestria's most epic flight move ever. And not just me - Peridot's Cutie Mark is from her metal-bending thing that no other Peridot could do."

"So. Is a Cutie Mark for a destiny or a feat? Or what?"

"Yeah, honestly, I have no idea," Rainbow admitted. It can be very hard sometimes to fully understand such marks on their flanks, even more so now with them appearing on Gems too. But this did prove that Pink had the wrong idea about Cutie Marks.

"Eh, point is that, just because you're made for something doesn't mean you have to do that. You can do other things, and if they don't work, just try and find something that fits."

"Wait, wait, wait. … So, you can try something. And, you can just try something else whenever you want. … You can just do that?"

Rainbow Dash had to raise her eyebrow on that question.

"Uh, yeah, duh. Weren't you seeing everyone in Ponyville? Gardening, stacking books, moving the clouds, we do A TON of things!"

"But that's you, a PONY. I'm a Gem, and d-" Pink Diamond stopped herself from speaking, remembering what Porath said, and what everyone else had been saying. She was NOT a diamond. "... I was a Diamond."

"It'll be alright, you can work through this," Rainbow reassured.

"How do you know?"

Rainbow got quiet for a moment on that question, before she looked over to her now sleeping tortoise Tank.

"Well … you weren't the only one not willing to accept some things."

---(Start Flashback)---

It was a few years ago, same year when I first met the Crystal Gems, but just before flying off to Homeworld. Tank began to feel a little funny, so I had him checked in with my friends, and they kept telling me he was about to Hibernate, but no way did I want that to happen. I tried to get winter to stop, but that didn't work. I just felt … awful.

*Yaawwwn*

Another yawn from Tank as he laid in bed. It was a bit of a rough time for Rainbow Dash, who was in some pajamas, and laying down beside her tiring pet. Each second ticking by was a second closer to his hibernation. Not too many things would break down Rainbow Dash, but this was just up enough to leave the mare in a bit of a slump, her hoof gently petting Tank's shell. Tank may be calm about things, but Rainbow was feeling horrible.
It did take some time for her friends to come around to see her: Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Steven, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pinkie Pie (who walked through the cloud walls rather than the door).

"How're you feeling?" asked Steven.

"Whatever," Rainbow groaned, not fazed by the fact many of them were even there.

"Poor thing. What're we gonna do?" Rarity asked.

"I-I'm not sure," Twilight admitted. Some of them tried to go in and bring Rainbow around by this point, starting with Steven.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Rainbow. You haven't been acting like yourself," Steven said.

"Oh, how can I put this … you lost your sparkle, Rainbow Dash," added in Rarity.

"Didn't you hear me? I said "whatever". I'm fine," Rainbow made clear, before laying back in bed. Tank gave another yawn nearby, reminding the rainbow mare the inevitable.

"What's the big deal, he's just going to sleep for a while," Amethyst quietly remarked, before being nudged by Pearl. It was not a time for tactless remarks.

"Amethyst, she almost wrecked the cloud factory over this situation, I think this is more important to her," Pearl quietly made clear, just for them both to be silenced when Garnet snapped her fingers. Again, not a good time for tactless remarks. Garnet and Fluttershy looked to eachother, and with Garnet's nod, Fluttershy went up to plate. Guess they had a talk before confronting Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash. Your winter is going to be … petless!" Fluttershy announced. Not too forceful, but not too humble, with just enough assertiveness to make it through to Rainbow.
It broke her: next thing they knew, the room was filled with screams and wails of Rainbow Dash's crying. The simple fact that her winter will NOT be with her pet was a tear-jerker for her enough as it is.

"What was that for?" Twilight asked.

"She's never going to get pass this, less she let's it all out," Fluttershy replied, as Rainbow Dash fell back on the bed, crying a storm of tears. But this was a double-edged sword: they were there to cheer her up, not to make her cry. Pearl sat down by her.

"I-It'll be okay, Rainbow. You'll be off on Homeworld, and Tank will be … underground. A-And when you come back in the next few months, it'll be like nothing even happened."

"MONTHS?!" Rainbow gasped. Were they going to be gone THAT long? Was HE going to be gone that long?! That just made Rainbow cry even more. Garnet gave a silent gesture for Rainbow to come over, and the Pegasus threw herself at the fusion, hugging her tightly as tears came down hard.

"I DON'T WANT HIM TO GO!!!" Rainbow wailed. What was she to do, knowing her pet would be trapped underground with no one to take care of him?

"There there," Garnet said. THEN came Amethyst over to Fluttershy.

"Good job, Fluttershy. How do we get her to stop?" Amethyst asked.

"There can't be too much left in there," Fluttershy replied. Rainbow Dash's crying kept up for at least a solid thirty seconds, before she slowly started to calm down from it.

"Feeling better?" Garnet asked.

"*sniff* uhuh …"

AND she cried loud again. The Pegasus threw herself back on the bed beside Tank, who stayed silent besides his crying master. Seeing such a strong, confident mare crumble so much was a tear at one's heartstrings. In fact …

"Oh, I-I can't bear to see her cry like this," Rarity wept.

"It's so … heart-wrenching!" Pinkie added.

Suddenly, Pinkie, Rarity, and later joined by Fluttershy, Pearl, and Steven too were crying with Rainbow. Twilight, Applejack, Garnet, and Amethyst stayed aside to let them do so, though it still was a bit sad to watch for them. Applejack tipped her hat over her eyes in misery.

"You too?" Amethyst asked, admittedly annoyed.

"Nope, I'm good," AJ replied. Well, there's nothing more for it, and Garnet went over to her. Tears stained her face as she looked up to her, the fusion Gem placing her hand on the Pegasus.

"Everything will be okay, Rainbow, I promise. once you return, you'll be here just in time to see Tank come back, and you two will be together again. I guarantee it," Garnet promised.

…….

"I-It's alright. … It's alright," Rainbow finally said, tears still down her face. The whole group moved away to give her some space, giving the Pegasus time to better reconcile with herself. She pulled herself off of the bed, rubbing some tears from her eyes, just to be met with the same question.

"Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?" Twilight asked once more.

"Yeah. I'm feeling better. Really, I do," Rainbow replied, smiling a little bit as she looked to her friends. "Thanks everypony. I don't know what I'd do without you. … Or. Him."

Rainbow looked back over to Tank. He and Rainbow met face to face, the tortoise gently placing his front foot on Rainbow's front hoof, both nudging heads.

"Oh Tank. I'm sure gonna miss you …"

---(end flashback)---

Rainbow brushed off a tear from her face, getting back on the main subject to Pink Diamond.

"A-Anyway, my main point is that Gems can do all sorts of things too. Some things may not be how you like it, but that's okay - it can be done, and you just have to figure out what you can do," Rainbow said. Pink Diamond was expecting such wise words to come from, once again, Twilight, Starlight, or Sapphire, and not from the rainbow-colored mare. But as she thought about this …

"Wait … so what you're telling me is that, as long as I know how, I can be a Diamond without being a Diamond?"

"Probably," Rainbow shrugged. It was kinda hard to say with her current mindset, but with the thought established, Pink Diamond began to feel less troubled about the identity crisis. She may not be a diamond by cut, but that didn't mean she can't try to become one. The least she could do was try and establish herself before deciding if she shouldn't do this or not. Pink got up.

"You're right: I'm doing it. Diamond or not, that's what I'm gonna do! … Soon as I figure out how to get back."

"I wouldn't worry about that: Blue Diamond's been meaning to come by soon. You can hitch a ride then," Rainbow suggested.

"Perfect! See ya later," Pink Diamond said. She'll need to figure out where Blue Diamond would come back, and if she was gonna get this Diamond leadership started, she might as well start from the beginning and work from there. Pink Diamond walked off on her way, and Rainbow Dash went on back to reading her book to her dear Tank.

…….

"Finally, she's calmed down," sighed Starlight, her and her friends further away, observing the situation.

"I hope the others are doing as good," agreed Steven.

Kluggin in Klugetown

View Online

With their jump through the portal, Rarity, and Applejack were off from Equestria, and off into the city of Klugetown. The portal, much like before, got them over in a secluded location of the town, which itself was probably for the best. Applejack knew what they were getting into, and once they got there, she immediately made sure that there was no one around to jump them. Not many around here.

"Good. Look, this isn't no fun rodeo, so try to keep yer heads down, and watch who you talk to," Applejack advised. Rarity's first impression on the place became clear when she looked down to her hooves to find she was standing in wet dirt, yelping before getting it off of her.

"Disgusting," Rarity said, "This place could surely use a full makeover."

"You don't know the half of it," AJ thought. Rarity and Applejack began to go off through a less populated area of Klugetown, Applejack's nerves on a knife edge. If this was anything like before, she wanted to be better prepared this time. Rarity wasn't enjoying this place anymore than she was, but more of the fact it looked so decerped compared to a typical Equestria settlement. Not even Hollow Shades looked as bad as this - least she could say nature was put in better play over THIS place.
Applejack and Rarity both stopped once they got to the end of their little alleyway. They may not have seen Rarity before, but surely they would recognize Applejack from the last time they visited this place.

"What a ruffled-looking crowd. Sorry you had to come here to get the keys, Applejack."

"Just try not to draw attention to yerself, and we'll be fine. Soon as we get that shovel, we're gone," Applejack said, slowly starting to come out. Not a minute after they did, a few of the locals began to take notice, and …

"You there, pony, how much for the hat?" called one of the barters. Here we go again.

"I'm not here for sellin', tradein', or anything like that, K?"

"How much for the hair?! I'll give you two stonebucks for it!" shouted another local.

"TWO STONEBUCKS?! My mane's worth far more than that!"

"Really?" AJ sighed, rolling her eyes. The fact she was asking to buy her mane and tail, and the worry was how much it cost? The crowds were starting to gather around the two ponies. Seeing so many of the strange creatures surely made Rarity uncomfortable: fish, reptiles, even a gray feline, all taking some interest.

"Then I'll give you ten stonebucks for it!" shouted the barter again.

"Fifteen!" yelled another.

"Twelve stonebucks and a gold doubloon!" added another. Clearly these folks had a one-track mind, and without a quick escape like last time, Applejack had to think fast to get the crowds gone, and simply flying off or running away might not be the best idea ever. LYING wasn't gonna work - she was no good at that, and they were probably used to that by now. It was then she saw one particular object of interest, being placed on a window sill, though she KNEW Rarity probably wouldn't be so thrilled.

"Rarity, you can forgive me later."

"About what?" Rarity asked. Applejack answered when she bucked on one of the support beams.

*crash* "AAHH!"

Sometimes a old gag can do wonders: next thing Rarity knew, she found herself completely filthy with a ton of dirt, grass and flowers from several flower pots, which now laid broken and scattered everywhere.

"DANG IT!" shouted one of the barters, "What am I suppose to do with that now?!" some ticked, some disappointed, they all moved off away from the dirty unicorn. They weren't going to buy something that just got broken. Applejack moved over to her, a bit embarrassed as the unicorn glared at her.

"Sorry."

"Now, I know we were in a precarious situation, and I can understand some tasks had to be called for, but be lucky I already got the seasonal winter discount to the Ponyville spa at home," Rarity said, trying in vain to get some bit of the dirt and debris off of her fur.

"Right, but you see what I'm talkin about? These folks are one-track minded," Applejack said, as Rarity just got off a flower from her mane.

"So I noticed. The sooner we find that shovel, the sooner I can put that pass to use," Rarity said. On the bright side, least the locals weren't going to ogle their way in appearance alone. AJ and Rarity started to go off, unaware that this little bit of an act caught attention of one local in particular, finding this whole situation a bit intriguing.

AJ and Rarity went on from there, the unicorn getting off just enough of the dirt to at least look a bit presentable. But for the most part, the others kept off their back, as they tried to figure out where the shovel actually was. It wasn't easy, considering every creature there was bigger than they were, and plenty of items were already being moved back and forth with many creatures in some way.
This was harder to find than a needle in a haystack.

"Well what do we have here?"

Applejack groaned, moving her hat over her face upon hearing that O too familiar voice. Rarity turned back first, and soon she found that mr. Verko and two of his colleagues (a pair of minotaur) were coming by to see both farm and city mare. The commotion sure got his attention alright.

"Well, uh, how do you do?" Rarity said, as they moved over towards them. AJ turned herself, ready for another conflict, especially when she saw the cronies with Verko.

"All the better for seeing you," Verko said, though this didn't make Rarity feel any better, especially when he began to eye her Cutie Mark underneath the dirt. A few wipes away and her cutie Mark was fully shown to the mole rat. The mole rat snickered, and Rarity immediately felt a blush on her face.

"Fancy.~"

"YOU LITTLE -" *SMACK* went the hoof to the mole rat's head. This left a horseshoe print on Verko's head, but he wasn't deterred.

"Feisty too. I'll make a good price out of you, pony. BOYS, do your thing," Verko said, snapping his fingers as his cronies started to come in on both Rarity and Applejack. Applejack readied herself up, ready to jump in at a moment's notice. This started to bring a crowd over, and the goons were just about -

"BACK IT UP, back, it, up!"

Just like that, an actually friendly soul actually got in between the goons and the ponies. This was an anthropomorphic cat, brown tabby to be precise, donning a red trenchcoat, indigo hair, and a cloth wrapped around his tail. And this feline sure looked a little bit cautious in the presence of everyone else, though this seemingly was more because of the ponies.

"Y'all in some serious danger!" he warned, "None of you touched em' have you?"

"So what?" Verko spat. The cat went right to Verko's side.

"Do those colors look natural to you?" the cat asked, before going to another part of the crowd and whispering "They're infected. With Sporatus … Coloritus."

"Now hang on just a minute, fella, we're -" Applejack was silenced when the cat covered her mouth with his tail as he continued talking.

"Now, calm down, long as you're not covered in purple splotches, you'll be fine!" … he said, as he dipped his tail in some purple paint, and flicked some onto Verko. Which he didn't notice until after he checking himself, growing surprisingly scared. He just touched one of them after all. Splotches got all over his shoulders, face, and bottom half.

"Uh oh," said the cat, though he didn't sound scared much.

"W-What the?! What do I do?!"

"Enjoy your last moments, and don't touch anyone … because parts will fall off."

The crowd disappeared in seconds shortly after that, not wanting anything to do with the two ponies anymore, even Verko leaving to handle his final moments with this coloritus thing. After the crowds had left, the cat strolled on out and got a good look to Rarity and Applejack. AJ was a bit conflicted, but Rarity was pretty impressed with him.

"My, that was impressive. And charming," she giggled.

"Capper's the name. And charming is my game," said the cat, giving a gentlemen's bow. "Now, a little birdie told me you two were looking for a shovel?" Applejack wasn't so sure about this, but if it meant getting out of this town, she might as well at least try.

"Rockhoof's shovel."

"Hmm, Rockhoof, Rockhoof. AH, yes, I think I would actually have a shovel back at the Hippo's Den. In fact, the very same shovel that belonged to Rockhoof is right in my room, right now," Capper said. Well, that sure was lucky, but Applejack didn't come here to end up swindled, so she stepped in first.

"You sure you're tellin the truth now? That shovel's a piece of history, not somebody's trinket."

"Now, now, let's not be too hasty, I know it's there. Tell you what, you two must be tired, I'll even let you stick around in my place if you'd like," Capper offered. While that was a kind offer, Rarity and AJ both knew that not only did they just come for the shovel, but they have a free ticket straight back home through their Portal Keys. Applejack could feel hers just under her hat, and she kept a firm hoof on it.

"Well, thank you, but we'd hate to intrude. We just came for the shovel," Rarity said.

"Come now, it's no trouble. Right this way," Capper insisted. He sure didn't sound much like the other swindlers in town, and his smooth tone surely got to Rarity, as she was willing to go with him. Applejack glanced to the ground and saw the can of purple paint on the ground. The same color that was on Verko earlier. She tipped her hat before following Capper.

She'll have to keep a sharp eye on this guy.

~~~~~~

"Do excuse the clutter, not often I do get guests coming by."

Applejack and Rarity eventually made their arrival to Capper's home. The home to this cat was up over at what mainly appeared to be a windmill, top floor, and looking in the place sure had a style to it. A few rugs along the floors, plenty of knickknacks and decorations around the place which included but not limited to; shelves of plates, silverware, chairs made up of crates with pillows, a chandelier with colored glass for some extra flair, and even a "portrait" or Capper himself as a captain of sorts - it was really just his face on a pre-established painting - hanging up in the wall. This was just a few of the many things in this place, which admittedly could just as easily be put off as an antique shop.

"Ooh! A sort of a roco-hobo-Bohemian hodgepodge," Rarity observed, as she and AJ went on inside. Rarity and Applejack took some time to look around the place.

"You have quite a way with words, don't you?" Capper said.

"Well, I do have an eye for decoration, darling," Rarity replied bashfully. While Rarity was busy checking out the work around, Applejack kept to her guns and tried to find where Rockhoof's shovel was. If by some off chance Capper was telling the truth, it had to be somewhere. However, the more AJ looked around, she wasn't seeing it much of anywhere. Applejack tried to find where this shovel was as Rarity and Capper continued their own chit-chat.

"Well, I've been wondering when a good eye would be coming by, could use a professional opinion on my little box," Capper said. Rarity felt charmed.

"Well, Nobody's here to judge, though I do have to say you have a flair to your uh, little box."

"What, these old things?" Capper said, flicking one of the decorative chandeliers, which made a sort of wind-chime jingle, "Just workin with what I got in town. You never know what you could find til you go and check out the neighborhood."

"I see. Well, no offense, but I don't know how you could live in this town. So many ruffians," Rarity admitted. Capper paused for a minute, his ear flicking for a second before responding.

"Eh, it's not that bad a corner of the world, you just gotta know how to handle the bigger crowds, if you get where I'm goin," Capper explained, which probably would be the typical strategy for living in a town like this. After all, these were creatures who're more than willing to buy off her own mane and tail for two stonebucks.

"Understood. Oh, uh, not meaning to be a burden, but you wouldn't happen to have a washroom do you?" Rarity asked, though in her mind she was begging there would be one. Luckily Capper's got it covered.

"Right over there," Capper said, thumb aiming to another door. Good enough for her, and she trotted on over towards it. Meanwhile, Capper then noticed that Applejack was still trying to find Rockhoof's shovel. At this point, AJ was looking under a clothed table, but finding nothing.

"Somepony's got a one-track mind," Capper commented. Applejack bumped her head on the table before backing up.

"Well "pardon me" for tryin to find what I'm lookin for, Capper," Applejack said, not trusting this feline so soon. Capper had to pull some good charm to get to this pony. Capper got comfy, leaning against the wall.

"And I said I got it for you."

"Alright then, partner. Where is it?" AJ quizzed. In such a town like this, Applejack couldn't afford to be too trustful to everyone in town, even if one of them did offer to let them stick around the place. But even this pony didn't exactly prepared herself for what happened next: Capper flicked his tail behind a curtain by the window, and something was knocked over into sight.

A shovel. Rockhoof's shovel! Sure it looked a bit worn out, and the spade was a bit rusty but Applejack was taken aback when Capper presented this shovel to her. Applejack, to put it simply, was speechless.

"What was that you were saying?" Capper said, as Applejack took a better look, bringing it up to her own hooves. To think that this same shovel was the one that Rockhoof used to save his village from a volcano. Applejack looked over the shovel for a bit more, seeing her reflection in the metal end of it.

"Well I'll be," Applejack said in a hush tone. Capper went up to her.

"There now, no need to fret my little pony," Capper said, fluffing AJ's hair. Well, guess they got what they came for, and Applejack waited for her Cutie Mark to … well, do something. Rarity already told her that her cutie Mark went off after getting the flower, but when AJ looked to her flank, nothing really happened. Was this Rockhoof's shovel, or no? Applejack got suspicious all over again, placing the shovel over by the door, leaning it against the wall, but unfortunately she then began to hear running water, and Rarity seemingly singing some sort of humming tune.

"Eh, your friend gonna be much longer in there?"

"Get comfortable, when she starts hummin that tune, you know she's gunna take her time," Applejack said. Rarity would sometimes hum a specific tune to herself that sounded a bit like something from opera or similar, and when she would make that kind of tune then it would at least take a good hour just to get through it. AJ's visits to the boutique taught her this after a few times.
Anyway, Applejack felt that she wasn't getting anywhere anymore. Shouldn't her cutie Mark become active with the shovel now with her? Of course, any shovel could look the part, same as any pony could dress up for Halloween, so who was to say. Regardless, AJ couldn't leave Rarity just yet.

"I'm gonna go out for some grub," Applejack said, heading off to the door.

"Oh, food is what you wantin? I got some -"

"I'm fine, thanks," Applejack cut in. She may not be the one to turn down charity, but this town was not the place to just take random offers which, as far as she knew, would end up getting a catch to it. Still, Capper didn't look willing to harm them, otherwise he'd done so from the get go when everyone else ran off, so the least AJ could say was that he was not as violent. So, Applejack stepped out, leaving Capper with Rarity.

"Capper dear?" Rarity called from the bathroom, "Is there any normal shampoo you happen to have in here? All I'm able to find is dry shampoo."

Capper just sighed.

~~~~~~

So now back on the town again, Applejack took time to better understand this situation of hers. With nothing happening, this could only mean two things: either that wasn't the shovel in Capper's den, or there was something else the map sent her out to do. What that was, she really didn't know, nor did she want to actually. The longer she stayed in this town, the more willing she wanted to just go. She grew up in a town of friends, family, and honesty - seemingly the opposite of this place. Of course, one-time visits couldn't fully picture a place, so the least Applejack could do was wait it out until Rarity had finished back at Capper's place.

"Tarnation. K, AJ, think fer a minute. Capper's got a hold of a shovel looking lot like that of Rockhoof. Why would he be the ones to have it of all things?" Applejack's wondering was only cut short when she began to hear some commotion off down the main street, just to find a bizarrely familiar face rush by her, before taking cover behind some barrels. A few angry store-keeps went off by, almost barreling into Applejack who had to jump out of the way. Applejack slammed into one of the shops front counters just to get out of the way, though this didn't startle the shop keep, who was just wiping away at his front counter top.

"Ponyfeathers, don't these folks know anything about -" Applejack stopped when she looked back to the barrels again. Looking there was, yet another anthropomorphic cat, this time being an American Shorthair by fur color, and he seemingly had something in one paw which looked like a bit of gold coins in his paws, only about five and apparently from the people that were chasing him. The cat waited until the group was well out of sight before the cat began to scurry off, all in sight of Applejack.

"At it again is he?" sighed the shopkeeper.

"Beg your pardon?" AJ asked.

"Chummer. That little kitty scamp had run amok in Klugetown with that con-artist Capper. Thought he cut town ages ago," the shopkeeper said. Now THIS was some info. Capper never mentioned a thing about Chummer yet.

"So Chummer and Capper handled business together, huh?"

"If you call pickpocketing business. I remember when those two were running all over town, taking this and that, you know. Then one day uh …" the shopkeeper trailed off a bit, trying to remember properly.

"What?" AJ asked. Eventually the shopkeeper shrugged.

"Well, dunno. One day Verko wanted to chat with them, and next time I see em, it's just Capper. Sounds like Chummer flown the coop before he could take him in," the shopkeeper figured, though honestly he wasn't sure of the exact details. Applejack stopped and considered this idea a little more. Applejack felt a little conflicted with Chummer: on one hoof, he was still clearly a thief, but on the other hoof, what did he know about Capper? Or for that matter, why'd he take off from him?

"Thanks fer the info," AJ said, before starting to trot off where Chummer had gone off to.
And it turned out, Chummer didn't go too far away, and Applejack was quick to find him off down an isolated corner of town, counting out the loot he had. Applejack was a bit hesitant at first, with the place she was in, but she herself at the very least wanted some information on this Capper fella, and if Chummer worked with him, then it would be her best shot. Glancing one way and another, she took a few steps towards Chummer before the feline noticed her.

"Back off, this is mine, get yer own!" Chummer made clear, back to her and trying to hide his money. AJ could guess it was a lie, but she didn't care for the money (yet).

"Whoa, hold it partner, I just wanna ask ya a few questions," Applejack insisted, hooves up in defense. Chummer froze, but then turned, trying to look tough.

"Well, ya want somethin, ya gotta give somethin!"

"Like how someone gave you that there money bag?" Applejack said dryly, pointing to the bag. Chummer hid the bag behind his tail.

"Yeah. So, what do ya got?" Chummer asked. Applejack though simply gave him a raised eyebrow. She wasn't fooled, he was only saying that because everyone else in town said that. She heard that saying passed around at least five times before reaching this point. All the same, she didn't want to give up her hat, or the key inside her hat, but she wasn't any better liar than Chummer was.

"Oh. Uh, I got … nothin. On me, because it's off at home! Yeah."

God, this was bad. Her smile didn't help either.

"K, how's about your hat then?"

"NO!" Applejack said immediately, hooves holding the hat on her head so Chummer wouldn't swipe it off her. Chummer, being the thief he is, went in and tried to see what was underneath the hat, as much as the pony didn't want him to. one hit on AJ's hat, and it flew right off, revealing the Portal Key!

"Score!" Chummer beamed, immediately grabbing said key with his grubby paws … just for the key to pop out of them like a bar of soap. The key was not going to leave the owner, no matter what the case may be, and as much as Chummer tried he couldn't get a grip on it. One point he even tried his teeth, just for the key to flip him head over claws, slamming him into the ground before landing back on AJ's head.

"Ya done?" Applejack asked.

"Keep that key," Chummer murmured, face still in the dirt. Good thing no one else saw what happened there. AJ got her hat back on her head, Chummer spitting out some dirt from his mouth.

"Sorry, but stealing's not a way to go. You almost got trampled by a bunch of those shoppers just now," Applejack reminded.

"Well, what do ya want me to do? I got no job, not much to eat, and these coins are the best I got," Chummer explained, his stomach even grumbling to prove his point. O the pros and cons of being a thief. AJ got up.

"There's lots to do fer a living: working on a barn, designing clothes, washin cars, you just gotta know where to look," Applejack stated, remembering the pretty good lives her friends have had for a good while. Chummer scoffed.

"Easy fer you to say, you got those Cutie Mark things to tell ya what to do, all I got is my wit and two - er wait, four paws."

Applejack stopped and looked to her cutie mark for a brief moment. Three apples, gained after rejoining her family at the barn. Not exactly too much to say on what one was supposed to do, but Applejack could see what Chummer was talking about.

"Hey, look. Chummer is it? Y'all don't look like the criminal type to me," Applejack said, trying to lighten up the mood a bit for the cat.

"I'm really tryin here, it's not that easy … er, now it's not easy."

"Capper, right?" Applejack presumed. Chummer looked startled that this pony would know who Capper was, and more so that Chummer was involved with him in some way.

"How do you know about him?" Chummer asked. Applejack pointed over to the tender not too far away, at this point was wiping away at his table. Chummer suddenly understood what happened.

"Oh fer lord's sake, the only non-swindler in town," Chummer gripped.

"So, what's your deal with him?"

"Ugh. He and I used to be a tag-team: I make the plans, and he makes em work. Why?" Chummer asked, arms crossed, and the bag of money being gripped with his tail, thinking that there was some sort of catch to this.

"Cuz I'm kinda stuck with him," Applejack admitted, getting it outta the way, "He's got me and my friend stuck with him at his place."
Chummer felt a shiver run through him on this concept. Applejack wasn't really gonna get some story around it, and she needed to get this information down correctly. Chummer clearly didn't see this as a good idea.

"Chummer?"

"Blimey, he's still workin for him," Chummer realized.

"Working for who?"

"Verko, that's who! That two-bit rat in an overcoat's in charge of all the shady work in Klugetown. Black marketing, two-sided swindles, gambles from here to the icy north, he's got the charm of a viper and knows how to use it."

"But I saw him swindle that rat outta robbin me blind," Applejack questioned.

"I don't wanna know, but no way would Capper ditch out of joinin' him. I tried talkin him out of it, but he was just all "but this is a better life fer both of us" and "Verko will handle everythin". That naked mole rat's turned em all, that slimy bloke," Chummer spat. Well, one thing Applejack could say for Chummer was that this cat was NOT working for Verko the way he was talking. This did also confirm Capper may not be what he was making himself out to be.

"So, what are you doing here then?" AJ asked.

"Tryin to make a living, that's what. I'd rather steal some sap's cash than work under that snake in rat's clothing," Chummer admitted. Applejack sat down over next to him, the cat a bit more comfortable with this pony in his company. For poor AJ though, the realization started to come at her like a train. It made no sense that Capper would be working for Verko, yet trick him like that … unless …

"Verko's got Capper wrapped around his grubby little paws, making him caught up in all his schemes ... My only pal, too."

Applejack was now fully convinced, getting up to her hooves. This was a bit of a friend issue, but one thing at a time - Rarity was in some deep trouble right now.

"I gotta go, thanks Chummer. We'll chat again."

And with that said, Applejack turned and made a bolt for it back to Capper's place, leaving Chummer alone with what he at first thought was a good score.

~~~~~~

"AAHH~ Nothing brightens up a day better than a good mane treatment."

FINALLY, Rarity got herself finished up in the bathroom after what felt like forever, and Capper could finally get to use his bathroom again. Rarity got a towel to use, and dried her mane off. Capper was checking out the newspaper, glancing passed the pages to see Rarity finally wrapping up.

"Ah, done in there? You left some warm water for me in there, did you?" Capper asked.

"It'll be fine. Sorry for taking so long, but as they say you can't rush beauty," Rarity said, hoof through her mane. Charming, she was sure, as Capper straightened his coat. As he did, Rarity then looked to the sleeve, seeing that there was a tear in it.

"Oh dear."

"Huh? what, this? Oh, it's nothing," Capper said, seeing the cut.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll have it cleaned up in a jiff. Just give me a few shakes."

"Whoa, hold up now," Capper insisted, as Rarity almost immediately went to work. She just couldn't leave clothes worn like this, so she got herself out a bit of her own tail (a strand of hair), and used that like a bit of string to sew up the cut good as new. It was a bit unexpected, just as the two golden buttons she also added onto the coat as well, giving it some bit of flair.

"I do apologize," Rarity said "If we were at home, I could've made something more fabulous."

Capper looked a little confused by this sudden act of generosity, with it being in Klugetown and all that.

"Okay. What's the catch?"

"Oh nothing at all. After what you did for us, consider it a thank you."

A thank you. That was … different. Typically someone in this town wouldn't even say those words, or heck, remember what they were. Hearing this bit was a fresh air breeze for Capper's ears, and it was admittedly … good. It still made Capper feel a little bit unsure of things now.

"Oh. Don't thank me, really," Capper said, as Rarity began to go over towards the Rockhoof shovel, as Capper was left to ponder a little bit about that. No one really had just given him something before without asking much in return, especially by a stranger he had just met. Rarity started to clean off the metal end of the shovel a bit, and as she checked in the reflection, she then noticed something off a ways, hidden just behind some bit of the clutter.
Rarity turned and saw that it was a picture sticking out from one of the books on Capper's shelf. Curious, Rarity went over, and got the picture out, and showed two young cats hanging out together: Capper and another fellow cat, looking like they had taken a selfie, all smiles. Capper soon began to notice that.

"Well, sure looks like you had fun. Who's your friend?" Rarity asked.

"... What friend?" Capper sighed. Rarity went over to him, levitating the picture.

"This cat here. He sure looks lively, whoever he is," Rarity pointed out. Capper just brushed it off, hand waving and dismissing it.

"That's just some cat I knew back in the day, no big deal," Capper insisted. Rarity took a better look at the picture for a moment, having a seat by the table.

"Well, then, what do you have it in here for?"

Well, that question did it. Rarity could tell friends when she saw one. Capper just sighed, and took a seat across from her.

"Let me tell you something about him, K? The cat's name is Chummer, and he and I used to hang way back," Capper began, holding the picture himself, "We get into all sorts of trouble together, you know?"

"Oh, you two close before, huh? I have a friend myself who is a lively sort, a few of them actually," Rarity said, remembering a few in particular herself. Capper gave a soft chuckle before his smile started to disappear.

"Yeah, well, Chummer and I came to this place, you see, and let's just say he and I don't see eye-to-eye."

"How so?" Rarity inquired. Capper rolled his eyes.

"Because that cat would rather go off and be a thief than stick with me and get a better life for himself. We came into town some time ago, and while here we met -" Capper suddenly stopped himself. "Um … well, one of the townsfolk, and he offered us room and board for rent, and gave us some place to crash."

"How nice of him! But I'm guessing Chummer didn't want to, uh "crash" as you put it."

"You got it. I tried getting him to hang with me like we always do, but that call of a thief was just too strong for him, so he up and left me here. Some friend he was to ditch me," Capper said, some spite in his voice on that last statement before tossing the picture. Rarity was now feeling a bit sorry for Capper, looking at the picture of Capper's once true friend. But before they could elaborate on it any further, they soon began to hear the oncoming sound of hoofsteps coming up to the door, before said door swung open.

"Applejack, there you are," Rarity said. Capper got back to his charismatic self.

"I Started to worry about you. so, have a good bite?" Capper said. This time Applejack was not having any of it, and moved straight passed him, and grabbed the shovel. Rockhoof or not, they weren't going to stay around any longer.

"C'mon Rarity, we're goin now," Applejack said, sternly and quickly. Capper got a bit spooked with this decision, as the orange pony began to head for the door.

"WAIT! Er, let's not be to hasty. You know, you two could use a ride, and Capper's got just what you need," Capper cooed, trying to put in some charm on the pony. Applejack and Rarity didn't need any ship though with their Portal Keys, so AJ moved him aside.

"I think we'll manage," Applejack said, but just before she could go -

"Heeere's VERKO!"

Not again! The second AJ opened that door and she was met with the liver-spotted, ratty face of naked mole rat Verko, grinning at the sight of both ponies. So much for getting out before he would show, and Applejack moved back towards Rarity. Verko sure looked pleased seeing them both in one place.

"Just as we planned, eh Capper? With that diamond pony and witty-hitter, it's a good start. These ponies better shoot rainbow outta their eyes though if it's gonna fill in your debt. Brought the big cage," Verko said. Applejack and Rarity looked back passed Verko and saw the big cage in question: a wheeled cage with a rider up front, ready to head out the moment they were given word. Just big enough for two good-sized horses to fit inside. What Verko said next just confirmed their suspicions.

"Let's load 'em up!"

The ponies were shocked.

"Y-You … You were going to sell us?!" Rarity gasped, appalled at such an idea. She immediately took back her "thank you", and probably wouldn't of said it at all if she knew this would happen.

"I knew it, you varmint!" Applejack snapped, giving a snort. Capper was tongue-tied.

"Er, uh, hold on now, I-If you'd just let me explain -"

"Don't you even bother, you lonesome creature!" Rarity cut in, making Capper back up a bit. "Come on, we're leaving."

"Gladly," Applejack said.

*snort*

It wasn't gonna be that easy. Applejack and Rarity soon found the cronies stuck at their only exit. Verko wasn't gonna let them get away so easily, and soon both of said cronies began to go up to the two ponies. With the front door blocked off, there was only one way to go.
Rarity and Applejack got themselves just out of the way of their hands, and with the shovel gripped in AJ's mouth, went out the only open access: the window. It was a rather sudden move, but at least AJ and Rarity got the one-up on the cronies by grabbing a part of the windmill, going just out of reach. One of the cronies tried to grab another windmill wing, and force it back, but Verko intervened.

"They're not going anywhere. Wait for it to come back around," Verko suggested with a sly grin. Capper kept well back from the situation, silently wondering if he should bring AJ and Rarity in or not. They waited for a minute to get the two ponies but … nothing happened. none of them appeared on the windmill after a full rotation. Capper felt a little relief, but was just as curious as the others on the whereabouts.
Wouldn't you know that they'd be up on the roof?

"Well, congratulations, we're on top of Capper's house, now how do we get down?" Rarity whispered, finding herself shaking in her hooves from being up so high with little safety. Being on top of a windmill was a bit of trouble itself, but looking around, they both then noticed a little something: a set of wires, and a basket being moved up and down from one building to another, connecting to the top of the same building they were standing on.

"Up fer a little ziplining?" Applejack asked.

"Not much of a choice," Rarity replied. And that was true, especially when one of the cronies just managed to catch sight of the mares on top of the roof. It was now or never.
As one of the cronies was starting to get up there, holding onto a wing of the windmill, Applejack and Rarity got their shovel in between both wires, it being wide enough to use, and both mares made a leap off of the roof just before the crony could snatch them up. AJ held onto the shovel with her front hooves as tightly as she could, and Rarity could only grip Applejack, her hooves gripping tightly n her torso like a belt. One slip, and the two ponies would fall right to the center of this crumby town.

"Rarity, *ack* loosen that grip!" Applejack gasped. Rarity didn't really listen, her eyes locked downward to at least a ten story drop. The ziplining trip lasted for a good few minutes straight, but eventually the slide was halted pretty quick, the two hitting the end wall before finally losing their grip on the shovel. The impact made the shovel fall off anyway, and it left them tumbling off a shop overhang, before landing on the dirt street. It took them a bit before they got themselves back up from the crash, but their position was more than clear.

"I can't BELIEVE him! And to think I've just fixed up his coat and gave him free golden buttons! HAH!" Rarity scoffed, getting dirt off her fur and mane. Applejack checked around for a bit to make sure they were good enough distance from the tower. Unfortunately, Verko and the cronies saw where the two went, and were already charging off after them with the cage, and even if they got a headstart, they looked up to an alleyway and saw the cronies, cage, and Verko rushing right towards them!

"Haul it!" AJ yelled, pulling Rarity along to get her moving. The cage they saw, was actually being pulled by one of Verko's cronies, and even if they were galloping on all fours, the two-legged runner was still pretty fast. And then came the iconic, and ironic move: a lasso from Verko, getting Applejack right in the back hooves. Rarity skidded to a stop on seeing her friend caught, and Applejack's hat flown off her head, and the shovel thrown out of her mouth. She had nothing to get her out of this, as the crony began to pull her in.

"Rarity, get a move on!" Applejack yelled.

"I'm not leaving you!" Rarity said, as Applejack struggled to not get pulled in. The crony though held her up like as if he caught a fish, smiling smugly at the catch.

"HIYAA!" *WHAM* right in the snout went Rarity's back hoof in a karate kick. It was just strong enough to give the creature a black eye, and knock him head over hooves, AJ falling to the ground. This pleased Verko a bit, despite a crony down, knocked senseless and eye spinning. This was short-lived though, as Rarity suddenly got tied up in a lasso too. That was always the things against odd numbers: especially when the odds were against you. There's always a disadvantage. In one yank, Applejack and Rarity ended up pulled right into the cage, getting locked up tight before they could get out.

All of this too, viewed by Capper.

"MAN," he sighed, "The one thing that actually gave me a thanks, and I throw them in a cage." Capper paused for a moment or two, before shook it off. "Eh, it's just business. Now this cat's got his debt filled in."
At first, Capper felt not too indifferent over this, but as he began to head off towards home, little by little, he began to feel that his heart just wasn't in it. Especially since he was given free golden buttons and a sewing job for nothing more than just a thank you to him. It had been so long since anyone had ever really said that to him …

Eventually, he just stopped and looked back, thinking about Rarity and Applejack stuck inside that cage, ready to be shipped off to who knows where. … And this got his front paw to his forehead.

"Someone's getting his fur in a knot. How's it goin, mate?"

Chummer. Capper wasn't the only one who saw that happen, and the other cat came out in sight of his old friend. Capper was both shocked and … well, not.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess, and say those ponies had somethin to do with you being here?" Capper asked, tugging on his coat, as if seeing Chummer wasn't that much of a big deal.

"Well, no, I was just passin by. See you got a new coat. Did that Verko give that to ya?" Chummer asked. Capper brushed it off though, although that would've been nice.

"Nah, got it from the shop two blocks a ways. … So … still thieving?"

"Eh, this is all I got," Chummer sighed, showing the admittedly small bag of coins he scuffled over. Capper remembered loots far bigger than this, at least when they worked together.

"That all? Seen some of the shopkeeps make more loot than that."

"Well, not all of us are cut to be shoppers. You know how it is," Chummer said, putting the money away. "... So … how's it been with Verko?"

"Oh, going great, just got myself a debt finisher not too long," Capper said, looking proud of it, but Chummer knew his friend (or once was) more than anyone, and he saw that he didn't look as chipper as he should.

"You say that, yet you look like you just hid a body er somethin," Chummer pointed out.

"WHAT? pfft, NAH ……. it's two."

Now, out of context, that's scary, but they knew what was really up, which might as well be as bad. Capper sat down, and Chummer sat down next to him.

"So those two were your idea. didn't think you'd be down for selling people."

"Neither did I. That debt had to be filled somehow."

"Hmm … wait, how long were you in debt to Verko?" Chummer than asked, after a short bit of thinking. Capper was quiet at first, counting it out on his fingers. As the numbers went up, ever so slowly, Capper began to realize something …

"Um … guessin … two years? Three?"

"Seriously?! Capper, you're not gonna pay that debt!" Chummer snapped, not believing his ears.

"Hey, I got my ways to do it, unlike you!" retorted Capper, "I gave up pickpocketing for something better!"

"Working for a rat that won't give you up sounds so much better."

"What about your money bag? THAT'S enough to pay any debt," Capper sarcastically remarked, Chummer hiding the money away, and hissing at him like the cat he was. Before a fight could be broken out, they began to hear the sinister chuckles of Verko off nearby, just to find him suddenly coming up to them both with the cage.

"Capper, there you are! Come to watch the show?" Verko asked. Capper cleared his throat, seeing this as a good time to show Chummer how much better he had off compared to him. Rarity and Applejack were still trying to get out of the cage, as they saw the smug grin on Capper's face.

"Afternoon, Verko. So, was I right? or was I right? This surely is enough for that debt," Capper said, ready to hear what Verko had to say. The naked mole rat hopped off of the driver's seat to see him.

"Very nicely. But, you know the drill by now: we got time costs. And since you're last debt payment was a good three weeks ago, this debt is raised by fifty stonebucks. Gotta keep up with me, Cappy me boy," Verko said with a chuckle.

"Again?" Capper groaned, not realizing that was said allowed. This wasn't exactly the first time Verko told him this, and what didn't help was that the greedy rat saw the small bag of money Chummer had been trying to keep for himself. And the cat noticed too late when he got his grubby paws on it.

"HEY!" Chummer shouted, lunging for the money bag, but only to be met with dirt. Verko checked the bag.

"Thank you for the donation," Verko chimed, just before laughing and giving the signal for the group to head off, leaving Capper and Chummer by themselves. Now Chummer had nothing but dirt, and Capper had even more debt to pay up. Not even those two were enough for the debt? He could've sworn he was at least close this time. Typically he would brush it off, but after seeing Chummer eat dirt for money … well, the reality of his situation hit him when it should have LONG ago.

A debt that he wasn't going to fill, and never will.

~~~~~~

Applejack and Rarity were now in deep trouble. With themselves now stuck inside the cage, Verko brought them off away from the Klugetown square, and off towards what looked to be the Klugetown airship docks. As the idea sounded, the ships themselves were keeping themselves airborne much like a Blimp, with a slight mix of old-fashioned sea-going ships for stylized choice. It didn't matter much though for the ponies, as this ship was where they're going to be boarded onto, and they weren't interested in being sold for work horses. Applejack had been working time and time again to buck out of the cage, but the bars were just a bit too thick to just be bucked off, even by AJ's strength.

"Easy, ponies. You don't want to ware yourselves out before you start your work," Verko snickered.

"You cretin! When I get out of this, swear on Celestia you'll pay!" Rarity warned, staring daggers at the rat.

"HA! The only thing paying is the bidders in the next county. Just think of the prices I can put for two fine looking ponies like you."

Rarity almost looked rabid, she was so angry, desperately trying to reach the horrid rodent. Bad enough they got gipped by Capper, but being sold for pack mules was NOT something she wanted to re-live (she had enough bad memories with being pack mule to the Diamond Dogs).

"Load em in, boys!" Verko called, giving a whistle to his men to bring them into said ship. However, just before they could be put up there, someone else started to stroll up to the rat. Much to the Ponies' dismay.

"Capper, there you are! We're just loadin up these ponies of yours."

"Yeah, I can see that. Eh, hey, can I talk to you for a sec, boss?" Capper asked strolling over to the mole rat. Rarity looked crossly at him.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in. Himself!" Rarity spat. Capper ignored her, tugging on his improved coat.

"Right, anyway, You didn't have time to check them, did you?" Capper asked, "Call me crazy, but as they were stayin at my place, I'm thinking they might have got at little something in their systems."

"Don't be stupid, we already pulled that scam on everybody in town," retorted Verko. Capper raised his hands in submission.

"Now, now, I know we did, but that was before I brought em back home. I've had them at my place, and they've been giving me a complete run for my money. That white one there spent three hours working out the knots in her mane, and did you see how ornery the orange one is?"

"Beg your pardon?" AJ asked quizzically, eyebrow raised.

"Well yeah, so?" Verko asked.

"So, why do you think that any creature, pony or not, would spend SO MUCH TIME cleaning themselves up? I mean, who knows how long they've been roaming around outside of town? You did say they've been here before, right? and where'd could they've gone in the meantime? Oh, and may I remind you that one of them didn't even clean up yet? Wouldn't want a diseased animal for profit, now would we?" Capper made sure each of his words were as smooth and well put as loud and firm, so as to make sure each one wasn't missed and sounded as convincing. Verko had worked with Capper for years, but even times like this Verko was being charmed into his words, buying into it like any other merchant in town. Applejack and Rarity weren't going to trust this guy at all … until he glanced back and gave them a sly wink.

"Now, this is just me, but least y'all can do is give these two a bath. you know, make them look their best for their "debut". Nobody likes little dolls in rags, if you get my drift," Capper proposed. Verko and his subordinates discussed it in private, and Capper turned his back to them with a smile on his face. He closed his eyes, and counted down the seconds with his fingers.

Three. Two. One.

"Alright, boys, get em in the ship and scrub them down. I don't want any fleas," Verko instructed. Insulting, yes, but Applejack and Rarity were a little curious as to what Capper was up to, as the thugs brought the cage on into the ship. Capper went on and followed them in, but not before giving a signal with his tail for someone off outside. Having seen the signal, Chummer slipped right on inside just before the ship's doors closed. Capper made sure the others were just out of sight before Chummer came in, feeling a good vibe from this plan of theirs.

"Well, that was easy. You remember how to do this?" Capper asked.

"Don't worry bout me. You just keep that naked mole head talkin while I get those thugs brawling," Chummer replied with a wink. With a high-five as they passed, they both went off to their posts.

…….

And for AJ and Rarity, the feeling was a bit mutual when it came to bathtime. like a pair of dogs, both mares were dumped into a tub of water, and the thugs, unwillingly and reluctantly, started to give them both a good ol' scrub down. And they were just as rough on them. Applejack was forced to keep sitting in the water as they kept scrubbing her mane with a wire brush. The knots in her mane were sorted out fine, but it was surely painful for her. Rarity wasn't enjoying it any better, if anything she felt worse about it as it was wrecking her mane to no end! The thug dealing with her held her by the horn so 1: she won't use magic, and 2: it kept her head and body still as they scrubbed her.

"Watch where those brushes are goin!" Applejack demanded, feeling another sting from the brushes going through a knot in her mane. Any harder, and she felt her mane would be pulled off.
Unaware to the ponies though, Chummer had just managed to slip himself off close to the targets. The thugs did not really notice the cat nearby, and neither did the ponies off in the tub either. The cats had a plan in mind, and Chummer was ready to handle his part. While Capper was talking up Verko to keep him busy, Chummer got his own bit of talent to work. His long tail came out, and gave a tap on one thug's shoulder, distracting him for a brief moment before the cat came up, whacked him on the side of the face, and slipped away.
The first thug looked to the second, and snorted at him, but the second guard was a bit oblivious to what just happened. They got back to work, but Chummer clocked the second thug in the face, and slipped before either could see. The two guards were suspicious of eachother. And with Chummer hitting them both at once and slipping out of sight …

You could probably guess what happened next: the thugs got into a fight. Applejack and Rarity were startled on seeing the thugs beat eachother up, as Chummer got out of hiding, just to see both thugs give eachother a knockout punch. Only a true trickster can knock out two opponents without touching them.

"Chummer!" gasped the ponies.

"Sshh. Come on, ladies, before they grow a brain," Chummer said. Rarity and Applejack took the advantage, and got themselves moving off away from the thugs and on their way to the exit. Now, they would just bolt for it, but keen-eared Chummer skidded to a halt, and grabbed the mares, pulling them aside just before -

"HAHAHAHA! Capper, you're killin me!" Verko laughed, seemingly just after Capper made a fairly good joke to him.

"Ol' Capper: Master of comedy," Capper said with a smug grin. Verko chuckled a bit more before going passed them.

"Well, you can give my pals a laugh when we meet em later. For now, let's check in on your - P-PONIES!"

AND he found them not only gone, but the thugs knocked out senseless, beat up very badly. He did expect some bit of strength, sure, but looking at these two they looked a bit worse than he would've expected. He wasn't laughing anymore.

"WHAT THE - they're gone! How did they do this?" Verko said in shock. As Verko was checking the others, the ponies started to see what the main plan was, and with Chummer's influence, moved them on out into the open.

"There you are! You got me worried for a moment there," Verko said, going straight up to them, "How did you handled my pals like that?"
Verko was right in their faces, and AJ glanced over to Capper, who gestured them to continue on. With his biggest and strongest now stuck on the ground unconscious, it was only Verko they had to deal with. The odds were now in their favor, but Capper had already gotten this part figured out, remembering a little trick that Applejack had pulled earlier. And with this being a cargo ship, there was quite the amount of boxes. Applejack kept her eye on Capper as he moved off just behind Verko, and his foot knocking over just enough stuff to -

*CRASH*

Capper, AJ, and Rarity got out of the way just in time before Verko found himself stuck underneath the cargo. He wasn't knocked out, but he was not going anywhere anytime soon. While he did fall for the trap, he knew well who was responsible, as he, Chummer, and the ponies began to take their leave.

"You traitor! You back-stabber!"

"I learned from the best," Capper said.

"You - … hey, you're right. Good technique kid," Verko admitted. Odd to hear, but they knew he wasn't going to be any trouble, as they strolled out of the ship, closing the door behind them.

It was a bit of an odd moment for ponies and cats.

"Well. Uh, thanks," Rarity said, humbly.

"Nah, I should be thanking you: you're the first to actually do something for me without expecting anything in return," Capper admitted, specifically referring to Rarity. "Nobody in this town's done that for me before. Especially that Verko."
They weren't too sure if this was just some act on Capper's part or not, but Applejack: Element of Honesty, could see that even someone like Capper was moved by the generosity. AJ looked over to both cats next.

"Well, that was a fine plan you both had going. Looks like you won't be working for Verko anymore though," Applejack pointed out. Capper was a little down, but he just shrugged.

"Eh, not too bad. Playing con-kitten to a mole rat was never fun anyway," Capper replied.

"So what're you gonna do now? Going back to thievery like you used to do?" Rarity asked. Chummer shook his head.

"Nope. Being a thief's fun and all, but there's a lot of better, and easier, ways to make a living," Chummer decided. He and Capper smiled to eachother, for this was a decision that wasn't just for Chummer, but for Capper too. There are better ways to live aside from a thief or a con-man. Capper and Chummer started to go, but then Capper remembered something.

"Oh yeah," Capper realized. Rarity and Applejack then saw what could only be described as a magician's trick: him reaching into the coat, and suddenly pulling out Rockhoof's shovel seemingly from nowhere. You didn't think they'd forget that did you? Capper gave em the shovel as his own way of thanks, and they both began to stroll off back into town together.
It was then that Rarity tapped Applejack on the shoulder and brought her attention to something else: her Cutie Mark was flashing again.

This time, she was officially done.

Double-Sided Coin

View Online

*yaawwwn*

Oh, what a long night. At least for poor Luna. With a stretch of her sore wings, and flickering her eyes in the morning light, tired Luna had finished up yet another long night of dream-casting, and dream-settling. A princess of the night would be responsible for such things, but even if she technically didn't move an inch throughout the night, that didn't mean she wasn't feeling tired. She gave a few stretches like that of a cat, getting a few muscles cracked on the process, before the alicorn started to move off from the balcony she spent all night on, and into the castle. A tired Alicorn was not something to provoke, no matter who or what was doing so. As she walked along quietly through the halls, many of the guards made sure to keep out of her way, seeing less of an alicorn princess and more of some dangerous creature that got up on the wrong side of the bed.

"Are we supposed to say something?" whispered one of the guards.

"I don't think so," whispered another.

The disgruntle princess didn't even acknowledged them much, too tired to actually focus on much. She would go through rough nights fairly well, but the last night was especially hard on her to deal with, leaving her with one of those morning headaches one would get from a rough night's sleep. If you could call her job in the dreamscape sleeping, that is.
Eventually, the princess reached the dining room for breakfast, finding that not only was her sister already up and present, but breakfast was sitting there waiting for dear Luna on arrival.

Pancakes. Stylized with pineapples this morning in smiles. Too bad Luna was too tired to bring her own smile to the table.

"Good morning, dear sister," Celestia said.

"... hey," Luna groaned, as her magic was just enough to bring some of the meal to her muzzle. Not changing expression even once. Celestia sat down next to her younger sister, enjoying her breakfast as well.

"Rough night, huh?"

"Yeah," Luna simply said, rubbing her eye with her hoof. The two sat in silence for a bit, eating their meal, but for Luna, she couldn't pay too much attention: her fork eventually just poking the table, and she ended up biting into the fork. Biting into metal never was good for the teeth, be it on a horse or no. She tossed the fork aside, but didn't figure on where the fork would -

*bonk*

"Ow!"

… end up.

"My apologies," Luna said in a yawn. "Oh sweet Luna … wait, I'm Luna."

Luna couldn't get a grip resting her chin on the table, just after Celestia moved the plate out of the way. Not as cushiony of spot to rest her head, but it still saved her breakfast. Celestia had some of the staff leave so they would have some time for themselves.

"Luna, I haven't seen you this exhausted since Lucid D. Limbo's incident with Steven. Is the dream realm acting up again?" Celestia asked in concern. Luna groaned.

"If you're referring to something like that, no. … but if you're referring to nightmares in general, then yes," Luna explained, tired and slow in her voice, almost ready to sleep right then and there if not for the tapping of Celestia's hoof to keep her up. If she was to fall asleep, it needed to be her own bed.

"I know you get tired every morning, but this is a bit much, even for you," Celestia pointed out, levitating Luna off of the table and by the door, Luna just sitting there, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Oh, tell me something I don't know. *yawn* the dream realm has been a bit more active than usual. And not exactly in the best way."

"More nightmares?" Celestia presumed. Luna just nodded before yawning, and slowly laying down on the floor.

"And here I thought going into dreams outside of this universe as well with some "extra magic" would be a good idea. It's FAR more complicated dealing with Human and Gem dreams than it is with Pony dreams."

"Wait. You've been visiting the human and Gem dreams too? Um, sorry, when did this happen?"

"Ever since the Tantabus attack, I've been thinking on how much I can better contribute. They all trusted me, as they said, and I've been wanting to give something back, so I enhanced by magic to a higher level so I could visit dreams to all those in either Equestria or Earth. *yawn* it's exhausting sometimes. But it's helpful … I think."

It wasn't. not on Luna, anyway.

"Luna, I know you're not the one to leave problems alone until they're solved … but, this is over-doing it. Even somepony like you needs her rest," Celestia advised.

"B-But, no. What about the … the Fillydelphia …" Luna would at least try to give a counter-argument, but she just felt too tired to come up with anything, as she began to go off towards the door after a long yawn.

"Oh Alright. Goodnight, Celestia," Luna yawned, and she reached for the door -

*BAM* "Princess! Message!"

Just in time for one of the messenger ponies to rush in. It just wasn't her morning. Well, suppose it was a while for at least one surprise message to come about to them, one way or another, but all the same Celestia didn't approve of the pony hitting her sister like that, accidental or otherwise.

"... what?" all Celestia needed to do was point to Luna to get that across. "O-Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I uh, I -"

*SNOOOOORE*

Celestia just sighed, and gently levitated sleepy Luna off the floor. Again, this was better off for bed than on flooring.

"I'll let this mistake slide for the time being. Thank you for the message," Celestia said, levitating the letter from the pony. He bowed to her, and trotted on his way, and as Celestia brought Luna off towards bed. It took little time for her to put Luna off back to bed, and once she tucked her sister in, she then looked to what the letter had to say.

Dear Princess Celestia:

Sorry to bother you this way, but I just wanted to ask if you've seen any of the Crystal Gems lately, or if they had been seen around Canterlot lately. I've been a bit busy lately to look around, and things had been a bit rough to the point when they all split up. I'd rather not give too much detail, but the highlight is that their leader had been keeping something to herself, and they're all torn up over it. I don't know when any of them would come back, if they are planning to do that. If you've seen them, Please let us know.

Yours faithful; Twilight Sparkle

She looked to her sister sleeping in bed, but then came to the conclusion herself, shaking her head and keeping the letter to herself. Luna was always the type to dwell on problems, and she didn't want her to worry further than she already had been.

Time to go it alone. Again.

.......

"The Crystal Gems. Gone? Whatever secret Rose kept from them must've been quite a large one, and personal as well. Oh, times like this I wish I had enough time to visit them more often."

Thoughts like this went through Celestia's mind as she flew on around Canterlot, and off towards the lands nearby. The least she could do was check the area for the Gems if they were to come on by (some of them do have portal keys, after all). Though, despite her efforts, and a sky-high view of the city, she wasn't having much luck in that regard. Gems would be something that would easily be seen in a city of ponies, but looking around, ponies was all Celestia could see: a few workers on some Dragon Sneeze Trees, plenty of aristocrats, even a mime pony performing, but none of them came close to the target. Lucky for her though, many of them didn't really notice Celestia flying around in the sky, otherwise it might complicate things for her.
But as she was flying along, just before she could make it fully out of Canterlot, she was met with a bit of a surprise message: given to her ala Dragonbreath mail. She stopped and read it over before her eyes moved off towards Twilight's Tower, which at this point was just a few wingbeats away. Celestia flew down to the frontal window, it being opened by Pink Diamond and Spike, the Gem helping Spike get to the windows.

"Greetings Pink Diamond, Spike. I got your message," Celestia said.

"We saw," Pink said, before setting Spike down.

"So, what seems to be the issue?" Celestia asked. All Spike and Pink had to do was point off towards Twilight Sparkle off nearby. The Alicorn, much like Luna apparently, had seen some better days as she looked EXHAUSTED. Her mane unkept, wings spread and touching the floor, and about as worn out as Princess Luna was earlier. Peculiar. Twilight had just enough energy to get the first message out to Celestia before passing out, and seeing this too, Celestia could tell the problem.

"Twilight?"

"H-Huh? Scheduling? K, put the hay in the apple, and eat the candle," Twilight moaned, almost drunkenly in tone, waving her hoof tiredly before drifting off back to sleep. Celestia didn't find that too much sense.

"It's been like this all morning," confided Pink Diamond to Celestia, "She's been working on the Cutie Map for days straight, and suddenly she just … well, stopped."

"I told you, she needs sleep," Spike reminded, sounding a little bit bugged himself.

"I'm a Gem, how am I supposed to know that?"

*AHEM*
Before a tiff could start up, Celestia went over to her tired student. As with Luna at the breakfast table, Celestia gently lifted Twilight off of the table, and began to get her off to bed. Before she could get her there though, Twilight started to wake up, and half-awake, started to panic in the air before Celestia dropped her, snapping her back to her senses somewhat.

"H-Huh? Celestia? You find anypony - er anybody?" Twilight asked in a yawn.

"No. But Spike told me you were exhausting yourself."

"WHAAAT? Me? No. I just … need a little nap. Napkin, tool-in, aaahhh …" and with that, she fell back asleep again, as much as she didn't want to. Whatever was going on lately sure was draining everyone pout by the looks of it. Celestia took a moment to think, but then she got an idea before turning to Spike and Pink.

"Spike, Pink Diamond? I'm needed for an appearance in Fillydelphia in short time, but it seems that both my sister, and Twilight are in no condition to go. They need their rest, same as anybody else. So, would you two care to come with me in their place?"

An interesting proposition.

~~~~~~

*RAAAWWWRRR*

What a thing to think. With much of the group still gone in one way or another, those that remained had to take some time to handle more of the missions Sapphire had to give them. In this case, the main ones doing so here were Rainbow Dash, Amethyst, Connie, Pinkie Pie, and Steven. The missing Gems were still a bother, but some things still had to be done in their absence, which included getting Corrupted Gems. In this case, the threat wasn't anything too crazy: a large brute of a Gem, looking like a purple Jasper corruption, which had gone a bit close to Beach City. Nonetheless, it held up a good fight to the group it was facing.

"Incoming!" Rainbow cried, flying down from the sky, back hoof ready to kick the beast down hard, but the corrupted Jasper nearly slashed her hooves. It would've got her too if Steven didn't went ahead and used his shield to block the claws. The beast snarled and kept trying to get at them, but Pinkie Pie popped up right on the beast's head, and it quickly turned from a fight into a rodeo, as the beast tried to buck Pinkie Pie off of her back. Connie and Amethyst stood nearby, Connie ready with her new sword, which shined in the sun. Connie also had her waist tied to Amethyst's whip, both having an idea in mind.

"Alright, Amethyst, make me fly!" Connie ordered.

"Up you go!" Amethyst replied, bringing her whip skyward, and as such, Connie too. She used the momentum of the whip to launch herself upward in a sort of enhanced jump, bringing herself above the monster. Pinkie kept it distracted just long enough so it stayed underneath the oncoming sword, and she jumped off just as Connie slammed the sword through the beast's head, poofing her immediately. It was one of the easier missions they had to go on out to do, and Steven had the honors of bubbling it, and sending it off on its way before they began to walk on back to Beach City, which now had a more notable winter coat to it.

"Okay, that's another one. Phew, I didn't realize how much work was backed up," Steven said.

"I know: twenty monsters in one week? I know you guys do a whole lot when not at the Temple, but this is a bit excessive," Connie replied, feeling a bit tired. Grant it, it had been a while since they last fought any gem monsters, but this was a lot for one time.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Pinkie beamed, "We can keep on the fight! We are the Crystal Gems/Elements of Harmony team up, and we can keep on keepin on! WOOO!"

… Followed by Pinkie falling into the sand and snow. Sleeping. Even the pink mare had her limits.

"Am I not the only one who saw that coming?" Rainbow said, going over and getting Pinkie Pie up off the ground. Admittedly they all could've seen that coming, no time at all. Pinkie was lifted up by Amethyst, the pink mare being held in a manor much like a backpack.
It was at this point they got closer to the Beach City Boardwalk. The residents were going about their day, bundled up thanks to the winter weather much like they were.

"Well, here's some good news: Tiger's Eye told me after a race she got word from Fluorite, and she's saying the others might be coming back soon," Rainbow said.

"That's good," Connie said, "At least they're over this stump in the road. I hope so, at least."

"They'll be fine," Rainbow reassured, nudging Connie, "This is the Crystal Gems we're talking about. You have any idea how much emotional beatings they've gone through already?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. What I'm still confused on, is how did they find out. I didn't tell them, I know that."

"Steven and I didn't tell em' until after our trip to the Kindergarten, and most of them were already gone," Amethyst pointed out. The most they told were the Mane Six, the Off-Colors, Jade, and Flint, but that was about it before the search even started.

"You don't think … Pearl just told them without us. Do you?" Connie asked, feeling some mixed emotions about it.

"Um … maybe? She wouldn't want to share it with them, but she did keep this hidden for thousands of years -"

*MAYOR DEWEY! MAYOR DEWEY!*

The conversation was severely cut short as they were passing the Citywalk Fries, hearing a LOT of racket coming from the tater tot truck Peedee was running, namely the "mayor Dewey" horn accidentally going off as he was working. Peedee must've hit a button on this, and he quickly managed to get the talking potato to shut up. This left ehm a little frazzled, but otherwise okay (it didn't wake Pinkie up for whatever reason).

"I'm never gonna get used to that thing," Rainbow commented.

"Sorry!" Peedee called. One would think that the speaker would be removed, but just painting over the head was all Peedee really did on the truck itself. Guess he had something else to look into, though seeing the tater tot truck did give Amethyst an idea on what they can do.

"Hey, we've been working all week, why don't we celebrate and get ourselves some Donuts?" Amethyst encouraged. Been a while since they've been to the Big Donut. The very mention of these donuts was what spurred Pinkie Pie back in action, her suddenly awake and springing to her hooves.

"I heard an offer referring to a reward treat?" Pinkie asked. Well, guess THAT worked.

"Yeah, Big Donut. Interested?" Amethyst asked, nudging the pony, though they probably knew what answer that would come around to be. Pinkie Pie looked smugly to Amethyst.

"You kidding?"

With that answer, Pinkie Pie got a headstart to the Big donut. As they were going off towards the direction in question, they began to notice a very slight snowfall start to come down around them, the first few snowflakes landing off in Steven's own hand. A nice little gesture to any winter day, him looking up to the soft and gentle -

The future of your worlds shall be wiped away in a blanket of eternal snow!

"Steven, come on! Those donuts aren't gonna eat themselves!" Amethyst called.

"Yeah, that'd be weird!" added Pinkie.

"Sorry, coming!" Called back Steven, catching up to them.

…….

"The Big Donut … is now CLOSED?!"

Winter just got a little bit colder. Their plans to get a donut from their favorite eatery for such things was now closed for the day, and they were just short of getting their fix. Time had been a little too long, and seeing the Big Donut now closed up, the sign in front of the building saying it all. It was a bittersweet moment, Pinkie Pie and Steven looking into the shop.

"Well, so much for that idea," Connie sighed.

"Whoa, whoa, I'm not giving up our donut fix. I got this," Amethyst decided, her finger turning into the shape of a key for the door. A rather weird idea, but Amethyst wasn't gonna be denied to allow some reward for their work. She got her finger into the keyhole, but it was a lot harder than it looked. she grunted and griped a little as she tried to work out the lock, but after a few minutes, this sort of work was eventually starting to catch on to one of the workers inside … as it turned out, there was people in there.

"Hey Amethyst?" Rainbow said.

"Hang on, think I almost got it," Amethyst said, not noticing anything happening. The door was suddenly moved open by Sadie, who was looking a bit confused herself. Awkward.

"What're you doing?" Sadie asked. Amethyst pulled her finger out (which was looking sore anyway), and acted like she wasn't doing anything stupid.

"Uh, nothing. What're you doing here?"

"Working? You come for your donuts? We got a fresh batch," Sadie offered.

"Wait, but you're closed aren't you?" asked Connie, pointing to the sign. Sadie took one look before she realized the mistake, blushing a little bit.

"Huh? OH! Oh boy, no wonder it's slow today," Sadie said. She went in and flipped the sign from closed to open, before adding "Sorry, I forgot to switch the sign. Here, you can come in."

That was all the incentive they needed, and Pinkie was the first inside (naturally). Been a while since they've been in here, and with how much going on over the week, not much time to check in on them either. At the front counter was Lars, though while past Lars would be checking a magazine or something, Lars now was wiping down the counter as they came in.

"Hey Lars," Steven said.

"Hey there Gems, ponies. Connie. Haven't heard from you in a while," Lars replied. He was feeling a bit better himself about things, at least when it came to work and how things had died down enough for him to work casually.

"Yep. So, care to hook us up?" Amethyst asked, leaning on the counter.

"Sure, what would you like?" Sadie asked, ready to give them their fix. Pinkie was ready to give her order, but Rainbow got her wing out to stop her. Best to not overwhelm them both from the get-go. Much of the group got it down a bit easy so far: Connie had plain, Rainbow Dash had almond, Amethyst went with at least three types of glazed jelly donuts, Pinkie got a full box of all sorts of types (go figure), and for Steven … well, it had been a while, so he was a little unsure at first.

"AH, my donut muse is too weak to help me decide!" Steven realized in defeat. Donut muse may be a new thing, but, luckily for him, Lars and Sadie had their own little idea that they figured Steven would try.

"Indecisive, huh? Well, you could try our new flavor, if you want," Sadie offered. THIS got Steven's attention.

"There's a new flavor?" he gasped. Then it was Lars who presented Steven Diamond Universe with a brand new donut on their retainer. It looked like some sort of simple jelly donut deal, but this one had a different taste and coloration to it. If it did remind him of anything, it was familiar to an eggplant, which included shape. Though, one bite of the donut and it was a big shift from eggplant to something more like a mango or peach. This took Steven completely by surprise, and his eyes starred up.

"This … is … AMAZING! Who do I thank for this incredible creation?!" Steven gasped.

"You can call it a Collaboration," Sadie said, glancing over to Lars. Lars just chuckled a little bit, a slight blush on his face. Clear where the main inspiration came from.

"I got the idea after those fruits on the Jungle Moon," Lars replied, rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't denying it, and was glad that Steven enjoyed the creation. It was clear what donut Steven was getting for his trip. He went on and joined the others by the nearest table, and enjoyed the donuts with them as they continued their chat, now with Lars and Sadie joining in.

"Haven't seen you guys in a while, what have you been up to?" Sadie asked.

"A lot of things: we put humans on Mask Island, learned who Steven's mom really is, getting fancy items called by a Cutie Map, tending a new garden at the Barn, fighting Gem monsters since over half the group's ran off. You know, the usual," Pinkie replied, before gobbling up another donut.

"... WOW. Ok then," Lars said after a pause. They really had been a bit busy lately.

"What do you mean "ran off"? Where'd they go?"

"We're trying to work that out," Connie explained, "It's been a … stressful week."

"So, what's the big news this time?" Lars asked.

"It's my mom: it turns out she's not Rose Quartz, but Pink Diamond. Which kinda changes everything we knew about history as we know it, but more importantly, everyone ran away over it. No one else knew except for Pearl, and now we're trying to see if they're okay … by the way, you haven't seen any of them, have you?"
Lars and Sadie found this a bit much for them to hear, though since they weren't as involved about all the Gem stuff as they were, it was a softer response than what could be. Thinking over it, there wasn't that much to go on.

"Well, who exactly ran off on you?" Sadie asked. Pinkie gobbled up a few more of her donuts before answering.

"Let's see … Lapis, Jasper, Pearl, Emerald, Star Quartz, Fulgurite, Diopside, and Ruby. Jasper, Lapis, and Diopside are going to come back soon, Bismuth never really "left" but will come back around, and Flint decided to quit the team from what Sapphire said, so it's just Pearl, Emerald, Star Quartz, Fulgurite, and Ruby," Pinkie explained, thinking about it the best she could.

"Sapphire? You mean Garnet's split up now?" Lars asked, a bit surprised.

"It was a lot to take in," Rainbow replied.

"I KNOW! Everybody's all "Everything is a LIE" right now," Pinkie added in.

"Well, we'll keep you all posted if it helps," Sadie promised.

"Thanks. So, what's with you two? did the crowds chill out about you being pink yet?" Amethyst asked, referring to Lars specifically.

"Yeah, thank goodness. I'm just known as the cool pink kid now," Lars replied.

"Pinkie approves!" Pinkie said.

"I thought people were teasing you over it," Steven said, thinking back to the vacation they took to the Crystal Empire.

"Yeah, I still have some comments about it, but things are better now since those wolves came into town. Guess I better shown myself while going through Beach City," Lars figured. Fair enough: he was, after all, one of the few who went back to rescue some of them whereas everyone else stayed well away from all the danger. Anyone willing to do that would at least get some respect, and heck, some small comments beats getting clown shoes inside his locker any day.
As they were enjoying their donuts, observant Connie took a look along the wall nearby the coffee machine. In particular, what looked to be some form of advertisement. The thing that caught Connie's attention about it was the "Equestrian" concept on it (a pony wearing a chef hat, and holding a spatula, was a pretty good clue). Just enough to get Connie up, and going over to check it out.

"What do we have here?" Connie asked.

"Oh, that? We just got some posters for it this morning," Sadie explained, "The story is that Fillydelphia is going to be setting up for a national Cook-Off soon, and that since they've been hearing a lot about, well, you guys -" she said this while referring to Connie, Amethyst, and Steven, "They wanted to get some competition from Earth to join in. They got some of these into Ponyville, which Applejack came here to show us."

"Fillydelphia … nope, never heard of it," Amethyst concluded. Looking at this though, Steven and Pinkie Pie had a similar idea come to them.

"Lars, Sadie, you two should enter!"

"W-What? Us?" Lars asked, taken off guard.

"Yeah! Your collaboration is already amazing, who knows what other creations you two can make?" Steven encouraged. Course it was just one donut, and it was by chance it would turn out pretty good to eat.

"Oh, I don't know. We got this place to look after. I-I mean, donuts don't sell themselves," Lars admitted, rubbing his arm. He may be braver than before, but that didn't mean he was completely cured of his short-comings. He never entered a food contest before, after all. Suddenly, Pinkie hopped over behind the front counter, and once she was in sight, she suddenly had a ponyfied Big Donut employee shirt on.

"Big Donut Pie reporting for duty!" Pinkie said, giving a salute to them.

"Well, guess that's fixed," Sadie said. "She can watch over the place while we're at Fillydelphia. What do you say?"
Lars took a moment to think, and in the end, there really wasn't any reason to not go. That, and he hadn't seen the big city much since Homeworld, so it could be a better change of pace.

"Well, I don't have any other plans, so guess we can make something for the Cook-Off."

"YES!"

~~~~~~

Fillydelphia.

Well, it may not be the most well-known city in Equestria, but that didn't make Fillydelphia any less impressive. And with the warping of the Portal Key doors, the latest contestants went right off to Fillydelphia town square. A pretty nice day all and all, and much of the city itself looked pretty good for what it was: nothing outside from places such as Manehatten, or Empire City: the standard tall buildings with pony residence going about their day. Even if it was winter, snow wasn't all too abundant on the streets, with the exception of a few street signs. Sadie, Steven, Lars, Amethyst, and Connie stood out like a sore thumb on arrival, but none of them really bothered them too much.
What did bug Lars though was what he had to present: A case of similar donuts from earlier. The difference here though was they were pumpkin-themed instead of "Jungle Moon" theme. It was a slight switch, but something still fairly decent all things considered. Pinkie Pie also had an entry to represent Sugarcube Corner - it was a bunch of cupcakes - which she balanced on her head as they went along. A food contest without her entry just felt wrong.

"Wow, look at this place," Connie said as they looked around, "Fillydelphia is sure looking lively today."

"It's kinda hard not to be when you're in the city, but yeah. Nice to be in a city without sneaking around everywhere," Sadie replied. It wasn't anything like Homeworld's Diamond Cities, but this did come up pretty close in its own way.

"I dunno about you, but first thing I'm gonna do is handle some sampling. This is grade-A food being given away here," Amethyst said, licking her lips. It's a contest giving away free food for a determined winner, why waste the chance?

"Well, I'm glad we can take some time to relax after everything," Connie admitted, "The others will be back in no time."
A true fact indeed. As enthused as they were, Lars was noticing that there didn't seem to be anything going on where they came in.

"Anyone know where the contest even is?" Lars asked, looking back to the others. It was kinda difficult to say on what was where, mostly from the bustling ponies walking around the area.

"No, but I bet it's nothing to do with all those ponies and tables over there," Pinkie said, suddenly in front of the group while holding onto a streetlight broadway-style, and pointing off round the corner.

"Whelp, we found it," said Steven.

And indeed they did: part of the busy street was cut off for taxi drivers for the said Fillydelphia Food Contest, and it already was looking quite chipper about it. It wasn't exactly set up yet, but contestants were already around the place with critics, cooks, and company gathered. Good line of tables were around the sidewalks, with the main street being used as casual walk-arounds. If there was anywhere for the contest to start, this would be it.
It didn't take them too much time either to get themselves in entry, finding an official amongst the crowd.

"Excuse me," said Steven, "But we have two entries we'd like to put in for the contest -"

"AH, AH, AH, no can do," said the official.

Well, so much for that.

"What? Why not? Can't you squeeze us in?" Connie asked.

"No, no, I'm sorry, but the rules state that there can't be any new entries after the appointed -" the official pointed to a nearby clock. The main time for entries to stop coming through would be at least at ten thirty. And the time said ten twenty nine, so …

"Oh, look at that just in time … Lucky for you, I like punctuality!" said the official, as he floated two different number tags for each of the dishes, one for Lars and Sadie, and one for Pinkie and Rainbow. "Here's your number tags, go and set up wherever available. Good luck."

"Thanks," said Sadie.

"Talk about a last-minute entry," Rainbow remarked. But, they were glad to get themselves into the contest regardless.
With themselves now officially entered, they got themselves busy setting up their respected booths. Apparently luck got hold of the contest for them, because the main two tables left were right next to eachother. So, Sadie and Lars took one of the booths, setting up plates and napkins, whereas Pinkie and Rainbow took the one next to them. Pinkie Pie of course added some flair to her booth by adding a few balloons (best not to ask), and Steven made sure to let the judges know where the donuts and cupcakes came from by making some small signs for them: Beach City for one, and Ponyville for the other. It matched the other entries, which had a similar idea to it.

"So this is your first food contest, Connie?" Rainbow Dash asked, to break the ice once they were done.

"Eh, in a way. My parents wouldn't usually attend these contests with me, thinking I'd gain weight from eating some of the entries," Connie admitted. A feeble argument, but to each its own supposedly. But one can't argue that the temptation was pretty high up there for what the contestants had to bring to the table.

"Well, there's nothing stopping you from trying some now," Amethyst encouraged, giving Connie a playful nudge.

"Wait, you sure?"

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't it be? I've seen these before: all you have to do is sample some of the food, and you vote on which one's the best by the end. One with the most votes wins," Amethyst explained. A Gem that enjoyed the culinary works and culinary treats would have picked up some knowledge about it.

"Oh. That's it?"

"That's it. Take it from me, I've been to quite my share of food contests."

"And getting kicked out from eating all the food, right?" Lars joked. Amethyst blushed a little bit, but knew a joke when she heard it.

"Eh, you're supposed to have samples, it's kind of the point. Speaking of which, I'm gonna check out what we got here - check out the competition. See ya later," Amethyst said, taking it in stride as she went off to see the other stuff. Some reason, they all felt that they might have to help Amethyst out once she was done with her "sampling", but it was just a hunch. Connie actually was getting a bit interested herself in the idea.

"Eh, maybe I should go with her. Just in case," Connie suggested.

"Okay, Connie have fun," Steven said, and Connie went off into the crowds to catch up to Amethyst.
With Connie and Amethyst doing their own thing, the others off at the stands got themselves cleaned up and ready for the judges to come on by. The first few minutes didn't give them too much specialty. But while two left, Pinkie Pie tended to her cupcakes, when she started to feel … something. Something peculiar. Something that made her ears flop, her knees twitch, and her eyes flutter.

"WOOOOW, so long since I've felt a Pinkie Sense. Ok, Rainbow, where're you?" Pinkie told herself, eyes up to the sky for what she was sure to be some sort of rainbow.

"Uh, I'm right here," Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie Pie quickly shook her head.

"No no no, my ears got floppy, my knees got twitchy, and my eyes fluttery. That means the sky is about to be graced with a beautiful rainbow!"

"Oh yeah. You know I knew that."

"Yep, but the audience doesn't."

"How does that make sense?" Sadie asked.

"DUH, it's my Pinkie Sense. OOOO, here it comes now!" And that Rainbow started to come in shortly after Pinkie said that. Up high in the sky, just above the contest, the ponies started to notice the arrival of another rainbow-maned mare flew towards the center of the street. The ponies around were surprised to see her, some bowing in her presence, as Princess Celestia settled down gently on the ground. And in such regards, she wasn't alone: giving a ride to Spike and Pink Diamond in her flight over. Celestia was slightly winded for the flight, but it wasn't too bad on her, as Spike and Pink Diamond took a look around.
Not an actual rainbow, but close enough. With their landing, Pink didn't take much time to notice her pink human not too far off, and took even less time to rush over and see him. Lars did duck before Pink would try and take him, but Pink stopped just short of the table. Pink Diamond sure knew how to stop on a dime.

"A pleasure to see you're here," Celestia said, joining Pink Diamond by the stand alongside Spike.

"Celestia? What're you doing here?" Steven asked, humbled as with everyone else.

"Just here as an appearance for the contest, and an extra judge for the contestants. No need to be so formal just because I'm present. I see the posters went through well," Celestia reassured. It probably wasn't needed, though with her experience with Twilight Sparkle, it was more of a natural response than anything else.

"We just got them, so we decided to give it a try. By the way, since you're here to judge too, care to try one?"

"S-Sadie!" Lars murmured, as Sadie presented their own share. He expected some to judge the work, sure, but he didn't want to jump the gun THAT quickly. Celestia was delighted to, and levitated one for herself, Spike, and Pink Diamond. Celestia explained how these work, so as Spike gobbled his up, Pink Diamond took a few nibbles of hers, as she never really "ate" anything before.

"W-Whoa, what is this?!" Pink gasped, eyes wide in shock at this sensation inside her mouth.

"That's a donut, Pink," Spike answered. He didn't feel like he had to be the one to explain some basics to Pink Diamond. "And, it's actually pretty good. You make this, Steven?"

"No, not me, I'm aiding today, right Lars?" Steven said, nudging Lars playfully. Enough indication to figure out the true chef now, and while he would try to at least give credit to his friends, he was at a loss for words when the princess nodded in agreement to Spike's statement.

"It is a nice treat. Well done, Lars," Celestia complimented. Lars just smiled, and watched Celestia go off along her way to check the rest of the entries. … And everyone else saw how "hot pink" in the face Lars was on being given a compliment by the ruler of Equestria.

"Loyalty-struck. You okay, Lars?" Spike asked, waving a clawed hand in front of Lars's face to bring him back around.

"Huh? OH, yeah, I'm fine, just … questioning everything."

"Oh no, not you too," Pink groaned.

"What, no not that, I … oh, nevermind," Lars corrected (or tried to correct).

"Eh, by the way, isn't Twilight with you? You always seem to hang out with her," Sadie pointed out.

"Eh, she's taking a break today," Spike replied.

Cutaway to Twilight back in Canterlot. Celestia had brought her to Luna's bedroom, and the two Alicorns were fast asleep side by side in the same royal, comfortable bed. Not even the birds flying by wished to chirp as to not disturb either of them. Make of that what you will.

"Don't tell me: over-studying again?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Big time," Spike replied. They didn't need any more on that.
And with this arrival, Pinkie Pie began to feel something come up in her again. This one was more simple, mainly her knees feeling as if someone came by and pinched them, making the pink mare jump.

"What's up with you?" Pink Diamond asked, confused.

"OOO, my knees are pinchy!"

"Another rainbow?" asked Lars, looking up to the sky.

"Nope: that's when my ears get floppy, my knees get twitchy, and my eyes fluttery. Nope, when my knee gets pinchy, that means something scary's about to happen!" Pinkie warned. That was a bit of a broad statement though, considering this was … well, Pinkie.

"Scary? Unless we're talking about bad food, how's anything gonna end up scary?"

Lars just had to ask.

*BOOOOOM*

"That's how."

This explosion sure got everyone's attention, but the explosion itself didn't come from any of the vendors, or any of the food brought to the contest, yet it was still dangerously close and got everyone startled in some way. It was as if the entire food contest stopped in time for a brief moment, everyone looking off down the road to where the explosion came from.

The first one to get moving on this was Celestia, who spread her wings and flew right off to see what happened, as some others (either out of curiosity or wanting to help) trailed behind. What they did find upon arriving was a bit of a shocker: a building on fire! The explosion set the building ablaze, at least two floors filled with fire, and smoke shooting out. How this didn't get noticed just yet up to this point was a mystery, but seeing the fire and potential of danger to anyone inside, Celestia immediately took action. The alicorn focused her magic in a particular spell, and the aura magic coming out turned into a spray of water, similar to that of a fire hose, and she went to work on the flames. Those observing saw Celestia make the work easy, and the fire itself didn't start to show resolve until after ten minutes of focused blasting, leaving the building in just smoke. After seeing the fire no longer as deadly, and gone, Celestia halted her spell though feeling a bit winded from the focused blast.

"WOO! Give it up for Tia!" Amethyst cheered, as the other ponies cheered for the effort. Connie, Spike, and Steven went right up front and checked to see if anyone was stuck inside still, but no one looked to be inside. Lucky for them many of the ponies who'd live in the building had gone to the contest already, otherwise this would be a much more dangerous issue.

"What happened in there?" Connie wondered.

"I'm not too sure. A good thing we were nearby when the explosion occurred," Celestia replied. Then they began to hear something …

WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO!

A little late, but eventually the police of Fillydelphia began to arrive, the group of police ponies skidding to a halt. Much of the ponies themselves were basic officer ponies, mares and stallions in blue, though two ponies stood out: one looked lime green with bluish-gray mane, tail, and mustache on his muzzle. In fact, his Cutie Mark seemingly was a mustache, but it was brown, and on a guard's yellow shield. The second stallion, looking more in his prime than the first one, had yellow fur with ginger mane and tail, looking more like an investigator than a police official with his cutie mark even being an hourglass with a detective's cap on. The yellow pony immediately charged into the building as the other officers stood off outside, the green pony seeing Celestia first.

"Princess! My lord, what a time for another one. Everypony alright? no damage to anyone?" the green pony called, no one claiming to be in any pain, nor looked it.

"We're fine, officer," Connie replied, the official sighing in relief before seeing the smoke-filled building. Not a good scene after the smoke cleared: with much of the interior burnt up, and the glass shattered, which worried some Gems in some way.

"Everypony, keep back, this is police business! Stay at least fifty yards away from the perimeter!" the green pony advised. By this point, a coughing yellow pony scuffled out, the detective getting some of the ash out of his throat, as a number of other police ponies got to their own work and checking the area. Pink Diamond though took just one step over the line for a pony to jump at her.

"WEEE WOOO WEEE WOO WEEE WOOO!" the pony shouted, mimicking a police siren.

"HEY!" Pink yelped, but it was just enough to move Pink Diamond back, though Steven went right up to the yellow pony. The green pony was a bit gentler towards Spike, Steven, and Connie as he moved them away.

"Wait, can't we help here?" Steven asked.

"A nice offer, but no. As I said, this is police business. You all just stay over here where it's safe."

"But you let her stay in!" Pink retorted, pointing to Celestia.

"And she's the ruler of all Equestria. I'm sure she has some ticket to this show if she wants to," the green pony said. Well, a point was a point. In fact, it was probably a good thing that Celestia was there anyway, as the officer went over to her. All more the reason why Pink needed some more time to get her authority stated, as the green pony went to Celestia.

"Princess. Name's By The Book, lead officer. Sorry for bothering you on short notice with this situation."

"No trouble. I'm just glad to see everyone's safe," Celestia replied, looking to the fire. While many of the officers got look to the fire, the yellow pony took one look to Spike, and …

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" suddenly, the pony pulled Spike out of the crowd, right at his hooves.

"Hard Case, leave Spike be! You know well he's not a local here," By The Book ordered. Hard Case cringed a bit on the order, but given he was right by Celestia, he dropped Spike to the ground.

"What difference does that make? Bad enough we got a princess over our shoulders, now I gotta play nice to a Dragon?" Hard Case spat. By The Book took it in stride with some disgruntle tone.

"Dragon or Pony, he's not responsible for every fire so far, remember? He can even help us out with this."

"Bringing him to investigate a fire is like asking Chrysalis to help with identity theft!" Hard Case retorted, frustrated.

"And you know that, how?" Hard Case didn't have any answer. Even with Celestia standing right there, Hard Case just trotted away to check with the other officers amongst the rubble some more. By The Book sighed before looking back to the crowd again.

"You'll have to excuse my partner, princess, he gets emotional about these cases. He doesn't mean any harm," By The Book made clear. Spike was thanking his lucky stars he wasn't just thrown into the nearest jail cell for starting any fire, but with what By The Book said during his conversation with Hard Case, it did leave some to speculate.

"Everypony, it's all going to be taken care of, continue your day!" By The Book called again, and some of them did begin to head off back to the contest. Well, except for a few, having some more questions.

"Wait, what even happened?" Amethyst asked.

"A fire, obviously!" shouted Hard Case.

"I meant how," Amethyst corrected. By The Book took a moment to check those present (Amethyst and Steven specifically), scratching his chin as he tried to think.

"Hold on now … Steven ,is it? Steven Universe?"

"How'd you know?" Steven asked, both spooked and astonished.

"You got a bit of a record, kid. You have several accounts of saving your world and ours, same goes for your friends there," By The Book explained, referring to Amethyst and the other, non-present Crystal Gems. They may be well-known, but they didn't expect to be known all the way here.

"... Actually. Think you can come round to the station? I want to ask you a few things."

"Wait, I thought you said we weren't involved," Connie said, thinking he was suspecting them of the fire, but By The Book shook his head.

"Just protocol that's all, plus you were here before we were and we could use some witnesses in these fires. You'll be back in the contest before you know it, I promise you that. … Ride Along, cut the siren please."

The siren pony, now known as Ride Along, FINALLY stopped his wee-wooing for a bit … just to start going *BOOP. BOOP. BOOP. BOOP.*

"What's with this guy?" Spike asked.

"Ride Along? He passed through the academy all stars, but turned out all he wanted to do was be a siren so we let him. We all have our enjoyments," By The Book explained. A bit of an odd wish, but harmless. Ride Along backed up until he found a good parking space, even making a clicking noise as if someone just place his alarm. Again, each to his own.

"Hey chief, we got something over here!" called one of the officers.

Time to get to the aftermath of this fire. Steven, Connie, spike, and Amethyst stood off by Celestia right by the entrence was as By The Book took a look inside. The explosion within left quite a mark on the room in question, but this didn't seem to be an ordinary fire. Sure, the building may have exploded, but they all could see that there was a far more prominent line along the floor to the back room, and looking passed the blasted door, they got what remained of the building's furnace. By The Book came down to a proper conclusion upon looking down to the fire line.

"Another dragon line."

"So this isn't the first time this has happened," Celestia said as she went in with By The Book.

"We've counted about twelve times so far, including this one, and they're all made out the same: a straight line leading to some sort of furnace or radiator, or whatever else that can explode or burn up."

"And you think it's a Dragon who's doing this?"

"I'm on it!" shouted a voice, and before Celestia and By The Book could say much, Pinkie Pie jumped right on into the situation. Immediately, Pinkie Pie went complete Bloodhound on the case, with her muzzle right at the ground sniffing the burnt line. She even gave the line a slight lick (don't ask), and by the end her face was completely covered in ash.

"Your verdict?" By The Book asked.

"Hmmmmm … it's a smoky smell, but more like a campfire smoky smell, and less like a Gas Station smoky smell, and …" Pinkie gave one more lick to her lips. "... a teeny tiny hint of peaches."

"Hmm … yes, peaches …" By The Book then turned to the others nearby.

"Alright, everypony come with me back to the station."

"We can't! Who's going to watch my cupcakes and Lars's Pumpkin Donuts, and sees who wins and cheers and/or cries afterwards?!" Pinkie asked. By The Book looked to the pink mare.

"The results aren't announced until tomorrow, you have plenty of time. Now, follow me."
A slight detail they weren't told about at the Food contest, but now they suddenly got themselves involved in police business. …

~~~~~~

"How the heck did we end up here?" Rainbow had to ask.

With some staying behind to tend to the contest, Connie, Steven, Spike, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Celestia were brought back to the police station. The office they ended up in looked pretty modern, yet had a sort of "noire" office style: a basic desk with papers and books on it, big enough for two with lamps and a single quill. PLENTY of files and paperwork abounded in the office, many either stacked or filed in filing cabinets nearby. By The Book himself got some notes in already in his pocket book before he began to address them.

"Alright, so here's the deal. Fillydelphia has been struck down with a lot of different fires as of late - twelve last I've checked, and they all have ended in the same way. And you're all saying you didn't see anyone come in and start anything nearby while doing the contest?"

"No sir," Connie replied, "We all just heard this explosion out of nowhere, and there it was." By The Book felt disappointed with that answer, but kept it to himself. As for Hard Case though …

"Of course, ANOTHER false claim. Tell me again why we have to let a bunch of kids in on police work?"

"Because this bunch of kids had aided Equestria more than once, so they can give us a hand here. Or did you forget ol' Tirek, or Chrysalis, or even that Discord fella?"

Hard Case clamped his muzzle shut as By The Book went back to the discussion.

"So why do you think it's a Dragon? There's a lot of things that can cause a fire: propane tanks, gas cans, tripping with a lighter," Steven wondered.

"We thought of that, but there's no smell of anything "propane or gas". Fires start at a single source, whereas these fires began in a consistent, straight line."

"As if someone was walking in while breathing fire," Celestia concluded.

"Exactly," By The Book agreed, "See, most of these happen at night, so we thought we'd get a stronger lead this time, but looks like whoever set the fire off this time slipped away again. Guess everybody got so wrapped up in the contest, no one noticed until the explosion."

"Isn't that a little flimsy?" Steven asked.

"On the surface, but we did get some pictures in recently of some suspicious dragon roaming around the area nearby these fires. See for yourself." By The Book went into the files, and then presented the pictures in question. These were made by security camera footage, and none of them were really too conclusive - often too blurred to make out any exact details outside of a draconic-like shape rushing down an alleyway or beside a street. But, it did look ALOT like a dragon in an overall standpoint, though some were still skeptical.

"But why would any Dragon want to do this?" Spike asked.

"Beats me. I've worked beat in Dragon Town not far from here, and they seem like a nice bunch, but whenever I've been asking them about anything they won't talk," By The Book explained. Spike perked up on hearing this: a Town in Fillydelphia where dragons lived?

"WAIT. Dragons live here? The giant firebreathers from the Dragon Lands live here," Rainbow remarked, not believing it at first.

"They're not as big as the Dragons you've seen, and they've reached a truce with Fillydelphia to live here instead of getting caught up in what they call "mega-scales". Though they did go quiet about a month ago."

"Dragon Lord call, I'm just gonna say it," Spike said, Celestia nodding in agreement. This was a bit interesting for them to note though. Most of their experience with most Dragons hadn't been too harmonious, but with soul exceptions in Dragons such as Ember and Scarlett, Spike did know that not all Dragons can be just brutes by nature.

"You know about Dragon Town, Celestia?" Steven asked.

"Not too much, honestly. I've personally never been within Dragon Town myself," Celestia replied. That kind of explained the lack of knowledge throughout Spike's youth supposedly. The admittedly impatient Hard Case had about enough of waiting.

"HEY, you done in there? This case isn't going anywhere with you all just talking."

"OK, what's your issue? All you've been doing is complain ever since we got here," Rainbow asked, as Hard Case got a cup of well-needed coffee.

"What's my Issue? Oh, I don't know, maybe Celestia being here says she doesn't think we can do the job? Maybe the fact we're having a Dragon trying to solve a Dragon crime?"

"Spike has been a faithful, and loyal companion to princess Twilight ever since he was an egg, I know he and everyone else here can help get to the bottom of this," Celestia stated. ANY pony with common sense would at least consider her words, but stubborn ol' Hard Case just rolled his eyes.

"Right. You just go on and chat away the day, while real officers actually get some work done. somebody's got to make sure the town doesn't burn down." With that shockingly snarky remark, Hard Case trotted away with coffee in magical aura lift.

"... Why do I feel like slapping him all of a sudden?" Spike blankly asked.

"Because you're not an idiot, Spike," Rainbow answered.

"Nobody's hurting anybody," By The Book made clear. "... Yet. Since many of these are happening at night, we've been trying to get some stakeouts in play. not many of them worked yet, but I feel that tonight might be a little different. … Know where I'm going with this?"

Indeed they did.

"You want us to go out on a police Stakeout?!" Steven gasped.

"Even though we're not official security personnel?" Connie added, excited.

"We could always use the extra eyes. I know this is short notice, but, given your reputation, I don't have a doubt in my head that this time we'll get lucky on this one," By The Book explained. with how much they've gone through back in their own world AND in this one, they saw his point.

"Wow, look at you! Being asked by the BIG STALLIONS in the big cases!" Pinkie beamed.

"Glad you're feeling up to the task. I would advise though to look into some of the matter first. Spike, you think you can venture into Dragon Town and ask around? See if you can bring in any leads for the police to look into?" Celestia asked. Spike found himself on the spot for a moment, but he took the task with vigor, giving a salute.

"I'll try my best! … uh, where is it?"

"Trust me, fella, you'll know when you see it. You just gotta look around a little," By The Book simply replied. With them dealing with Dragons, that was probably a given. So, Spike began to get a headstart on finding the place, and the others were ready to get this task going themselves.

"SWEET! Ready to ruin some teen's night?" Connie asked.

"Anytime," Steven replied.

~~~~~~

"Wait, a stakeout? And he just asked you on the spot," Lars said. Naturally, after the meeting with By The Book and his company, much of them went right on back to the others and explained the whole thing to them. The only real exception was Spike and Rainbow, who went off to check Dragon Town themselves as the others went to the Food Contest grounds. Sadie, Lars, Amethyst, and Pink Diamond were very interested in this news, some more than others.

"I know, it's gonna be so cool! I always wanted to try a legit police Stakeout," Connie said in excitement.

"What's a stakeout again?" Pink asked.

"It's when police go undercover and bust up some sap's night of mischief. Sick stuff sometimes, but gets the job done," Amethyst explained, stoked about the idea.

"Police … is that elite guard?" Pink Diamond asked, starting to grow more interested.

"In a way, they're pretty important," Connie replied.

"LUCKY," Pink Diamond thought, feeling envious that they'd go on such important tasks whereas she was pushed to the wayside … again. Boy, this was tedious.

"So when are you gonna go off on the stakeout?" Sadie asked.

"Sometime tonight," Connie answered. "They wanted us to go with them downtown."

"AND where's Rainbow and Spike? didn't they go with you?" Lars asked.

"They did, but they're checking in on a few things for us before we go off on our Stakeout," Steven explained. As they were going on about that, Pinkie Pie slowly started to realize a little something off down the road. Something she felt would be something worth while in this game of detective and steaks. They went on about undercover, but they didn't have much of anything for undercover at all!

"HOLY HAYSEED, almost forgot the biggest part!" Pinkie gasped, suddenly bolting off out of sight. The only thing telling them where she bolted to was a chime of a nearby shop door. A quick *ca-ching* later, and Pinkie Pie bolted right on out with what looked to be a LOT of costume props.

"Nobody can go undercover without covers to cover with! Take your pick," Pinkie explained. The box had quite a selection to choose from, ranging from small props like clown noses and glasses, to full-body suits and outfits.

"I'm always down for some "undercover" work. Let's see what we got here," said Amethyst. she can easily change and alter as much as she wanted, but it was just as fun getting an outfit over herself the standard way. So many different combinations and no need to shapeshift.

"I can't believe I'm actually getting this opportunity. I can see how my dad handles his police work first hand," Connie said, as she began to get an outfit together.

"Oh yeah, your dad is a police officer, ain't he?" Lars remembered. Eventually, Connie and Steven got their outfits all set.

"Call me … Veronica Cucamonga," Connie said, getting in a dramatic, comic cover-worthy pose with her hat tilted. A true female detective ready to go. Her outfit was mainly a trench coat and hat combo. As for Steven.

"It's a me! Peter Pizzapoppolis, from Italia!" Steven said, wearing a green cap and fake mustache, even going into a Italian accent for good measure. Less effort, but equal enthusiasm. Amethyst came up next with her brand of disguise.

"And you may call me … Amy," Amethyst said. Not most creative name, but good effort in outfit, making her look like a true officer under cover, which included some black shades over her eyes, with a blue shirt, black shorts, and scarf round her neck.

"OH OH ME NEXT … Pinkemina Diana," Pinkie said … only wearing a mustache.

"You really think that'll be enough?" Lars asked.

"Never underestimate the power of the mustache. NEVER."

No point in arguing with the pink mare about this.

…….

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Spike found themselves in front of their destination. To put it simply, By The Book wasn't lying when he said they'll know. Because when they found the front arch leading into Dragon Town, the place itself looked WAY different compared to the rest of Fillydelphia. The buildings, for example, looked less like the skyscrapers around the city and more fitting for the stone age. Many of the buildings themselves were made up of large boulders, windows slightly disorganized. Rarity or Pearl probably would have a fit if they saw this place for its architecture. As for residents, both pony and Dragon could see plenty of different Dragons present within the area, none of them as large as Torch but still taller than your average pony. None of the Dragons, at least by the looks of it, appeared too monstrous or dangerous either, probably just as dangerous as regular civilians passing through the city.

"Wow, I've never seen somewhere like this before," spike said, bewildered and humbled by what he was looking at.

"In that case, this shouldn't be too hard. Come on," Rainbow said, getting a slight head start as they went to the first door.

"Excuse me, mam. I'm Spike, and this is Rainbow Dash, and we were wondering about some -"

*SLAM* went the door.

"... O.K. Next."

Too bad the idea was easier said than done. This sort of pattern kept up on the next few houses they tried out: they'd knock on the door, try to ask about the situation, and all they would get was a door in their face. By The Book might've been a bit generous calling them friendlier than their larger counterparts they've been seeing, because most of them weren't willing to talk. The ONLY exception to this was when they tried a mother with a baby in a harness … kind of.

"Hey, mam, we're from the capitol and we want to ask about some fires -"

*BLERK* went the baby right in Rainbow Dash's face.

"Sorry bout that," said the mother Dragon.

Might as well get the door in their face. So, after cleaning that mess up, Rainbow and Spike continued walking off and trying their best to find someone who would be willing to talk to them. Maybe the police had bothered them enough already, or maybe it's the fact Rainbow was there with Spike that could be throwing them off, but no matter the case they weren't doing so good, nor getting any closer in finding the next culprit.

"Well that was gross. Isn't there anyone in town that can talk to us?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

"Let's try there," Spike decided.

if they weren't going to get anywhere with the houses, they might as well try the shops instead. In this case, the place they found was actually a comic shop in town. It didn't look too out of place from any other comic shop outside the rocky décor, but what got their attention inside was the fact there were actually pony comics being sold inside, even seeing a statue of a "power pony" right inside the shop the second they stepped inside the store. The dragon working at the counter was generous to greet them.

"Welcome to Dragon Town comics. Let me know if I can help with anything," she said.

"Thanks," said Spike. Well, first words out of any dragon in this town that actually spoke to him or Rainbow all day without a door in their face (or other things). As she was chatting with some other customers, Spike and Rainbow Dash took some time to look around the place for a bit, curious to the pony merchandise within the Dragon shop. A LOT of comics were lined up along the wall with many a power pony as a issue focus: Spider-mare, Iron Pony, Sherlock Pones, even more obscure ones such as amazing mule, or mane-iac. Rainbow Dash began to get more interested in the comics when she saw a few Daring Do issues lined up. Not written by A.K. Yearling herself, but still inspired by said adventurer all the same. Almost before they realized it …

"Enjoying everything?"

Spike jumped out of his scales on the voice right behind him, but calmed down when he saw it was just the dragon from the front counter. The female dragon though was a bit friendlier than that, just chuckling.

"Sorry, didn't mean to spook ya like that. Name's Mina," the dragon introduced. FINALLY someone talking to them after all that time going around town.

"It's okay. It's just no one in town spoke to me all day," Spike replied.

"Dragons here are just on edge, and they don't arm to outsiders to start with. But I never stop talking, so buck up buddy. You got a name?" Mina inquired.

"I'm Spike, and this is Rainbow Dash," Spike introduced, as Rainbow was a little too distracted by some of the Daring Do comics to really take much notice just yet. Fan-observation was hard to ignore. Mina went on up to her.

"Find something you like?" Mina inquired. Rainbow had already gone through a few pages before looking to the dragon.

"I didn't know there were comics published for Daring Do. This the only issue, or is there some more?" Rainbow asked. Mina smiled.

"I could sign you up for future releases if you'd like," Mina offered.

"Sign me up!" Rainbow beamed. A little caught up, but Spike did get an idea on their main mission in this place, and as Mina was getting some signing up for RD, Spike went up to her at the front counter.

"Hey, Mina, maybe we can ask you something?" Spike asked.

"About what?" Mina asked back. Spike readied to ask the question, but something suddenly crossed his mind. He would ask "what dragon had been responsible" but thinking back on some other Dragons he met already, he had to improvise. That just didn't sound fare.

"There's been a lot of fires, and I was wondering if you know anyone who would be responsible for burning down everything."

Yeah, ok, not too exclusive and more broad. Mina took a moment to think about it, but another thought came across her mind with the question, even if it came from Spike.

"You mean anyone around here?" Mina asked.

"Uh … Yeah?"

Red flag.

"What makes you think it's a Dragon?" Mina asked. Spike didn't mean to, but guess he walked into that one a little too quickly.

"I-I don't! … But the police did point out how the fire could start from a Dragon walking into a place from a scorched line on the ground."

Mina's cheery behavior turned a bit more dulled down and more level-headed.

"Let me tell ya something. Fillydelphia's always blaming Dragons for whatever's going on in their side of town. What does that prove anyway? A Unicorn could've easily make that fire line too with some of their magic," Mina explained, even with Rainbow Dash standing right there.

"Hey, what makes you think it's a pony who did that?" Rainbow asked.

"What makes you think a dragon did that?" Mina retorted.

"Well I can't blame them. Most dragons I've known are complete jerks, and would rather eat us than try to talk," Rainbow admitted, hooves crossed, "And didn't they try to beat you up too, Spike, when you tried staying with them over that migration?"

Mina could see the complete issue a mile away.

"Can I be honest for a minute?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure," spike said. Mina cleared her throat, and went on with her thoughts.

"That's the biggest load of baloney I've ever heard. It sounds like you're just talking about bad guys, not bad Dragons. Just because you met bad Dragons once before, doesn't mean you can't be good and still be a Dragon. Maybe those Dragons before wouldn't talk to you because they think of ponies same as you think of us. Besides, how many ponies do you know that are jerks?"

Rainbow and Spike paused for a moment on what she said, just standing there with a blank expression.

"Well, there's Flim and Flam, Trixie, Sombra, Luna once before, I guess Kyra counted too at one - … OK, I see your point," Rainbow admitted.

"I'm not saying all Dragons are good, but we're not all jerks either. We're just as varied as ponies too," Mina concluded, which made sense. Dragons like Ember, Scarlett, or Mina for that matter wouldn't exist otherwise.

They'll have to find out that during the investigation.

~~~~~~

Time continued to tick on by, with different sides working on different things for the upcoming nightfall. Fillydelphia was a bit busy with this aspect, but as with any world, they weren't the only ones. Back in Canterlot, sunset started to approach the castle, where Twilight and Luna were still deep in sleep. Days and nights of such hard work had completely drained them, and even with this time passing it still wasn't much to wake either princess up. Celestia made sure to get the sun and moon working with time, even in Fillydelphia, so Luna didn't have to wake up to handle that at the least.
As the sun settled down on the horizon outside of the window, there did seem to be some stirring within the room, as Twilight Sparkle began to come back around, feeling A LOT better than before. She yawned and got herself out of bed.

"MUCH BETTER. I haven't had that good of sleep since I was a filly," Twilight said, giving a stretch of her back hoof as she walked on towards the door. It took her a bit before she realized that she wasn't back in her own tower, but inside Luna's room instead. But there was one tiny detail that made Twilight less relaxed, and more horrified, especially when she looked back to the bed. Not the fact that Luna was in the same place … but so was she. She saw herself still sleeping.

"... AAAAHHHH! What?! But, wait, how am I here … and there? D-Did I -"

"You're still here, Twilight," said a calming voice. Twilight wasn't the only one stuck in this state, as she found Princess Luna suddenly standing beside her. That didn't mean she didn't jump though on seeing Luna there. Luna didn't look all there much, a slight glow to her body unlike before, and after some checking, Twilight had that glow too.

"Princess Luna! W-what's going on, why're we here and there? Did we get hexed, or d-did I pass away?" Twilight asked nervously.

"No, Twilight, you and I are still very much alive," Luna explained, walking over to themselves still sleeping in bed. However, they both also noticed that both of the horns were giving a slight glow.

"You and I are bringing out projections of ourselves from our dreams into a supernatural state in the real world, bringing us into a conscious dream state. I've only seen this done by powerful Unicorns, and even then it's not often done consciously."

"So ... we're both ghosts?"

"Temporarily. We'll return to our normal selves once we've awaken," Luna reassured. It was a rarity to be sure, but the signs are too distinct to be anything else. Twilight could feel some bit of herself relax a bit, but this still was a surprise to her all the same. Twilight needed a bit to do some breathing techniques to calm down.

"Ok then. Well, guess if I am still conscious, I can get back to work. I'm so close to -" Twilight concluded, ready to go to the door, just to find her hoof going through it. She waved her hoof over it again and again, but she couldn't get her hoof to touch any of it. Luna just walked through the door as a physical demonstration.

"You're unable to interact with the world around you in this state, Twilight," Luna simply stated. Twilight sure felt weirded out just walking through a wall, but this just further established the whole ghost thing. Not even the guard placed in front of the door even remotely noticed anything wrong, even if Twilight screamed. Not even her hoof waving over their faces conjured any reaction from either of them. As they were standing there, some of the night shift started to come over to the two guards.

"Oi, it's our turn," said one of the night guards. The day guards nodded.

"Any word from Celestia yet, or what? Didn't think this contest would last this long."

"I don't know. All she wants us to do was keep princess Luna and princess Twilight from being disturbed, she never said how long."

"It's almost night, so at least Celestia's doing that for Luna. Honestly, I never seen princess Luna so worn out before."

"You never seen her after nightmare night then. Regardless, we have to follow instructions until Celestia's back from Fullydelphia."
Luna and Twilight watched the day guards go off shortly after this, though one of them going right through Twilight Sparkle (which felt creepy on many levels), though this exposition did tell them where Celestia had gone off to. The night guards got to their post, as Luna and Twilight got off down the hall.

"I knew I forgot something," Luna sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just me and my sister were supposed to be going to Fillydelphia to make an appearance during their national food contest. It seems my sister would rather leave me here instead of taking me with her," Luna confirmed, slightly bugged but could understand. Last she remembered before waking up as a "ghost" after all was the blunt end of a swinging door. Twilight thought it over, but then the mare got an idea.

"I know, why don't we go and see her?" Twilight suggested. If they were going to be stuck as ghosts, they might as well do something with it other than hang out at the castle.

"In this state, Twilight? Do keep in mind our consciousness will immediately return us back to our bodies upon awaking," Luna advised. Twilight began to fly in the air, which was a LOT easier than typical flying as she could actually float with her wings spread.

"Well, what else do you want to do? We can at least check in on them."

"Hmm … well, my duties include making sure nobody's suffering through the night, so I suppose checking on my sister wouldn't be too harmful," Luna concluded.

…….

The travel from Canterlot to Fillydelphia was surprisingly quick and easy, flying through towards the city at a rate much like Rainbow Dash at high speed, but without the blasting wind to bother them. For both Alicorns, their travels had them right into the heart of the city, beginning to take sight of the police station. Something was telling them that they were nearby, and this was the closest building at hoof, so they took a look through the window.
With the Stakeout close at hand, Celestia and By The Book were both were still stuck inside the office. The others were getting the game plan together, same as the two leaders, but they admittedly have the fun part. Celestia and By The Book were just handling some paperwork by the looks of things. By The Book was, as his name suggested, just checking out some files as Celestia was actually getting a bit bored with this task.

"Paperwork. Is this what you handle all day?" Celestia asked.

"Paperwork is as vital as you yourself are, princess. We can catch them, sure, but we can't prove anything without the proper files to prove it," By The Book advised, not moving his eyes away from the book.

"Well, it was simpler to just banish those who'd done wrong to the frozen north."

"AND those who'd done wrong come back thousands of years later, and nopony knows what to do, because no one thought to write anything down. … But no, your way is totally better," By The Book said.

"I thought Flint was the only one who thought that," Twilight noted.

"Or Starlight, or you a while back," Luna added. As Luna and Twilight observed, eventually Hard Case came into the room, tired but a bit annoyed to see Celestia again.

"Still here, huh? Hope you're liking my seat, princess, sorry for not putting in a throne on such short notice," Hard Case said dryly. Twilight and Luna couldn't believe their ears at such a rude pony, and to the princess of their world no less!

"A pleasure to see you too, Hard Case," Celestia sighed, as Hard Case got himself some more coffee from the machine again for the night Stakeout. He needed all the "oomph" he could get if he was to be up for the night. But then he saw Connie, Amethyst, Steven, and Pinkie in disguise coming on in, ready to get this stakeout rolling. Hard Case almost choked on his coffee from seeing them like this, but By The Book and Celestia took it in stride. Twilight grew especially freaked out: what happened to make her friends involved with the police?! Twilight went right back to her breathing again, far more frantic this time, until By The Book started talking.

"Well, you're all on form. costume shop?" By The Book inquired.

"Veronica Cucamonga, ready for action," Connie said, looking all dramatic.

"You can't be serious, dame? And who's this?!" Hard Case asked, pointing an accusing hoof directly at Amethyst, who was unfazed as she was chewing some bubblegum she picked up. Look the part, act the part, that's how it works.

"Amy," Amethyst answered, blowing a bubble in Hard Case's face. Not enjoyable for HC, but a giggle from some of the others.

"We're going to capture criminals, not walk down the runway. Seriously, we're gonna be found out miles away!"

"You dare doubt the mustache?" Pinkie questioned, right in Hard Case's face. Before Hard Case could get a word in, By The Book actually used his own magic to zip HC's mouth shut.

"Had Rainbow and Spike made it back yet?" By The Book asked.

"We saw them coming in just a minute ago, SIR!" Steven reported. Hard Case forced the zipper to un-zip his mouth.

"That Dragon won't be giving you anything special. I know exactly what'll happen!"

"Do you?" Pinkie asked.

"Yep: That tyke will come back with some half-cocked reason that Dragons aren't to blame, and then say he got the idea from some Dragon dame he met."

Speak of the devil: Spike and Rainbow just arrived into the room after Hard Case said that, and both pony and Dragon went right up to Celestia and By The Book. Luna and Twilight slipped through the wall for a better view, unnoticed by everyone else.

"Well, look at that. Well, fella, what'd you find out?"

"A bit actually: I don't think the Dragons did this, and the fires are just made to look like it's Dragons," Spike concluded, as Rainbow Dash went over to Connie and Steven.

"Great! What evidence did you find?" Celestia asked.

"Er … well … I mean, a Unicorn could've made a fire spell, and just mimicked a dragon breath, or someone used something …"

Not too convincing at all.

"This sounds like you're just saying this without any witness or sign of it. Who told you?" By The Book asked. The answer made some cringe.

"There was this girl Dragon, Mina. She owns a comic shop in town, and said that ponies can be bad too."

"HA!" Hard Case said, smiling for the first time since they met, "Well, princess, if you excuse me, we're gonna get a curfew goin on Dragon Town. Someone gotta stop these fires from burning the town down."

"WHAT?!" Twilight gasped, shocked as much as she was angry. Seeing him mock Celestia AND Spike in just a few sentences left Twilight one degree away from going all fire mode out of anger. Hard Case went right on out before anyone could stop him, leaving a harsh vibe in the air to much of them.

"Did we miss something?" Spike asked.

"Alright, we better hustle. Sooner we find the true culprit, sooner the Dragons won't miss Nightmare Night because they have to be home by seven," By The Book instructed. This Stakeout was now on a timer.

"But where do we go?" Connie asked.

"I already got us a good spot."

~~~~~~

Well, "good" was debatable, but it was something. Since the latest explosion had been carried out not too far from the location, the group got themselves settled up over by the Food Contest grounds. If the pyromaniac behind this was coming back for a second wind for the night, they didn't want any harm being done on contest grounds, plus the contest was a bit close to urban homes so that was an even bigger danger. They placed themselves off just down the street, By The Book keeping up a set of binoculars to keep a stronger eye on the situation, and the rest of the team kept alongside for the second the threat would rear its ugly head. Connie, Amethyst, Steven, and Pinkie may have gotten their disguises, but with the extra time Spike ended up in his own disguise: a large brown trench coat with black shades and hat similar to "Veronica". Rainbow Dash didn't have much of anything, for she was well out of range and high in the sky. She may not be an owl, but falcon eyes worked just as well in the city at night. With some working too, they gave RD her own walkie-talkie to connect with the group on the ground just in case she would catch sight first. Speaking of, it didn't take much until the walkie-talkie started to go off.

"Any signs of the troubled teens yet?" asked Amethyst's voice.

"Nothing yet, Amy. … Nothing at all," Rainbow said, though admittedly getting bored of, well, nothing. The grounds were rather quiet, much of the contestants and food now removed and only leaving the main tables behind. This situation too was being observed by Luna and Twilight, though while unable to be seen, still kept distance on one of the rooftops for some extra vigilance.

"I'm going to hate myself if it is a dragon behind this," Spike said, leaning against the wall. Being wrong never felt good to anyone, this being a prominent point.

"Chin up. You could be right for all we know, but that won't stop any fires," By The Book said, as honest as it was one-sided.

"Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better," Spike grumbled.

That one moment was all it took.

*crash*

"What was that?" By The Book asked. They tried to look, but they didn't see much of anything at first. It sure sounded close. Amethyst scrambled to get the walkie-talkie on again.

"Rainbow, we heard something down here! Got an eye?"

"Yeah, two of them," Rainbow replied, looking down to the area. All Rainbow could see were the untouched tables. She looked up and down the street, and soon she finally saw something just off by the corner of the area, and it was already moving off. "AND WE GOT A RUNNER!"

"Finally. Come on!" Amethyst said, getting a headstart. Despite them running, Rainbow of course caught up a lot quicker, with her getting into a falcon dive for some extra speed. Needless to say, the runner didn't get too far before Rainbow tackled him to the ground, both going into a bit of a tumble before Rainbow pinned -

"GET OFF ME, YA BLIND JESSIE!"

Hard Case. Great.

"Hard Case? What the hay - what're you doing here?" Rainbow asked, before Hard Case shoved Rainbow off him, and getting back his hat just as the others caught up.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Besides getting a crazed Pegasus to see actual sense?" Hard Case spat. As if his mood wasn't sour enough already, now he was sour and sore.

"Mama mia, Hard Case-a!" Steven sighed in worry, throwing "Italian" in his voice again much to Hard Case's confusion.

"What kind of accent is that? Wait, you know what, I don't wanna know."

"What I wanna know, Hard Case, is what you're doing here? Weren't you going to put a curfew on Dragon Town?" By The Book asked. Hard Case got his hat on after some dusting, but when they saw his muzzle, he had a grin on his face.

"That? Already done. The Dragons are quarantined for the night. Just got the cops to set up barricades around Dragon town borders, takes less than fifteen minutes to do. No fires are gonna be burning any building now all of them firebreathers are in for the night."

"We've been out here for five," Pinkie pointed out.

"Really? Well look at that, ten minutes ahead. That's how you get justice DONE."

"Explain that crash we heard then," By The Book quizzed. Suspicious all the same, finding Hard Case right at the same sight as the crash. The smile on Hard Case disappeared the very second that was brought up.

"Eh? what crash? I didn't hear anything."

"HA! Don't play dumb: I saw you seconds after that crash happened!"

"What does that prove?"

"OH, don't you talk to me about what proves what -"

*CRASH*

As sad as it sounds, cut Hard Case off the list. Everyone there rushed right off to the noise, which itself was near the contest itself again, this time in an alleyway. It was cut off to the main street by some fencing, but one look at the fence showed it was torn up! How the heck did this happen?! Even with Luna and Twilight's extra vigilance, none of them noticed this happen until now.

"What in the world? HEY! You're on public property!" By The Book shouted. The response though wasn't all that much, and whoever was present wasn't there anymore. If someone was lurking around the area, they high-tailed it before being found …

"We dealing with some escape artist?" By The Book wondered. As this happened, Steven nudged Spike.

"Spike? You want to go check on your little bambinos?" Steven asked, still all Italian as he would consider it. Spike didn't get the idea at first, but he DID want to see the other dragons, so it was probably what he meant. So as Hard Case was distracted (the only one that would object), Spike went off for it as the rest stuck around. Connie's sharp eyes took a little closer look to the fence, and saw that there was something on it. Not exactly fur, or wiring, but something similar to leather. Connie took it for some evidence to whatever did this, and placed it in the pockets of her overcoat.
For the alleyway itself, it looked surprisingly barren for the damage: not a can knocked over, not a door knocked open, not much stones turned. If anypony lived down any of this alley, they probably would be mildly disturbed from the crash, but that was about it.

"You think whoever did this tried to steal some of our goodies?" Steven asked in a shiver.

"They'd better not be. You know how much work went into making those cupcakes?! If I find one crumb out of place, I'll -"

"Pink, quiet. If he's here, he'll hear you," By The Book snapped quietly. In such heat, there was no time for small talk.

"Call me Pinkemina Diana," Pinkie corrected.

"I'll call you some other thing if you don't be quiet."

*thud*

Bingo. Around the corner, they began to hear something moving about the area, and it's commotion knocked a box out into sight. Whatever was there didn't go too far.

"Alright, lad, give yourself up! This is the Fillydelphia Police Force!" Hard Case warned. So much for being quiet.

Then again, the figure here had nowhere to even go, so why flee? Backed into a corner, everyone there went into the only exit it had, and it was Pinkie Pie (thanks to logic) who pulled out a flashlight from her mane and beamed it right on the intruder.

It was no Dragon. Nor a Pony.

"W-What in Celestia's name …"

A very odd creature indeed. It stood there hissing at its adversaries like a stray cat, even arching its back in a very slightly similar manor. However, so much of it said this was no ordinary animal: the tail was reptilian-like sure, and the back had some extremely tiny wings, too small to fly away with, with its back legs elongated and front legs short much like a frog, though the shoulder looked like something was cut off, or torn away. but the hands, feet, and head were … eerily human.

"... O-Oh my lord …"

And then it breathed fire. It actually breathed fire just like a Dragon would, and nearly scorched them on the spot! Steven was lucky to get a shield up to stop the fire, but it failed to stop the lunge the creature made at them. It was lightning fast, and soon as it knocked them to the wall, it raced off for it, shattering what remained of the fence before tearing through contest grounds and off into town.

"Still think it's a Dragon now, Hard Case?" Rainbow asked.

"Alright, stab me in the back why don't ya?" Hard Case groaned.

"Not now! After it before it hurts somebody!" Connie instructed.
As they went off, Twilight was left completely shaken. What was that thing? why was it running around in Fillydelphia? Oh Celestia, it was painful to just sit there and watch all of this go on, and NOT being able to do anything.

"I can't take it! Luna, isn't there anything we can do to help?! ANYTHING?!" Twilight asked, panicked. Unfortunately for her, Luna shook her head.

"I already told you, we can't interact with anything from the real world."

"OK, is there anything outside the real world we can work with or no?" Twilight questioned.

"Hmm … well, we can still venture into others' dreams in this state as I could already, but that won't work on an awaken being."

"Have you ever tried doing that?" Twilight asked.

"I wouldn't advise it," Luna suggested.

She didn't say it can't be done though.

…….

Unbeknownst to the situation, Spike was still going off through Fillydelphia on his own task to get to the other dragons. If Hard Case was right, then they would be in a whole heap of trouble by now. If there was a bright side right now, it probably would be that at least the culprit was being handled on one end and it gave Spike time to get to the other side of the issue.

Dragon Town itself wasn't too far away, and Spike did manage to get himself there in no time at all. But unfortunately, for him, Hard Case was onto something after all, and he ACTUALLY did get things accomplished over here. Some police ponies were lined up along some police barriers, much of the dragon folk just inside Dragon Town boundaries to Fillydelphia. Much to Spike's surprise, Celestia was trying her best to consort with the police, but nothing had reached any conclusion just yet. Amongst the dragons, right at the front was Mina herself, who looked to Spike with worry over the situation.

"Spike!" she called, getting attention just enough for Spike to start going over, only to be stopped by one of the cops.

"You there, what're you doing? Stay away from the boundary line!" the police pony demanded. The pony wasn't going to throw him with the rest of them, not with Celestia just feet away.

"Hey, let me talk to them! You didn't hurt any of them did you?"

"Course not, but we got them all quarantined," the pony answered. Spike honestly couldn't help it, and rushed off passed the guard to see Mina.

"Spike, what's going on? why's there a curfew going on?"

"I'm very sorry, they still think a Dragon's doing it and they don't want anymore fires tonight," Spike answered gravely.

"So they locked all of us up? That's not right at all!" Mina retorted.

"Tell me about it," mumbled Spike. But what could he do? He could see that Celestia herself was actually in a bit of trouble, as the officers here were notoriously stubborn apparently. Seemed not even Celestia herself could truly persuade them to drop the law for this one situation, much as she wanted to. As the old saying went: The law is the law, and we can't change it. not even Celestia.

"Isn't Celestia going to fix this?"

"It doesn't look like she can," Spike admitted quietly, and unfortunately for the Dragons, Celestia shook her head once she looked their way. It was a bit odd seeing this, but Celestia had to respect the rules same as anyone else, as bias as that may be sometimes. If Celestia of all ponies can't do this, how could he?

Spike! Spike?!

VERY faint noise, and Spike could just make it out. Though, he wasn't sure where it was coming from, or who it was saying. He looked around, but there wasn't anyone nearby to even take notice. If only he could see his alicorn friend flying right beside him, floating just above his head at this point. Her horn was glowing slightly, so some form of magic was at work here for some thought exchange (the only convenient spell she had on hand to make this work).

Spike! Spike, you hear me?!

"Huh? Twilight?" spike wondered. No, he couldn't see her exactly, but the voice was unmistakable. Mina was watching this with some bit of confusion, but Celestia went over to her, and gave her a look of reassurance. How she left Twilight sparkle and Luna, she was just waiting for something like this to happen.

Spike, it's me Twilight! Can you hear me?!

"Uh. I think? Wait, where're you?"

It's a spell, I'm not exactly there!

"OH. … Yeah, ok."

Good, ok listen! I think I know who the real culprit is behind those fires, and the others are chasing after it right now but it's coming your way! I have an idea to catch it, but we need the Dragons' help! It breathes fire, and Dragons are fireproof!

"But what can I do? They're in curfew right now."

Spike, I know you can do it! You've helped me out so much over the years we've spent together, I'm sure you can come up with something!

Spike slowly started to build up his confidence again. With most of his friends dealing with the actual culprit, he himself will need to get this properly handled, and get some of the Dragons' aid. Spike marched right back towards the Dragons, but two of the police ponies were right in his way.

"Alright, move aside," Spike instructed, "I need the Dragons help for -"

"Like fluff you do," a police pony said, "Orders are for them to stay!"

"Oh yeah? Well my orders are to let them out before another fire starts, and my orders come from Princess Twilight Sparkle herself! You don't want her to get mad at you. … Seriously, you don't," Spike said. Oh the many times Twilight had blown her top off left enough of an impression on him to give that warning with little problem.

"Don't be silly, all the Dragons in Fillydelphia are right here. There's gonna be no -"

*CRASH!*

"- Fire?"

Spoke too soon. Looking off down the road, as Twilight's message had warned to the young dragon, out came the creature in a smash through one of the streetlights of the city, toppling it easily. The others were still in hot pursuit, Amethyst with her whip trying to grab it, but it moved just quick enough to keep out of range for the most part. Of course, the fact it constantly shot fire blasts at them kept them well back too, Steven's shield saving them from becoming a bunch of fry bits.

"Another Dragon. HEY, get back to Dragon Town!" called one of the police ponies, only to later see the more "humanized" appearance on the creature.

"That's not a Dragon," Spike meekly stated. The police pony did distract the animal long enough for Amethyst to finally wrap her whip around the back leg, and pulling back strong enough to knock it off its feet. Steven and Rainbow held on tight to keep the creature from running any further, but that still didn't stop the firebreath, and it blasted a strong one dangerously close to Celestia herself! At the least it had to be part dragon if it could do that, and just confirmed what Twilight had told Spike about.
Angry, the creature tried to move, but its foot still caught in the whip and combine strength of the others still left it struggling to run or move properly. The reptile tail whipped around until it slammed on the whip, jerking the others forward and losing the grip on the whip, allowing the creature to gnaw it off its leg. It now grew a lot more mobile, and smoke shot out of his nose as he snorted. The police ponies began to rush in, but they were quickly dealt with (albeit by accident), when the creature turned around to face its chasers just for the tail to whack them aside. Even the creature looked back with some confusion briefly before turning back to the others again, inhaling.

"Not again," By The Book groaned, Steven readying the shield again. The searing heat blasted at the shield launched off in several directions, the fiery blaze landing on some buildings nearby. This frustrated the animal, and it started to buck around, kicking the boundary fences to pieces separating the ponies of Fillydelphia from the Dragons of Dragon Town. Twilight was straight on the point suggesting other dragons to help with this. Especially with what happened next.

*BOOOOM!*

Another explosion set off in the next building! This spooked the creature, but before it could run off, Celestia pinned it down before it could cause anymore trouble, as Spike rushed to the other Dragons there. If there's anytime for the Dragons to help, it would be right now!

"Mina! We need to help them! There could be ponies in there!"

"Say no more, Spike," Mina said with confidence. Crisis like this can not be ignored, no matter the bias.

All of a sudden, things got busy. As many of the half-Gems, Gem, and ponies handled the creature, the Dragons immediately went right on into the fire to rescue the ponies inside. The Dragons and their fireproof scasles made rushing into the burning building no trouble at all, and many a pony woken up by the explosion was brought out, slightly burnt but okay overall. Spike too stepped up to the challenge, and managed to get a young foal out of the burning inferno, showing a good moment of bravery on his part and saving the youngster's life much to the joy of her worried mother. The Dragons may have gotten plenty, but there was still some trouble.

"We got a lot, but who knows how many are still in there?" Mina said, while carrying out a young colt. Seeing this, there was one temporary spirit of the night that felt there was one option to get them out of the fire. It may be a risk to work on someone awake, but sleeping ponies were no problem. She was princess of the night after all.

Everypony, AWAKE!!

And anypony nearby the fire was suddenly up and in alarm, rushing on outside and away from the fire. No way was there any one still left inside that fire now, but now came the problem of dealing with said fire. Each second ticking by brought the fire closer to engulfing the whole building. Celestia readied her horn to get the fire out, but the creature underneath her got tired of being pinned down, and forced Celestia off! In a spin, the creature grabbed Celestia by the horn, bringing it down to its jaws and biting down hard!

"Off the princess!" Rainbow yelled. Joined by Amethyst, they both tackled the creature back to the ground again, forcing it to let go of the princess of the sun. Celestia managed to get her water spell working again, and sprayed it all over the fire.

Crisis obverted.

~~~~~~

"And these Dragons are the heroes we have to thank, for even in the face of doubt, they stepped up to the challenge and saved the lives of ours and came to our rescue."

The next morning, there came the important meeting off by town square. Celestia and the now fully rested (and physical) Luna were the two there to congratulate the group of Dragons, including Mina and Spike. Not everyday does one get the honorary hero's calling for rescuing those from a burning inferno. If there was still doubts over the Dragons, they were gone now with Celestia's approval and joy of seeing their brave efforts. By The Book and Hard Case were present alongside to give their thanks, though Hard Case felt plenty of embarrassment over what happened. Pride tainted. The crowds cheered for the efforts as well, especially those saved from said fire. The group was off nearby, Twilight joining them now, alongside Lars, Sadie, and PD (who had some ribbons for the food contest prize).

"Well, that's more like it," said Amethyst. Twilight felt very happy over this.

"Oh, Spike, I'm so proud of you," Twilight noted, almost in tears.

"So, what happened to that "thing" starting the fires?" Lars asked.

"Oh, Celestia had it relocated WAY far away from Fillydelphia. It shouldn't bother anybody now," Rainbow replied.

This all was pretty fine and good: the creature off and gone, and Fillydelphia shouldn't have to worry anymore about the fires plaguing the city. Still, Connie had her own time to check the small piece in her own pocket, and it still left her a bit skeptical on one idea. Namely, how'd such a thing got there in the first place? Well, the so-called cloth gave her a very eerie clue, with what the "cloth" had written on it.

Cut- 52371-A

Author's Notes:

… sometimes I do wonder how my chapters end up SO LONG XD. How much do we got here: MLP Friends Forever #14, a dash of "Princess Spike", a hint of "Doug Out" AND "2017 Steven Universe comic #11", drop in some new Alicorn abilities, and you get … well, this.
Hey, when you have one princess seeing the future with her dreams, and another to venture into others' dreams, this kind of ability isn't too far off. By the by, Twilight's voice is VERY muffled, so that's why she's screaming her head off.

Cutaway to Twilight back in Canterlot. Celestia had brought her to Luna's bedroom, and the two Alicorns were fast asleep side by side in the same royal, comfortable bed. Not even the birds flying by wished to chirp as to not disturb either of them. Make of that what you will.

I know what I did, and I'm not ashamed of it.

Cut- 52371 -A: … Think. Very. Hard. About this code.

A Change in Time

View Online

"Oh boy, oh boy, who knows what's in here?! Such artifacts from across the ages!"

On one morning for one pony, the day just got a bit brighter. Sunburst had been going about for a while since his last visit to the human world, and now back to his own home, he found a very nice barrel full of knickknacks and trinkets from good old Ponyville. Getting ancient objects mailed was always a great thing to have, and the eager unicorn wasted no time in getting the stuff up and out of the barrel. His eyes gleamed when he saw just what he could find in this barrel.

"Wow, I hit the motherload! The reading, the re-reading! *GASP* is that the Houyhnhnm's Guide to Magical Arcana?! I may have read this already, but oh, this is my lucky day!"

As giddy as a filly in a candy store, Sunburst was, especially when pulling out the book in question. He couldn't wait to get reading that book, but during his eagerness, his eyes looked further down into the barrel, and he began to check something else near the bottom. He was never a type to pass up any book ever, and he found an especially old book, the covers looking like stones, with a magical symbol on it. Being the eager wizard he was, he just couldn't resist.

"Alright, book, show me your secrets," Sunburst said, and soon he began to read it.

…….

Dear Princess Celestia:

It had been a while since I've been giving you these, but I've heard word of the conflict back in Fillydelphia. I heard of how the Dragons, despite being so panned for being dragons by the police, stood up and helped save them from a burning building. Hearing this, I concluded that true friendship should not be limited just for species itself.

Starlight Glimmer's message was to point, though given how she wasn't even in Equestria for the moment, she had to wait it out until she would go back. Starlight, Pink Diamond, and Trixie took some time to return to Earth (in particular, the barn - main open place there was), and Trixie was handling some magic spells as Starlight wrote said letter. Not much of an audience was there aside from Pink Diamond, visiting Jade, and sulking Peridot stuck inside the barn, still in her box. She grown well enough to at least look outside the barn at the magic show Trixie was presenting.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the Great and Powerful Trixie will finish her performance for today with the legendary performance: The shooting stars of Mt Aris!" Trixie announced. This one was a pretty high-skilled move to accomplish, but not nearly as dangerous as other tricks in the past. Pink Diamond, Peridot, and Jade watched on as Trixie's horn began to glow. What came up next was a mix of "shooting stars" and a expanse of space swirling around above her head. Trixie focused as much as she could, letting the stars spin and circle above her head like a smooth serpent. Pink diamond was simply amazed on the sight she was seeing, and Jade herself was impressed, but Peridot was indifferent to the lightshow. The sky above Trixie's head spun and rotated at high speed until Trixie made a single beam right at the center, making it explode in a beautiful display of sparkles and stars, concluding the performance. Jade and Pink gave their applause, but Peridot didn't do too much. In fact, all she did do was flip the box around, and hid underneath said box.

"You've been practicing that one?" Pink Diamond asked.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't "practice" her acts. She "perfects" them," Trixie corrected, her hoof tossing her mane back for some dramatic flair.

"Oh, like how she "perfected" the art of royally screwing up her teleporting spell," Pink Diamond said smugly. Trixie flustered up.

"Even the mighty have their off-days," she replied meekly, pulling her hat over her eyes. She wouldn't be so full of herself if Jade and Peridot weren't nearby to hear them. Starlight just finished up her message by this point, and rolled up the scroll good and tight.

"Okay, you finished with your practicing, Trixie?" Starlight asked.

"Oh, I got this. Beach City's gonna have the best show they'll ever see! With some magic from the best assistant ever," Trixie said, hoof around Starlight. Trixie's act was pretty good, and Starlight can easily make it ten times better for the presentation. Trixie hoped it wouldn't be as risky as the Phoenix act she did for the diamonds, though she doubted sparkles would be life-threatening. Trixie, Starlight, and Pink Diamond began to go off, but as they were, they did take a glance over to the grumbling box in the center of the barn.

"Oh boy, she's still down about everything?" Pink asked.

"Well, everyone of her friends did go away. …" Jade said. Pink rolled her eyes.

"So? I'm over it, and I'm supposed to be Pink Diamond! Why can't she get over it?" Pink asked, not considering her feelings all that much. She's still trying.

"Well … she's not you. You know what I mean?"

"Well, yeah, she's a Peridot, and I'm a - … Quartz. … stars, it's gonna be a while til I get used to it," Pink sighed. she may not mind now that she wasn't Diamond by cut, but being a quartz Gem still need something to get used to.

"Not literally," Starlight said, "Look, we're just gonna have to give her some more time. Amethyst and Steven already tried talking to her, and she just fell back here, so only time will tell."

"Well time better tell her soon, or she's gonna be stuck there. Come on, we got a presentation to perform," Trixie said, trotting off ahead to begin. Pink and Starlight followed her after one more look, but only one remained present, that being Jade. Seeing Peridot in such a slump like this was quite a rough sight to see, and once the trio was gone, and her all alone with the gem in a box, Jade decided to go over to her.

"Hey. Anyone in?" Jade asked.

"No."

"Hmm. Well, I'll just talk to this lone box, then," Jade replied, sitting down next to the box. Peridot didn't even bother to stop her, only Jade's voice telling her what was up.

"... So. How is it? Being inside a box all the time?" Jade asked.

"Fine. Small, but fine," Peridot replied. Jade nodded and simply sat there. Peridot stayed huddled inside her box, the interior dark, and her not seeing too much outside of the cardboard surface and the wooden floor. Jade sighed.

"You want to go and watch the show with the others?"

"Jade, stop it. I'm. Fine."

"And yet you're still inside that box," Jade said, getting more to the point.

"Yes. I like it in here."

"Peridot. … Can you come out, please? You shouldn't just lock yourself away like this."

Peridot lifted up a corner of the box, as if peeking out of a shell.

"Come out to what? Everyone's gone, everyone else is too busy, and everyone else else would rather do their own thing! Just let me know when everything's back," Peridot griped, before dropping the box back over her head.

"But, you don't really think they'd want you doing this, would you? At least come outside," Jade said, lifting a corner of the box. Peridot grumbled again, but rather than actually getting out, she stood up, walked outside, and dropped down onto the grass, still inside her box. Well, she was outside … sort of.

"Well … it's a start." Jade shrugged.

"Jade, the team's completely gone overall. Honestly, I don't even know why you're here," Peridot admitted.

"I have my reasons."

"Such as …"

Jade paused.

"Peridot, it's you and your friends who saved Flint's life from Tirek, and since then you gave us a home where no one else would. I've been living here, and I'm able to thanks to you, the least I can do is stay and support everyone how I can … even if I'm just dead weight."

"What?"

"O-Oh, nothing," Jade said with a flustered face. "... They'll think better of it and be back."

"... I'll believe it when I see it."

There was some silence between Jade and Peridot, the dorito green Gem not forcing the seagreen Gem away, and letting her just sit there and keep her company. As they were sitting there, Peridot began to hear some sort of noise come towards the barn, but Peridot didn't exactly react all much, thinking it could either be the Off-Colors or Pink's crew coming back for whatever reason, she honestly didn't care anymore.

"Peridot?"

"NO, Jade. I know that's Pink there. Or maybe Fluorite. … Who cares?"

*sshh*

And what was the shush even for? she wasn't even planning on yelling. Peridot then found that someone actually grabbed her box, and lifted it up, revealing Peridot to the light outside in the winter snow. Peridot squinted from the light at first, but slowly her eyes began to adjust and then show her what was actually there.

"Hey, Peridot. You miss us?"

Peridot needed a minute to understand who she was seeing. Bismuth. Lapis. Diopside. Jasper. They all had found eachother on the way here, and were now in front of them. They did say they'll come back around (though taking longer than expected). Peridot stayed quiet, blinking a few times to make sure this wasn't some trick. But nope, they were there. They were back …

Peridot actually began to cry.

"Y-You ... c-clods …"

She couldn't help it. Next thing they knew, Peridot rushed over, and threw herself right at them, Lapis Lazuli being the target for the oncoming, tight hug. Her tears were full of joy to finally see at least a good majority of the group come back. Jade went over with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Jade, long time no see. See someone's been missing us," Diopside said, looking over to crying Peridot.

"Glad to see you all too. And won't the others be surprised to see you again," Jade replied. Bismuth playfully fluffed Jade's hair, her own way of greeting.

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere. Where's everyone else, anyway?" Jasper asked. Jade thought about it for a little bit.

"Well, Sapphire's back at the Temple … I think Amethyst and Steven are finishing up some more Gem missions, and … Twilight's been busy with the Cutie Map," Jade explained, working off what recent events she learned about. Peridot was going to be a bit before she too would calm down.

"Well let's get em all back together. I dunno about you, but I could go for a full group outing," Bismuth said. That did sound good on the surface, but that was when Jade kinda of gone quiet.

"... Uh, well, there's still some gone: Fulgurite. Emerald. Star. Pearl. Ruby."

"Well, dang. Here, let's hook up with the others and we'll see where they ended up, K? Flint'll be happy to see is," Lapis said. Jade became completely silent by the mention of his name. sure, the others went off because of the whole Pink Diamond thing, but Flint …

"Ok, what happened?" Jasper asked. She knew the look all too well, she'd seen it enough times. Jade had to say something.

"I-I'll explain when we get everyone together. Come on, they can't be far away," Jade said, going off on her way. She wasn't afraid to tell them, but if she was going to tell them, she might as well get the others together first.

~~~~~~

Starlight, Trixie, and Pink meanwhile were heading on their way in a simple walk towards Beach City. Without a Warp Pad directly to the temple, walking back was their main way to get to Beach City from the Barnhouse, as much as they'd prefer the former. Lucky for them though, Pink Diamond gave Trixie a ride on her shoulders (better than her attempting to teleport), and Starlight trotted alongside.

"MANE, how far is Beach City from the barnhouse?" Trixie groaned.

"It's not that far away. you gonna gripe the entire trip?" Pink asked, not enjoying it much herself.

"OH, easy for you to say, you could probably run around the world and not break a sweat," Trixie retorted.

"... Eh, probably," Pink shrugged. Pink Diamond could probably do that if she wanted to, but she wasn't in the mood to waste her time running in circles around the planet.

"Well, my show isn't going to be stopped by some sore hooves." Trixie said.

"Yeah. Hey, I wanted to ask you both something about that actually," Pink said, stopping for a little moment. Pink diamond placed Trixie down beside Starlight.

"What's up?" Starlight asked. Pink Diamond took a deep breath.

"As you two know, Blue Diamond's going to come by, eventually. And I'm planning to go home with her so … You two wanna come back with me?!" Pink's excitement took over on the last part, with a hopeful smile and stars in her eyes.
Starlight and Trixie didn't know what to say, completely flabbergasted by the question. One side had never even seen Homeworld before, and the other had some rougher experience with it in her history regarding White herself.

"... Eh … come again?" Starlight asked.

"Do you. Want to. Come with me back to Homeworld?" Pink Diamond repeated, her tone hoping they would accept her offer.

"Ehhhh … I don't think that's such a good idea. My last experience with homeworld wasn't all that great," Starlight admitted.

"Come on, it'll be great! Trixie, you've put on an amazing show for them in Ponyville, you can show them off back on Homeworld. "The Great and Powerful galactic Unicorn of the stars!" Pink Diamond said, hands out as if presenting the stage for them. Starlight wasn't gonna be the easy hit, but this persuasion did get Trixie herself interested a bit. That title sure sounded fancy on her.

"That does sound pretty impressive," Trixie admitted.

"So you'll do it?!" Pink asked, down to her level with a big smile on her face. Trixie smugly grinned.

"I can work out a Homeworld show. The Great and Powerful Trixie's going beyond the stars!" Trixie announced, shooting some sparks from her horn. Starlight still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but as her sparks were flying around them, one other new element was going to have to put this suggestion on hold for a while.

*YIP YIP YIP*

One of the sparks landed off behind a snow-covered shrub, and right on some sort of creature, the animal yipping and yelping from the sudden hit. Was Blue going nearby and got hit by mistake, or was it something else in that shrubbery? Starlight galloped over and took a look first, though it was Trixie looking over that said it first.

"Tindalos!" she shouted, bolting back.

"W-Wait … Sniper?"

Laying in the snow, a oddly familiar face in the form of Sniper the Tindalos now presented himself in sight of the trio standing there. Trixie and Pink Diamond kept their distance, though Starlight was a little bit unsure when she saw him, the otherworldly canine rubbing his head where the sparkle landed apparently. Sniper got himself back together, seeing Starlight had found him.

"Oh. Hi," Sniper said, getting up, and meeting the three up front. Trixie looked ready to scream, but Starlight quickly got a forcefield around her head to block off the sound, just in case.

"Uh, h-hi. Are the others with you?" Starlight asked, getting that out of the way first.

"No, it's just me today," Sniper replied, before glancing to Trixie and asking "Oi. Is that your friend unicorn I saw in the town?"

"Well, yeah. This is Trixie, and Pink Diamond. Guys, this is Sniper," Starlight introduced. Pink Diamond was a bit reluctant to meet up with him, given how other Tindalos almost killed them before, as Trixie was still panicking in her forcefield.

"So … you know her?" Pink Diamond asked.

"Suppose so. We had a brief chat before," Sniper replied, glancing to Starlight Glimmer. At this point Trixie stopped screaming, just staring in fear at the predator. Sniper moved over towards Trixie, Starlight alongside.

"Don't worry Trixie, he's a friendly Tindalos. Ok?" Starlight reassured. Trixie nodded her head, but she didn't remove the scared expression as the forcefield was removed. Sniper and Trixie just looked to eachother for a bit, Trixie unsure what to say, as Sniper tried to think a bit.

"Some of my folks said a unicorn teleported my dad away to this place. That you?" Sniper asked. Trixie didn't know if she should answer, in case she might set the Tindalos off.

"Um … y-yes?"

…

"That's bloody amazing!"

"... It is?" Trixie asked, no longer scared and more taken aback.

"I may not be a magic user myself, but, you teleported my dad WAY far off from the forest in just one shot. I'd call that good tricks," Sniper said. A turn of events, but the egotistical Trixie felt a bit more comfortable around him. nothing like some ego-stroking to get on somepony's good side.

"So you did find your pack," Starlight said.

"Oh, I found them. I'm just back out here to find some food. Looks like there's not much now though," Sniper sighed, looking around at the snow-covered fields.

"Winter's usually like that. Everything's either moved on or sleeping," Starlight said, summing up both migration and hibernation for Sniper. It made sense too, as the only main food source during winter would probably be fish from the sea or some rats in town, if not scraps from garbage. Pink Diamond sat down by the Tindalos, getting a bit curious.

"Are you a Tindalos, Sniper? You act a lot friendlier than the actual things we've met."

"Tindalos aren't mindless killers, you know," Sniper said, feeling insulted a little, "They've just gotten very hungry, that's all. Hunger's stronger than anything else."

"I don't know, I'm pretty strong," Pink said. Sniper should've suspected this out of an inorganic creature, but he didn't know better on Gems as Pink did for hunger. Sniper suddenly raised his ears, picking up the faint sounds of something scurrying off somewhere nearby.

"Hold that thought," Sniper quietly replied, before he began to move off away for a brief moment, going from walking to crawling in a few short steps. He stopped at about ten feet from some unseen target.

"What's he doing?" Pink whispered.

"Hunting I think," Starlight quietly replied. Though, honestly Starlight wasn't so sure as she was watching him. There didn't seem to be any target anywhere to trigger an actual hunt, but then again she was a pony. And ponies don't naturally hunt things, unlike Sniper. For the Tindalos, he readied himself to pounce, much like a cat or fox, and all of a sudden he made a good five foot leap, and shoved his snout into the snow! Pink found this a little bit silly, if not stupid, until they suddenly heard a faint squeak. Soon, they found Sniper pulling out his catch, gripped in his mouth. It was only a mouse, but, this was both impressive and a little bit scary. First catch he got in a while. … That didn't make it any easier to watch.

"Morbid, much?" Trixie said. It didn't help that Sniper proceeded to swallow the mouse in one gulp.

"You good?" asked Starlight.

"That can hold me off for a while, sure," Sniper replied. "So, how's the world going for you?"

"We're actually going to make a performance down in Beach City," Pink replied, pointing to the direction towards town.

"Performance?"

"Yeah. The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to be making a big show, and after that we're going off to Homeworld for a presentation there," Pink explained, referring to her second unicorn. Sniper tilted his head like a confused dog.

"Never heard of Homeworld, but sounds like you got your agenda covered."

"Yep. Come on, Pink, let's get this show started," Trixie said, her and Pink starting to go off towards town, leaving Starlight and Sniper alone.

"So … how's your father?" Starlight asked.

"Mended I guess. Pride's hurt most. He won't stop talking about it," Sniper replied, walking on ahead a little bit, knowing what she was referring to with the question.

"He won't?"

"Think that fight left him a bit stubborn about it, and he's been wanting to even the score for a while, you know?"

"Oh yeah," Starlight said, remembering her own experience. "... Wait, why didn't he come back? How long has it been already, he would've come by."

"Family comes first, and he's been all over the place handling that, especially with the winter months. Besides, you've seen any of the others around here?" Sniper stated. A fair point: no reason to charge in on the attack when no one's around for it.

"Ok. Well, I don't know when they'll be back, so you might not want to stay around here too long," Starlight advised.

"I'll see what I can find first before I set off. You go off on your way, think your friends are waiting," Sniper replied. Well, she didn't have a clue if anyone else was around, so she left him to it. Maybe she and Sniper could chat later. As she was going away though, she began to think about the very same lesson she had just written down in that scroll of hers, and thought over Sniper himself. He didn't seem to be as bad as other Tindalos, and with the risk, it … didn't seem fair on him.

"Sniper, you know what? You wanna come with me?"

"Beg your pardon?" Sniper asked, stopping for a moment and turning around.

"Well, I'm going to be honest, it might be uh … safer, if you're with me," Starlight admitted. A lone tindalos out in this area was just asking for trouble. And Sniper eventually had to agree with her on that one, especially with risk of Gems and humans wanting his head.

"Well, alright but I still got hunting to do. That, and I'll have to go if it becomes a nuisance to the others."

"Don't worry, I think we can work it out."

"Well, in that case, I'll meet with you later," Sniper decided, before he went back on his way. Hunting wasn't gonna wait for any creature, no matter who they might be. Starlight was ready to head off, but then she found one final surprise as a portal opened up not too far away. Surprises all over the place.

"Ok, that's happening. Who is it this time?" Starlight wondered. She didn't have to wait for long, as the pony stumbled out: Sunburst. Twilight's portal was doing wonders for him, and saved him plenty of time getting to Starlight Glimmer. And he still had book in levitation, and he was not wasting a single second.

"Sunburst?"

"Starlight, you're not gonna believe this!"

~~~~~~

"I only hope it will be enough," finished Sunburst. "That's the last entry. It may be Starswirl's final words before he vanished!"

This news sure was surprisingly towards Celestia and Luna. He, the Elements of Harmony, and some of the Crystal Gems too arrived the moment they got word about such a discovery. Sunburst wasn't wasting any time to actually get back to the others in Canterlot the second he got himself a hold of this book of his. Starswirl the Bearded, the most iconic unicorn in Equestrian legend and history, and the very book that actually belonged to him now made known to everyone else. Celestia levitated the book.

"I've always wondered what happened to Starswirl! This is quite a discovery Sunburst," Celestia said.

"How did you even get a hoof on this?" Luna asked.

"Well, actually, I found it inside an antique shop back in Ponyville. What a stroke of luck!" Sunburst replied. Sunburst felt good about it, and it was Twilight who spoke next.

"You mean you can confirm that this genuinely belonged to Starswirl the Bearded?" Twilight asked in excitement, almost ready to fly off.

"Indeed, and looking at this, he disappeared soon after his encounter with the Pony of Shadows," Luna confirmed. This did come across as a bit unnerving for Rainbow and AJ.

"Hold on. So this means the Pony of Shadows is actually real?!" Rainbow asked.

"Along with those other figures too? Rockhoof, Mistmane, Somnambula, Flash Magnus, AND Meadowbrook? And they ALL just disappeared too?" Applejack added.

"Duh! Weren't you listening?" Pinkie said, nudging the orange pony. The idea that so many "legends" were left real in the end was quite a big thing to swallow, more or less. Then again, the Tindalos happened.

"But what happened to them all?" Fluttershy wondered.

"Well obviously they defeated the villain, since Equestria's still full of light and hope," Rarity noted. Admittedly with all the trouble lately, that was a bit debatable.

"But how?" Starlight wondered. Celestia and Luna took a closer look at the book in question, but the more they try to work with it, the harder it seemed to be able to be handled. Even the princesses didn't get all the languages.

"Hmm, my old ponish is a bit rusty. But I have no doubt that the answers could be hidden somewhere in this book. If you could find out what happened to our old teacher, we'd be most grateful," Celestia said, levitating the book back to them. Twilight Sparkle was more than eager to catch it before it could hit the ground.

"You kept talking about Starswirl the Bearded as this amazing sorceress, but I didn't think he'd be the one to teach Celestia and Luna. He sounds like quite the unicorn," said Amethyst.

"He was," Luna agreed, "But we were too young to understand the dangers he faced before he disappeared."

"Wait, so how old is this pony? No offense, but I dunno if an OLD pony would be the … best idea," admitted Amethyst.

"Says the five thousand plus year old Amethyst," Tiger's Eye chimed in.

"Well don't you worry bout a thing, Twilight's got a whole cluster of helpers right here. We'll get that sorted out in no time," Steven said.

Their mission was clear: with Starswirl's memoirs in their possession now, and with members still missing, they had the new goal in mind. Find out what happened to Starswirl the Bearded, and the rest of the Pillars of Equestria.

~~~~~~

Sapphire was stuck.

Back at the temple (or what she could access that is), Sapphire kept herself quiet and alone, eye closed, and no one else around to bother her. It was the only main thing she could really do for the moment to actually get herself calmed down without her dearest Ruby, wherever she may be, but it seemed that the more she tried to get her mind off of something, the more she would just end up only thinking about that. Her Future Visions didn't help her out too much, many of them muffled and scattered and not consistent with eachother at all. Even if Ruby wasn't so spontaneous, it probably wouldn't help her out much anyway.

"UGH! I can't do this!" Sapphire finally groaned in defeat. Winter outside was pale in comparison to the icy interior of the shallow cave, which at this point was very icy. It was enough to give her a headache.

"It's no use. White Diamond and Pink Diamond - OH, I can't think straight. A-And Ruby? Who knows where you are right now, or if you'll ever come back? Temple, please be active again," Sapphire monologued, going over to the temple door. If there was still power left in the temple, then it would wake up to Sapphire's stone to somewhere within its confines, but placing her gemstone on the door did little to nothing.

"Nothing. … Maybe I could start thinking about a vacation home, or something. B-But should I? What if Ruby comes back and I'm not here? What if any of them come back?"

Sapphire's thoughts moved her over back towards the entrance to the cave, her going right over to the cold waters of the sea, and snow managing to stay along the banks of the beach. The clouds were a bit mixed in the sky, leaving the beach with a slight snowfall.

"Come on, Sapphire, you have to get this right. What good are you if you can't do anything?" Sapphire told herself, trying one more time to get a proper future vision to work. In her stress, the visions were still a bit scattered about the place. It was much like a lucid dream, and just as bouncy about in her head to even get a grip. She saw visions of the ponies in Equestria, humans of Beach City, even a few with Gems on Homeworld, but they were so out of context she couldn't figure out any actual connection with them. Something - ANYTHING! All of the futures seem plausible somehow, but which one was more close to the mark was the big question.

"... Oh, forget it," Sapphire finally decided, falling down onto her back, bemused by the results. no matter what future vision she could see and probably would've seen, it probably wouldn't help her out too much here at all. There was something that did go over her mind though.

"I need a snack."

…….

"Here you go, one personal pizza," said Kiki, giving the order over to Sapphire. Amethyst always was talking about tasting something like this, so she might as well do something to try and get her mind off of things. Sapphire found herself a seat, but looking at the order and the red color of some of the toppings … well, you know.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Sapphire groaned to … no one really, head hitting the table for a moment before she grabbed a slice and took a bite of it.

"... Not bad."

"Eh, you okay?" Kiki asked.

"Oh, sorry. I'm alright," Sapphire replied, as more frost ended up visible on the wall. Kiki may not know Sapphire too well, but as she went over to her, she almost ended up falling onto the floor due to the ice forming underfoot. It didn't spread too much since it was already hot in there with the pizzas cooking, but still.

"Sorry," Sapphire replied.

"It's fine, I'll scrape it up later," Kiki groaned, before finding her feet. She had to do a sort of skate maneuver to get over to Sapphire, as if the floor was the frozen lake, to get himself over to the table too.

"What's eating you?"

"No, no, I'm fine Kiki, really. Everything's ok," Sapphire replied, taking another bite of one of the slices. She was going to eat another, but she ended up just … staring at it. Kiki could see a tear come down her face.

"OK, clearly you're not okay," Kiki pointed out, only then Sapphire realizing her tear. She just sighed and ate the next tater tot before speaking.

"It'll be okay. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so," Kiki said. Sapphire was a bit mixed up in her head, but with so many others already up and gone, she did not want anyone else dragged into this any further, especially someone innocent like her. Before their conversation could go anywhere else, they both heard the door open up, Jenny coming on in … *slip*

"Sorry," Sapphire said again. Jenny got up to her feet, a bit dazed and surprised, but alright.

"DANG, I knew it was cold, but geesh, jack frost came by here too?" Jenny said, steadying her feet so she wouldn't fall over again. There was no ice behind the counter, so she went over there as Kiki got back to the cash register. With Sapphire sitting there, jack might as well be.

"What's up, sis? Doesn't take too long for a delivery," Kiki asked.

"OH, yeah I wanna tell ya, I just got the biggest tip from Mr. Universe, and I'm totally gonna by those boots now!"

"Seriously?" Kiki asked with a smile.

"Yeah, he got this big order from us too, that five pizza party special."

"Wait, that was who that was for? I thought that was for that show pony in town."

"I know! Not just that, he was with some ponies too, and he like WAY out on Brooding hill, which is totally out of our delivery radius, helping some little friend. She must've been crying because she was like all red."

"W-WHAT?"

*THUD* Sapphire's turn to fall on the floor. Sapphire sprang to life seconds after falling, going straight up to both Kiki and Jenny.

"What did you say?! A-About this little friend? Where is she, I-I need to talk to her right away!"

"Whoa whoa, okay," said Jenny, "Last I heard she was off at Brooding Hill, just out of town. I just made the order, so she might still be there."

"Thank you!" Sapphire replied, before she made a lightning fast dash right off towards the door. It was very quick, almost in a blur, leaving a bit of impact behind her.

"Wait, you forgot to pay!" Kiki called. Sapphire bolted back, and threw the money onto the counter before rushing away again. That out of the way no doubt.

~~~~~~

"WHOA, WHOA, NO WAY he said that!" Bismuth snapped.

While Sapphire might not be there (along with Starlight and her crew and some ponies), everyone else did come together after a few hours of searching and met up all at the barn house. Though with this, Jade kept to her own promise, and told them what happened with Flint before they got back.

"Yeah, right to her face. He made that clear before he left the team. I have no idea where he could've gone off to," Jade finished.

"THAT CLOD, it was his idea to even sent everyone off looking anyway, why would he just bail on his own idea?!" Rhodonite yelled, summing up the main question on much of the mind.

"It must've been too much even for him. … Poor Flint."

"Poor nothing," Bismuth said, ""It doesn't matter cuz she's dead" WHO SAYS THAT?! If he's just going to tear off like that over just some insult, why even bother going for him?"

"Didn't you all run off?" Tiger's Eye pointed out.

"I didn't run away, I was making weapons at the Forge! Pink Diamond's far bigger than just a small insult from Sapphire," Bismuth retorted. The fact he'd rather leave than stay was just selfish of him, but in some way, it wasn't the most unrelatable thing.

"Well, give him some slack. He was under a lot of pressure like the rest of us. … And we weren't any better than him," Lapis sighed, her reasons not too far off from Flint's for leaving.

"You're all better than him and you know it. Ok, Pink Diamond was Rose, at least she tried to be better. Flint just told her that nothing matters because she's dead. How distant can you even be?" Bismuth said. When she worded it like that, the point was made, but Bismuth was just upset that someone would just bail in the middle of his own idea AFTER everyone would leave.

"That's terrible, I don't care who says what," Rhodonite agreed. "And worse: now we're missing several Gems including one leader, and he won't even listen to the other one!"

"I don't think he ever followed Pink Diamond or Rose, he never was -" Steven was cut short.

"I'm not talking about ROSE, I'm talking about YOU," Rhodonite corrected. she never found him taking any of Steven's instructions even once from the stories she was told and through the time she was here.

"Huh? Me? But I'm not the leader, Garnet's the leader."

"And where's Garnet?" Rhodonite asked. There was a pause, but while it was skeptical for Steven to think of himself as the leader of the Crystal Gems, they technically didn't have one with Garnet gone, and Flint was missing too, so there was that.

"Alright, everyone, look. We're all back, and we're all tense over this, but let's try to get back to base ok?" Bismuth suggested.

"Sure. I got enough of my anger out from the Beta Kindergarten anyway," Jasper agreed, her fists still feeling the hits from her punching the daylights out of the rocks.

"Good to see you're back, by the way. I haven't seen Peridot so happy in a while," Amethyst said, looking over to Peridot, who was still all smiles for having some of her friends back.

"Yeah, sorry for worrying ya, Peridot," Lapis said to Peridot. Though, Peridot had a sort of glow on her now.

"You're all back. I'm all happy now," Peridot simply said, which they believed summed up her situation best. Bismuth lifted up Peridot, and got her on her shoulder.

"Then why don't we go and have some fun in town? I wanna see what's been going on while I was busy, what do ya say?" Bismuth offered.

"I heard Starlight is going to perform a show in Beach City."

"Perfect, let's go!" Lapis Lazuli said. That idea sounded pretty good all and all. Much of them decided to go and do that, but during this chat though, they had one other person coming by looking for them. Or rather, a pony, her flying high in the sky and seeing Steven, AJ, and Amethyst down below, the others a bit farther away. The pony, Rainbow Dash, landed on down by them.

"There you are!"

"Howdy Rainbow, what's your hurry? you in a race again?" Applejack asked, noting how quick Rainbow Dash even was in landing.

"For once, no. I found Ruby!"

~~~~~~

It was a bit of an order for Jenny to deliver, but she knew what she was talking about. Sapphire wasted no time in getting from Beach City, WAY off towards Brooding Hill. she knew the hill like the back of her own hand, and she knew exactly where it is from the boardwalk. She wasted no time at all getting right along the path, and soon she began to near the peak, only slowing down once she was on the edge of the foliage, just out of sight for the most part. She went right on out there to confront Ruby … or, she would've if not for what she saw next.
Looking out to the edge of Brooding Hill, it turned out, things weren't as bad as Sapphire thought it would be. Greg was there with his van, and he was joined by Pinkie and Fluttershy. And there was Ruby. Sitting along by the cliffside, enjoying some slices of the party special, customized a bit by some of the ponies so no meat was on it but they weren't complaining. But that was what Sapphire was most caught off by: they weren't complaining. She heard some conversation, sure, but nothing malicious or distraught, or anything. In fact, party Pinkie Pie was making an event out of it, and Ruby had a party hat on, enjoying a slice of pizza. Some balloons were strung from the van door, and confetti was scattered in the snow.

And also, she wasn't the only one arriving a little late to this party, as she then saw Steven, Applejack, and Amethyst, after some gem mission hunting, come on by after figuring out where she might've ended up. It took a while of course. Sapphire stayed hidden away and remained as a bystander to this, not sure if going up now would even be a good idea or not.

"Uh, hey guys," Steven called, going up with his teammates to see them.

"Steven? How'd you find me?" Ruby asked.

"We sensed you," Amethyst joked, her voice slightly spooky.

"We heard you ordered pizza," Applejack cleared up. Fair enough.

"They were just telling me about your mom," said Greg.

"Oh. You ok?" Steven asked. This was the love of his life after all, and this quartz turning out to be a diamond would be a bit of a crazy hit, but Greg didn't feel too crazy.

"Well, I fell in love with Rose Quartz, and she fell in love with Mr. Universe. She never told me she was Pink Diamond, but then again, I never told her I was Gregory DeMayo," Greg explained. It was not as big as Rose, but the idea was all the same, so why would he freak out over something he also did himself?

"And how're you holding up sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"I'm ok. Wanna slice?" Ruby offered, presenting the pizza to them.

"Uh, thank. You … Wait, really? You sure?" Steven asked, taking a slice of pizza. As he was distracted, Amethyst helped herself to Steven's slice, waiting to hear what Ruby had to say, as did Sapphire nearby. They were all ears.

"Well, yeah. Sapphire was a bit harsh about it, but … she's right. We stayed together because Pink Diamond told us we were … "the answer". It's my first time thinking about it. Thinking about me."

"About you, Ruby?" Steven asked, a little confused as Ruby got up.

"Ever since I emerged, the first thing I did was get crammed together with a bunch of other rubies. but then after I left Homeworld, I was with Sapphire all the time. And lately, whenever Sapphire isn't with me, I'd be with Peridot. I'm always checking in with someone. …"

"W-Well, is that why you ran away? I'm sorry but, you sounded so … well, angry before. you know, about P -" Steven suddenly had his mouth shut by Pinkie Pie.

"Don't say that word! That's what started this all!" Pinkie quietly warned. Ruby had explained the idea behind her frustrations to them already, but now Ruby pulled Pinkie off of Steven gently.

"It's okay Pinkie."

"You sure?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah. I know I got mad at Pearl, but … the more I think about it, I think I was upset more about what Rose did, over what Pearl did. All I did was attack the messenger, and … kinda made everyone leave. … I'm sorry."
Ruby did feel guilty for starting this fire, but she had such an innocent looking face on her, it was impossible to stay mad at her. Steven felt flustered seeing such innocence, and smiled.

"It's ok, Ruby, it was probably best Pearl told you all anyway," Steven replied.

"... Yeah, about that. she didn't say it exactly. she didn't say … anything," Ruby said humbly, playing with her fingers as she looked down to her feet, much like a guilty child would in manor.

"Then how'd you find out?" Amethyst asked.

"Sapphire and I stayed behind on Mask Island not long after she reformed, and that night, we kinda overheard the whole story. After Sapphire left, I kinda spilt the news with everyone."

"OOOHHH. Yep, that makes more sense," Amethyst replied, gulping the remains of her pizza.

"So, you all chilled out now, Ruby?" Applejack asked once more.

"Yeah, we talked it out. I'm fine now," Ruby replied, before walking over to what remained of another pizza box off nearby on the hood of the van. It also had a few notable comics on it, some of which Rainbow let them borrow from the "Daring Do" issues, others from the comic shop in Bayburgh. Ruby picked up both pizza and comic as she continued explaining.

"Besides. Now that I'm just me, I can go wherever the wind takes me! Here I am eating pizza, reading comics, I don't know if Sapphire wants to do any of this stuff - I don't have to know!" Ruby beamed, before she made a backflip right onto the roof of the van. Sapphire could feel some sting as Ruby wasn't caring much for Sapphire's thoughts about things at the moment, but then again, Ruby looked a lot happier now, lot more than was Sapphire feared she wouldn't be.

"How'd you two find her, by the way?" Amethyst asked the other two ponies. Fluttershy blushed a little bit, rubbing her front leg.

"Eh … actually, it's kind of embarrassing but -"

"We just used these!" Pinkie cut in, showing them … the Portal Keys. … Oh lord, they were dumb: Amethyst actually hit her head on the van because of how stupid she felt.

"We could've fixed this WAY faster," Steven realized. But, there were still some matters to get to, and Ruby (who didn't hear them), looked out to the open skies with newfound pride.

"The rest of my life could be like this! I don't have to be Garnet or Rubidot! I could be on my own!"

…

"WHAAAAAT?! But, but, you all love eachother! I-I love eating flour and sugar separately, but I still want cake! Sapphire wouldn't want -"

"I don't care what Sapphire wants!" Ruby cut in, "I see my own future now. And it's nothin but Ruby!"

And Steven's future is nothing but panic by the look on his face. What was the Crystal Gems going to do without Garnet?! It was already troubling with the random Garnet before, but with them completely apart now, how was that going to make things better?

"Cupcake, scardy?" Pinkie asked, presenting a cupcake to Steven. Not even Pinkie's special cupcakes were enough to break him of his worried funk. Amethyst was more chillax with Ruby going off on her own like this, but she didn't need Steven freaked out all over again, so a word would be good.

"Easy dude, it'll be fine. Heck, maybe this is for the better," Amethyst said, hand around Steven's shoulders.

"She's got a point, kiddo. This could be what she needs," agreed Greg.

"But guys, what if they never form Garnet again? We gotta get them back together!"

"S-Steven, no!" Fluttershy said, getting his attention with the surprisingly Fluttershy-volume of yelling.

"No? Why not?! What're we gonna do without -"

"Steven that's not our call to make," Greg finally made clear, Flutters nodding in agreement, "Ruby's got to want that for herself. If that isn't what she wants, it's not what Garnet wants, right?"

"Hmm … I guess so. B-But everyone else is still gone somewhere," Steven said, looking off to the distance and thinking about everything. As far as he knew, the only true Crystal Gems left now were Sapphire, Amethyst, Peridot, Jade, and himself. Far smaller than before, and even if they were going to come back soon thanks to Fluorite's message, who knows when that'll be? … he wondered if this was how Flint felt most of the time.

"Steven, come here," Amethyst finally said, bringing him aside for a moment.

"A-Amethyst, you think it's good they're together, right?"

"Of course I do, but if Greg says this is good for her, then let it happen."

"But, what about - … our little problem?" Steven whispered.

"What problem?" Amethyst questioned, legitimately confused more than anything.

"You know. That spirit dream? The windigo?"

"Oh yeah, that. Look, don't think about that, they'll all be back together at some point. But dude, we can't force Ruby to be with Sapphire, that's no better than Rose making they should be together. Ruby has a say in this, right?"

"... I guess you're right. If she wants to be with her, then it's her choice, not mine. … OK, if this is how it's gotta be, I'll support Ruby in her quest for emotional growth."

"There you go, Steve-O," Amethyst said, fluffing Steven's hair. Feeling a little better, both Steven and Amethyst went on back to Ruby, who was unable to stay still as she hopped on top of the van.

"So, red wolf, what're you gonna do now? Just gonna stay out here?" Amethyst asked.

"I'll wanna live free: out in the wilderness, facing danger at every turn, not needin nothing, nobody, or nopony to get me by. Just like this guy!" Ruby said, getting a picture out to show to them. Who she actually showed was, actually a bit of a surprise to much of them.

"Flint? Really?" Steven asked.

"Yeah! He's always out on his own, taking on the world head on, doing his own thing without anyone telling him what to do. You saw how cool he was before, fighting against even White Diamond, and he did so much all by himself. That's what I wanna do!"

"... We're talking about the same guy, right?" Applejack asked.

"I didn't realize you admired him, Ruby. You never said this before, and I thought you didn't like him," Fluttershy said.

"Well, at first I did, but I realized after Flint puts his mind to something, he becomes the most determined, self-reliant Gem I've ever seen! He takes charge of it all: Investigating that Diamond case, working to take on the cluster, leading everyone when we went on the Space Station for the first time. THAT'S a Gem I wanna be - relying on myself, and taking charge of my life!"

"You got a point there, Ruby. Hey, maybe if we run into him we can get a few pointers for ya," Amethyst said. If she could run into him after one day, then maybe Ruby can to. Though, she didn't have the heart to tell her he left the team yet, her being so happy and all.

"Well, then maybe you can be your own thing. Something like this?" asked Fluttershy, this time showing a cover of what looked like a cowgirl pony alongside Daring Do in one of the comic issues. Ruby hopped down and took a better look at the cowgirl pony, skimming along through some of the pages in question. Her eyes sparkled.

"That's. Even. Better! The open plains, the deep canyons, that's where I wanna go!" Ruby said in excitement. And naturally, one pony had the perfect thing come into her head, the cowgirl mare tilting her hat to Ruby.

"Well if it's country life you want, I know just the place. Tomorrow morning, I'll get ya there in two shakes of a lamb's tail."

"THANK YOU!" Ruby beamed, and was as giddy as Pinkie Pie on her own birthday, the pink mare sharing her enthusiasm.

Not too far away, Sapphire kept herself a bit quiet about this, hearing everything word for word. Suddenly, she too began to realize that this … might be good for her. To be off on her own with some independence. She still would need to apologize eventually, but for now, she decided to turn and quietly move off away. She can't make Ruby do anything like fusion without her approval on it, and if she wanted to be a cowgirl, then so be it. Steven's words echoed in her head.

OK, if this is how it's gotta be, I'll support Ruby in her quest for emotional growth.

"So will I." Sapphire quietly replied, before going off on her way.

~~~~~~

"Alright, I know you said you had something for me, but is this really what I need to do?"

Sniper began to wonder why he even came back. Hunting went a bit slow, but he had enough time to meet up with Starlight, Trixie, and Pink Diamond later on to check out their performance. Unfortunately, Starlight's "grand idea" was a bit less natural … meaning, coloring his fur. No animal enjoyed being painted.

"We're almost done, Sniper," Starlight promised, getting the finishing touches on him. By the time she was done, he didn't look a thing like a Tindalos, and looked instead like that of a fox. His two tails was put in a cloth wrapping for a single tail, and each of his two ears was covered by some fake ears for just one set instead of two, with some slight magic to make his eyes a common brown instead of the glowing blue.

"There, that looks pretty good," Starlight said.

"You sure this is such a good idea now? When that crowd finds out what I really am -"

"They won't find out, don't worry. Here, why don't you go and find a seat, the show's gonna start in just a few minutes," Starlight reassured. Sniper glanced off back out to the crowd, which by now there was already quite a bit. Sniper kept himself a good distance though, sitting off just out of main range, and keeping from the crowds. Some humans did see him, but they didn't worry too much about some fox walking about (they've seen weirder things). Still, even with him now further away, there still was one extra matter that he didn't exactly count on, especially when he looked up to the sky for a moment and saw someone flying along his way. It was a vague sight, but he did see Lapis Lazuli start to fly nearby. She didn't seem to notice him yet, so he just stayed calm and looked on to the show. By the time he found his spot for a good view, eventually the show began with a large puff of smoke, Trixie standing full stage for the crowd.

"Come one, come all, welcome to The Humble and Penitent Trixie's Universal Apology Tour," Trixie announced. The "Equestrian" part of the name wouldn't work here, but unlike the ponies before, no one was questioning the name this time. Trixie did clean up the town from the Tindalos attack, but she still felt some resistance from some members of the crowd, so she hoped this would be a fair trade.

"Behold, your fears come true …"

And what did the curtains reveal next? …

"A ravenous, creature-eating Manticore!"

And one mighty roar echoed across the land to announce its presence to them all. The creature had a vague resemblance to Lion in species, but with the scorpion tail, bat wings, and sharp horns on his head, this beast was no simple cub. Wasn't easy getting one of those things, but Pink Diamond had it covered, considering she was holding onto the chain from backstage just in case the animal got a little too frisky. It was enough to make them a bit nervous, some gasping.

"Save your gasps, for when I defy the jaws of death, and reappear before your very eyes within this black box," Trixie said, pointing to said box on the same stage. The act seemed pretty straightforward, though Trixie had one other extra trick up her sleeves, and a cannon was actually put in place off behind the crowd, aimed directly for the Manticore! Trixie got off stage and trotted directly over to the cannon.

"What is she even doing?" Sniper wondered. Trixie, much to his curiosity and their surprise, got right into the cannon, and it began to move itself off into place. The mare got off her hat, got on a helmet, and then she lit the fuse! Sniper began to put two and two together and started to worry over her, his claws digging into the ground as he got more tense. She wasn't actually thinking on doing that, was she?
And then came the initial shot. Trixie flew right off into the air, right over the crowd, and closing her eyes was going directly for the opened jaws of the Manticore! Trixie herself was gone in a flash, disappearing within the jaws of the monstrous beast! The gulp, and following burp from the animal made the act especially convincing, a little too convincing. At first there was some silence amongst the crowd, waiting for something to happen. Sniper himself couldn't believe what he was seeing, staring wide eyed and in horror at this act. But then they heard a small flash somewhere, and then the box was opened to reveal -

"Behold! The Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie announced, looking completely fine. A very impressive display, but seeing this happen did make Sniper a little bit concerned, if not flabbergasted, as he watched not only the show but the reactions.

"What was that?" he thought, "You don't throw yourself into a predator's mouth for a thrill. First creature I've seen with a constant death wish if they find that a laugh. … Grant it, she did teleport my father to this realm outside of the first one. Guess her magic kept her out of trouble, but what's all the excitement about?"

Sniper got up after a bit, and he began to move off away a little bit. The show was a thrill, but not something he'd be more intimate on if he could help it. What was entertaining about such a common thing anyway? Well, regardless, he had seen the show as Starlight wanted, and with it now done he could get back to business. Though, his involvement with Beach City wasn't done yet.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Sniper stopped, and looked up to the sky, seeing patrolling Lapis Lazuli had found him. And she was ready to confront him, landing down not too far from the disguised Tindalos. And she for one, was NOT happy to see him, even if he looked not far off from any normal fox.

"Oh. Hi there," Sniper said, trying to be a little bit more formal, but Lapis wasn't having any of it.

"You think you can just walk back in here after what you did?" she questioned, eyeing down the Tindalos. Sniper thought the disguise was decent, but the animal didn't need to keep up an act if he didn't have to.

"Whatever it is, I do apologize for that."

"Apologize? I fought for hours against your pack, they tore apart this town in their rampage, and they nearly killed dozens of those here, including my close friends. You have to go."

And suddenly, a huge hit from Lapis Lazuli sent Sniper off down the road, the hit blinding fast, and enough to loosen some of the "disguises", with the two tails and four ears now exposed and not painted either. Sniper may have not seen the attack himself, but if it was as vicious as she was saying, he could see her reluctance towards him. If not a bit forward in said approach. No matter - he was exposed to whoever heard, and he even ended up cut from Lapis's own water wings. The Tindalos knew he was not welcome here.

"What's going on?" Starlight called, rushing over just to find Sniper on the ground with Lapis Lazuli on top of him.

"Lapis, no, stop! He's a friend!" Starlight yelled. she had to make the point quick before Lapis Lazuli could hurt him. Sniper went on instinct, and whacked Lapis in the face with his paw, just enough to sting her, his claws getting into her cheek. The claws stung her, and Sniper bolted off out of her grip, and he could only make a run for it before anyone else could rush him.

"Sniper, wait a minute!" Starlight called. But Sniper didn't slow down, and fazed into a corner before she could get over to him. Her attempt to make a friend out of him had been scuffled.

"Starlight, you alright? Good thing I got that Tindalos, or who knows what'll happen," Lapis said, trying to comfort Starlight. Though, all of this happened a little fast, so it took Starlight Glimmer a bit to comprehend everything, before Trixie and Pink Diamond arrived to see her.

"What's all the noise about?" Pink asked.

"A Tindalos almost got the chance to attack the crowd. Good thing I -"

"You clod! That was a friend of ours! Starlight invited him to our show!" Pink cut in, cutting Lapis short of her own words. Lapis froze up on such a forceful word, and Pink got a good look to Lapis's face, namely, her cheek.

"... Hey, what'chu got there?"

"There? Where?" Lapis asked.

"Here, those three marks," Pink pointed out. All of this was going quick, and Starlight only now took notice of the cut on Lapis's face, which Pink Diamond placed her fingers on. A small movement on her cheek, and Pink Diamond found something stuck to her two fingers for her, Starlight, and Trixie to see.

Blood. Greenish blood.

And just like that, "Lapis Lazuli" was gone, flying right off into the air and high-tailing it out of there! This was ALL going very fast, and it took a minute to realize what actually happen. This attack on Sniper was something else's plan to screw them over.

"Not again. Pink, Trixie, after that poser!"

"And you?" Trixie asked.

"I need to find Sniper and clear things up with him," Starlight replied.

~~~~~~

With his wound still stinging him, Sniper got himself from one portal to another, but instead of appearing at home, he ended up off within the world of Equestria. In this case, he ended up finding himself nearby the Ponyville pond, outside of the main town. It wasn't the best spot to rest, but at the very least it was somewhere isolated for him to get his act together. Resting by the shore of the frozen pond, he began to groom himself a little bit, licking the cut he got from Lapis. Good thing he got his hunting over with first, because he probably wouldn't do so well until the cut would heal up. The cut itself wasn't too bad, thank goodness, though it still felt a little painful in the cold snow underneath him. Though, it took about half an hour for him to better settle down, the cold snow acting like a dulling agent to the wound too.
For Starlight, her finding him took a while to get to, her having to find one of the key holders first before getting back to Equestria, and then trying to find where he would end up after that, which itself took a good hour to do. By the time she did find him by the pond, Sniper was actually taking a nap in the snow with all the paint off of him, though his ear flicking did say he knew someone was coming.

"Hi there."

"Good, you're around. Listen, I'm sorry about what just happened," Starlight said, "I didn't think somebody would catch you so fast."

"Isn't your fault, Starlight. I knew things would be risky anyway, so don't worry about it," Sniper replied, licking his cut a few more times. Starlight sat down beside him.

"I know. I just thought that you would be a … good friend?"

Sniper got up.

"Good friend. Huh. Starlight, I'm a Tindalos, you're a unicorn. You and me being friends is like a heron being friends with a fish - it just wouldn't work out at the end of the day. What hope is there for that to happen?" Sniper explained, before he began to walk away from Starlight and down the shoreline of the lake. Starlight trotted over in his way.

"Wait, there has to be some. Yeah, I'm a unicorn and you're a Tindalos, so what? I know some ponies who're friends with all sorts of species, so -"

"Do any of those species eat ponies, however?" Sniper asked quizzically.

"Yeah, Dragons! They're known to eat ponies, but my friend practically raised a baby from birth, and is good terms with the Dragon lord. I'm sure they'll be friends with you."

"Well, maybe, but one of your friends already attacked me, didn't she?" Sniper asked. Starlight looked away, front hooves tapping together.

"Eh, yeah … she wasn't my actual friend. That was a imposter."

"Imposter?"

"I'll explain later, Trixie and Pink Diamond are trying to get her right now. More to the point, if you can come back with me we can try again. No disguises, no games, just up front and making things clear. I know you're not like the others," Starlight reassured. Sniper still wasn't sure about this, all things considered, though that last part …

"Heh. There's a "them" now."

"Ah! S-sorry, that came out wrong, I meant -"

"Joking, joking," Sniper said, "I know there's a "natural tiff" between a carnivore and herbivore. It's just how things happen. … But, if you're so insistent, I guess I could come by. Might make it less dangerous for me hunting around here if I'm on better terms with them."

Well, it's something, and Starlight had to take it.

"Good … because, I had to tell them about you to get back here, and they've agreed to meet you back at the barn."

"What?!" Sniper gasped.

"If you meet them, that is. Some of them had left to meet with Twilight, but you can try to talk to those still there. …"

…

"So you're one of those famous Tindalos," said Jasper.

"Not as famous as you, mam," Sniper replied, keeping his gaze down.

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean -"

"Your pack has become a bit infamous too," Jasper reminded. Sniper knew that it was getting a bit edgy now, and with much of the group torn apart already, it was just a bit too risky to just accept straight away. Sniper and Starlight knew this too.

"Ok: your pack's probably gonna try another hunting trip around here again. Starlight said you mentioned that. Suppose your father attacked Starlight …"

"That's not fair!" Starlight said.

"That is a bit hard, Jasper," Jade agreed.

"Sniper has to face that, let's get it out of the way," Jasper retorted, which was harshly true. Starlight was going to say something, but Sniper stepped up before she could. Friendship lessons were fun and good, but they won't be able to account for death if it would come that far.

"Mam … I've thought about this. If it were to come down to an all out scrap between your world, and mine. I wouldn't fight against you … but, not for you either," Sniper said. It was a odd answer to give, all things considered, but no matter how Sniper looked at it, his pack was still his family, and he will not kill any of them anymore than he would kill Starlight, or any of the others present.

"... Yeah. Honest. Ok," Jasper confirmed. Sniper didn't look like a liar to her, and the Tindalos did promise he wouldn't lie a word in before they started talking.

"You sure we can trust him?" Rhodonite asked.

"You tell me. But he didn't get involved in the actual attack, so … Ok, it checks out," Jasper confirmed. As far as Starlight was concerned, it was the best she was going to get with the group here.

"I'm glad you can accept me," Sniper said.

"Not so fast," Jasper cut in. "It's the first day. You're not gonna change us to your side that quick."

"Thank you, mam. I'll keep my side of the bargain, you can be sure of that," Sniper promised. With that all handled and confirmed, Sniper and Starlight both began to head off on their way. Starlight was so glad to keep her new friend.

"Bargain? What bargain?" Jasper noted.

"It must be a Tindalos thing," Rhodonite replied.

…….

With Starlight departing, the rest of the Mane Six and remaining Gems were off at another little bit of meeting place over by the Cutie Map. Twilight herself was more excited about this than anyone else there, having a number of items with her including field notes, the book itself, and a small diorama of … something. It wasn't clear what exactly, but Twilight Sparkle had the mind to better explain. Either way, whatever she found out about this she wanted as many as possible there to hear.

"I know I've finished one of Starswirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level! Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation?! It's Starswirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once I worked out the old ponish, I went through the journal again, and it's amazing!"
Needless to say, Twilight was a bit too psyched, as Starlight Glimmer finally caught up.

"What's amazing?" Starlight asked, walking up, but none of them were too sure.

"Twilight, sweetie, we understand you're excited, but that's all we understand," Rarity said.

"What's so amazing, exactly?" asked Lapis.

"Only how the pillars of Equestria banished the Pony of Shadows to Limbo!" Twilight answered.

"Limbo? Isn't that one of the Humans' party rituals?" Peridot asked, scratching her head. Of course, that wasn't what Twilight meant exactly, and admittedly she hoped that it would be asked as she brought out the diorama. It really just looked like some odd placement of rocks in a circular placement. This area had a "Stonehenge" sort of look to it, and for equestria's version, Ponhenge. She used her magic to make a sort of light around the display as she continued explaining.

"They used their magic to open a portal between worlds – to limbo – and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside," Twilight explained, just before the magic made a small explosion, which in turn destroyed the display she made. Not that she minded though, she was too excited to worry about that.

"You mean like the Warpstream?" Steven asked.

"Not exactly. I mean, otherwise, you'd be running into them everytime you'd go through the warp pads … which would be super amazing," Twilight said, flying up with book in hoof.

"Probably lucky," Lapis admitted. With all their problems already, adding a Pony of Shadows in the Warpstream was not a good idea altogether, as Twilight continued explaining.

"The pillars thought the only way for them to put the Pony of shadows into Limbo was to take him there."

"So they got stuck too!" confirmed Applejack.

"Not for long," said Lapis, bringing out her Portal Key, "Just point me in the right direction, and they'll be back in no time."

"Great idea, Lapis! If they're stuck there, we can just go in, get them, and we'll be right back here," Steven said. Well, that sounded like a good plan, and a pretty easy one too. This did strike it intriguing for Sunburst.

"You serious? You're able to rescue the most powerful ponies of all time?"

"Sure! Give us a sec," Lapis replied. But before Lapis could actually get the job done, someone else stepped in before that could happen, stopping them with a quick bark.

"I wouldn't do that."

Sniper. He was a little bit lacking behind when it came to coming down, though with him hearing all this talk of portals and other worlds, he just had to come down to get his two bits in. That didn't mean his presence was welcomed, the others quickly readying for an attack.

"Whoa, wait!" Starlight gasped, getting in the way, "He's my friend! Sorry for such short notice."

"Friend, Starlight? But he's a Tindalos," Rainbow Dash pointed out. A bit species-ist, but not the point.

"How's that any -" Starlight was cut off when Sniper stepped up.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened. I shouldn't of let that happen to all of you," Sniper said. A bit of a surprise for much of them.

"Sniper, it wasn't your fault," Starlight whispered.

"It's for the best," Sniper replied, before walking over towards Lapis Lazuli. she remembered too well the Tindalos and their attack on Beach City, so seeing Sniper come up to her didn't make her very thrilled on it at first. Then again, Sniper was just glad she didn't attack him on sight like earlier (plus she did look different from before, both appearance and scent).

"So, what's this talk about Limbo and portals?" Sniper asked. Starlight made sure to stay over by him just in case.

"We were thinking on getting Starswirl the Bearded out of Limbo through our handy dandy keys, see?" Pinkie explained, showing Sniper the Portal Key. However, and surprisingly in little time, Sniper shook his head.

"Well, you're not gonna do it that way. I've been goin through Limbo a good deal, many times. You can't just stop inside of Limbo. I tried, doesn't work. It's like trying to stay still in a rapid river," Sniper stated. Well considering what he was, and how he could just go in between worlds on his own accord through his own brand of Limbo portals, there wasn't much reason to think he didn't know what he was talking about. Lapis and Steven were disappointed, but Twilight luckily had another idea.

"Don't worry, I got a plan that we can use that doesn't need any Portal Key. We can make our own spell to get them out!"

"I don't know, opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. You sure it's safe?" Starlight asked.

"Oh, portal making's easy. It's what the portal goes to you gotta be sharp about," Sniper said, again speaking from experience.

"Starlight, first of all, you opened portals through time, and second you used Starswirl's spell to do it. If he'd been here, he could have stopped it," Twilight explained. Starlight recoiled a little bit on yet, ANOTHER reminder of what she used to do, but they did see Twilight's point as she finished with "Equestria and Earth will be safer with him in it. We have to save him!"

"But you'd be saving all the pillars righ? And they disappeared ages ago," Applejack pointed out.

"Gotta agree with Applejack here. We're talking THOUSANDS of years stuck in that place. You sure they're still even alive in there?" Bismuth asked, as Twilight landed over by Spike.

"That's the thing about Limbo: it's not one place, or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we took them out, it'd be like they never left!" Twilight concluded.

"Eh, not to be a stick in the mud or whatever, but how the heck does that work?" Amethyst asked.

"Doesn't matter how it works, what matters is that he and the other pillars can come back. And I promise to make that happen!" Twilight proposed.

"In that case, what can we do to help?" Spike offered.

"If I'm right, then we need items connected to the pillars in some way … And I think this map's been doing just that!" Twilight said, bringing their attention to the Cutie Map. The others looked over the map in question.

"You mean stuff that belonged to them?" Bismuth asked.

"WHOA, hold on now! I already got Rockhoof's shovel, and Rarity's got Mistmane's flower, and YOU Starswirl's book! That's already three down," AJ realized.

"But what's left to look for? And where?" Fluttershy asked. Three was good, but that wasn't all the Pillars.

"Uh, I think the map's got us covered," said Amethyst, bringing their attention to the map again. As if the map had been listening, it began to activate itself all over again, and suddenly the Cutie Marks of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash began to flash once again, alarming them to what the Cutie Map wanted them for. It had done a good job already with many of these ponies, and now that they finally got two and two together, time to wrap up this game of searching. The map began to show the icons, with Mistmane, Starswirl, and Rockhoof now colored green, whereas a few new marks were shown on the map: Meadowbrook's healing mask in Hayseed Swamp, Somnambula's blindfold over in southern Equestria, and Netitus over in … well somewhere, they weren't sure exactly, but it was still a spot anyway.

"WOO, IT'S OUR TURN!" Pinkie beamed, unable to stand still seeing this.

"Well, looks like we don't have to wonder who should get what," Twilight concluded.

Rogue Ruby

View Online

*CAAAWWW*

With the echoing call of the vulture, the open expanses of the Equestrian Badlands welcomed the morning. Even in the cool months of winter, the plains were left with dry grass and sandy landscape. Not a drop of water within miles, unless frost counted that is. The lone chickenhawk flew off for some morning rabbits with the rising sun. No better time for a small animal to go out than in dawn, though the bird itself found one extra visitor traveling along the open, dry plains.
And much of them came in through a portal key-enhanced door. Curious, but wary, the vulture kept its distance as the newcomers came through, starting with Applejack. The orange mare took a good look around the place, seeing nothing much except for the desert shrubs and of course the perched bird not too far off.

"Alrigh, Ruby, ready to "wild west" it up?" Applejack asked.

And out came Ruby, jumping through the portal, and landing on her feet. The outfit the red Gem had had that of a standard cowboy: a cowskull gold belt, ten-gallon hat, reddish bandana, cowboy coots and all. The Gem was SO READY for the wild, wild west of Equestria, and with the crack of the whip in her glare, she marched right on out like a true cowboy: legs spread and ready to draw at any moment. She'd heard of ol' Appaloosa before, and of course Canter Creek, but if Ruby was gonna get down in the true wild west, she wanted all of it with no cushioning. The Badlands were just the ticket, and Ruby approved it all when she checked the world around her.
And as with any outings of this nature, she didn't come alone: Pinkie Pie came too, alongside Lapis and Steven. Two ponies, three Gems, and one great land of western potential - just as Ruby wanted. Looking off to the badlands, Lapis pulled off the "$5.00" tag from Ruby's outfit (Fillydelphia's costume shop had A LOT of outfits when they bought the box), and when Ruby took a moment to fully take in the true level of western landscape, she pulled out the Daring Do comic from her hat, taking note of the cowboy pony within it.

"Ah. The open range. Least you understand me, ol' bell," Ruby said, both reading off the comic and throwing in her own kind of "western accent". The picture here showed the cowgirl pony with her "steed" in the form of a dairy, brown-splotched cow. A different twist on it, but that was still a point not met just yet.

"Oh, Ruby, you need a steed!" Pinkie realized.

"Steed, eh? Hmm …" Ruby tried to figure out what would work. They surely didn't have any cows to work with, but soon her gaze slowly turned to Pinkie and Applejack …

"Don't even think about it, Ruby," AJ said, deadpan and up front. A Equestrian pony never liked being treated like an "Earth" pony, so that idea was off the table.

"Whelp, looks like this rider's riding with no ride … walking, that is," Ruby said, keeping the serious cowgirl tone to it all. Even the vulture perched nearby on some dead tree found this tone as stupid as it was funny, but none of them wanted to dull her down yet.
So "walking" is exactly what they did from there. Much of the land all around them had three words to describe it: arid, open, and unforgiving. They did call this place the Badlands for a reason, and everywhere they looked it was exactly that. Ruby felt though that this was just the place, and took lead of the pack with vigor.

"So this is the Badlands. What happened to all of the snow? Did the Pegesi miss this place?" Lapis asked, flying around a little bit much like Rainbow Dash would.

"Nope, the weather ponies don't go over here. It's not on their flight path, and there's a lot of scary things you can find here," Pinkie explained, matter-of-factly as she hopped along like the rabbits that roam these plains. They weren't too focused on the scary stuff though (in a bad way, that is), and they took a look over to Ruby, keeping her walk and looking around the world she brought herself to. Without ol' bell, she was just by herself.

"Feel like a true cowgirl now?" asked AJ.

"Yep. I sure reckon I do," Ruby replied. It was then Ruby stopped and looked up into the sky, seeing that same vulture flying around nearby, circling them as vultures tend to do. A carnivore in its own right, with all the patience of time itself for a meal to fall. Ruby, keeping the cowgirl look, whipped out her "trusty iron" - it was just her pointed finger - and aimed it directly at the bird. The vulture looked a little puzzled, but it did stop circling, and landed by another tree. She blew the non-existent smoke from her trusty finger, and began walking again.

"Not to be a yellowbelly about this, but we don't even have a map. I think we're just gonna get ourselves lost," Steven pointed out.

"No problem, we got our magic tickets to pop right back. OH, reminds me -" Pinkie quickly opened up a portal with her own key and rushed right through it, just to pop back seconds later with a "picnic batch" of fresh cupcakes. "Who wants country-style cupcakes?!"

"Eh, maybe later Pinkie, but thanks," Lapis replied.

"I never needed charity. Besides, I already am lost. That's why I came out here … to find myself," Ruby replied.

"... That's straight out of that comic, isn't it?" Lapis questioned. Applejack just shrugged as they continued on, now having a more enticing treat for any creature to try and snag. A better enticement for the vultures, which by now there was at least four to five now watching from the tree.
Their walk continued on with a bit less excitement, as much of the world around didn't really come up as anything as such. Nothing but the shrubs, rocks, and vultures really. In their walk though, they did find a good cluster of shrubs put together, something the vultures were a little wary of and didn't try to go near. They didn't look to be like a single shrub, but more like a whole bunch of them put into one pile.

"This is what I mean," said Ruby, "What's inside this pile of brush? I dunno. Sapphire ain't here to predict for me. Now's the chance to find out fer myself!"

One step in and …

"AAAHHH!"

"Oh Ponyfeathers!" Applejack gasped, galloping right to the bush, knocking a lot of the brush out of the way. "Ruby?!"
Ruby found herself staring down what easily looked like a endless pit, too dark to see the bottom. Ruby only avoided falling in completely from a small cliff edge along the wall of the dropoff, which she was keeping VERY close to.

"... WHOA! I had no idea this pit was here!" Ruby called. Lapis had the honor of flying in and getting Ruby out of there, the drop just too deep for any typical Gem to just climb out of.

"You ok?" Lapis asked.

"I almost fell down there … and … it was all my choice! YEE-HAW! INDEPENDENCE!" Ruby raced off in hype mode all over again. Some did smile, but this was a bit troubling to say the least. Steven felt some cold sweat on his face from seeing this, as e tried this once before, and it didn't really go too well for him. What kind of trouble would Ruby end up getting herself into? Lapis landed over by Steven.

"Don't worry, Steven, we'll keep an eye on her," Lapis said.

"Sorry, it's just I've done this before and it didn't work well for me," Steven said, recalling his first (and as of now only) solo Gem mission. All that trouble with the mountain lion, corrupted Gem, and landscape itself was just reasons for Steven to worry over Ruby's own safety.

"Well, no offense, Steven. But, you're half-human, she's not. Maybe it might be … easier for her?" Lapis did not want to sound bias or anything, but Steven understood what was what. He'd seen Ruby fight before many times, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad for her.

"No, it's cool. Come on, partner," Steven simply said with a smile, throwing his own western accent for that last bit. Ruby continued running on ahead of them like an excited child, the group keeping up with her during her thrill. The vultures were aside watching the whole thing, one of which flew off away.

Neither noticing something peeking out of the hole, watching the group go.

…….

So after Ruby's first brush with her doom, they continued on exploring the vastness of the Badlands. Kinda hard to really say where exactly they were going all too much, but with their portal keys to get them off back home, it really wasn't going to be that much trouble. Despite that though, Applejack, Lapis, and Steven kept a bit of a better eye out around the place. None of them had ever truly been in the Badlands before, but as one read up on it while Twilight had her golden oak library, and one through pure gossip alone in family ties, it was no surprise that nopony would go out here. No plants to be had (not plentiful anyway), and what they could find didn't look all that friendly at all. Flying above their heads, the vultures were well kept in keeping up with them too. Even if they could only eat three of the five, it was still better than zero, and good enough for them to keep up.

If worst comes to worst, they could always steal their cupcakes.

In their travels, they found themselves a small watering hole to take a pitstop at. It wasn't anything like the Ponyville pond, only about three feet at the deepest, but it was still clear as crystal, and cool to the tongue as they stopped for their picnic. Or least, it ended up being that way when Pinkie brought out a typical red and white checkered blanket, and began passing around the treats to everyone. The vultures of course kept close, finding a perch on a rock formation nearby. A bummer they were actually eating said cupcakes though, so the easy answer was out.

"W-Wow," Lapis said after taking a bite of the cupcake. "Oh, cupcake, where have you been?"
It'd been WAY too long since she last had a bite of one of these.

"I was going to save them for a "welcome back from your depressing separation" party, but I'll make another batch for that too," Pinkie said, before popping a cupcake into her mouth like a piece of candy, which most likely was in one of the cupcakes anyway. After chewing her sweet, she glanced over to Ruby.

"Sure you don't want any, Ruby?" Pinkie offered.

"I reckon," Ruby replied, drinking from the pool with her hand like any cowgirl would. Nothing in the comic said anything about cupcakes anyway. During this, another Vulture came back into the flock, making the others squawk and flutter a little bit. Steven went off to check in on Ruby from here.

"So, uh … you know, Ruby, it's okay to get help sometimes," Steven said.

"Maybe for you, but Ruby Rider doesn't need help from anybody," Ruby made clear, wiping some stray water from her face. This was mostly to keep up with her persona of "lonesome tough gal" much like Daring Do and the cowgirl in the story of hers. In fact, that same line was straight from the comic's earlier pages. Ruby made one jump right across the small pool, landing on a tall rock, and looked out to the landscape ahead. All untamed wilderness, and it was all waiting for her.

*rumble*

Though, it would seem that the danger was trying to find her. The vibrations were enough to knock Ruby off her rock, the vibrations getting louder and rougher. Eventually, the rumbling did stop, but they found themselves in … quite a pickle.

"Hey. Who said you can drink here?" asked a dry, rough voice. When Ruby looked up, she found her view met with the snout of a thirsty, and aggressive creature. A good snort from said animal got ruby jumping to her feet, just to find an entire herd of this creature now surrounding everyone! A herd of rhino. And one of them looked too happy to see them. The one talking to Ruby had a sort of scruffy, orange hair on his head, and actually had an ear missing, and a notable cut going along his snout.

"Oh … uh, howdy partner," Applejack said, moving over to Ruby. The rhino was unmoved.

"... Howdy," the Rhino said, unamused. "Now, I'll ask again. Who said you can drink here?" his kept his tone slow and forceful so each word can go into them. The vultures nearby began to find some amusement in their dilemma, watching in anticipation.

"Uh, n-no one," Steven said, nervously.

"That's what I thought. Now. I'm giving you all until the count of three to get out of here. This is our water," the Rhino made his point clear, marching closer to them until they were edge to the water. Ruby started to bring out her "cowgirl" self again.

"I don't think you know who you're dealing with," said Ruby, "I reckon you should move on before things get ugly."
Now if this were in the comic, it would drive the bandits off, but these Rhinos were NOT leaving. In fact, the leader marched even closer, pushing Ruby back with his mighty thick horn.

"Tough talk from a half-pint like you," the Rhino growled. Ruby suddenly didn't feel so confident in herself.

"Psst, Ruby, we better leave them alone," Steven said.

"I can take them, Steven," Ruby whispered back, tipping her hat. Re-gathering herself, she looked daggers in the Rhino's eyes, but the Rhino was NOT intimidated at all.

"You lookin to start something? Unicorn?" Ruby warned, her hand lighting a fire in her palm. Now THIS should be enough to drive any animal off, but this Rhino still didn't budge, instead glancing at the others in his posse.

"Did that gremlin just call me a Unicorn?" he asked. All the other Rhinos gave a warning bellow, and as for the leader, he simply gave an inhale and -

*SPLAT*

A big, thick loogie. Right on her hand, the fire disappearing in a puff of smoke. Ruby suddenly was losing all her confidence now, the Rhino giving one last snort of warning.

"Say that again. And I'll be watching those buzzards pick your bones in the drying sun."
Even for someone who technically didn't have any bones, Ruby saw that the comic tactic just wasn't working for these guys. The rhinos began to move in on the water, getting their drink, but some of the rhinos also forced the others aside and dined on the cupcakes Pinkie brought in, barely leaving a crumb.

"HEY, THOSE WERE MINE!"

"And what're you gonna do about it, cotton head?" one of the rhinos snorted, licking some of the icing off of his snout before tossing much of the stash to the other rhinos, including the boss. With some drinking and some eating, the remainder made sure to get the others moving. No one wants to fight with a herd of angry rhinos.

"Fine. We were going anyway," Ruby said, making it like they were going to do that, before going off on her way. The boss Rhino gave a good loud bellow to them before he too went off to get his own drink.

Not the best showing.

~~~~~~

From there, it was mainly exploration through the Badlands. With the Rhinos satisfied for the time being, they at least didn't run into anymore trouble as such, though it did remind Ruby to at least watch her mouth around creatures like that, persona or no. A bit odd to find a herd of Rhino just wandering the Badlands, but there were far stranger and deadlier things to find in Equestria, so they didn't question it too much in their wandering around. They had their own fun throughout the day though, don't get them wrong: Ruby fended off a small rattlesnake amongst the badlands, easily spooked off with a draw of her finger much like the Vultures. The cowgirl even ended up getting a steed after all, as during a pitstop Pinkie agreed to give her a ride (albeit a wilder one). These were but a few of the things that Ruby Rider ended up doing, either basing it off of the comic she read, or just by chance. Surely the cowgirl pony in the comic didn't ride along a flying water Gem to help others across a ravine … though she didn't read that far into the comic yet.

The hours ticked on by, and eventually, almost before they realized it, Celestia's sun settled down across the horizon, and Luna's moon began to be raised into the sky ever so steadily. The dawn of the night had now fully engulfed the badlands. Well, one advantage of being a fire Gem is that making a campfire was no effort at all, and Ruby made a log burn a blaze just by holding it in her hand. She got a fire going in just under a minute, and lucky for them too good ol' Pinkie Pie got them some marshmallows for the fire instead. It was something. As some were nibbling on those, Ruby was actually doing another little pastime: tuning a guitar brought to her by AJ's farm. Authentic as it was a nice tune.

"This is more like it. A nice warm fire out in the countryside, and some delicious marshmallows for a good snack," Steven said, roasting his.

"It isn't a campfire without marshmallows, that'd be weird," Pinkie agreed, popping it into her mouth after it was roasted good.

"The music's very nice," Lapis said, looking over to Ruby.

"Thank ya, mam," said Ruby, "Just had to get it in some fine tuning."

"By the way, how was your first day as a cowgirl? Had fun?"

"Darn tootin'! All day, facing Rhinos, fending off a deadly snake, doing what I wanna do, without thinking about what - well, you-know-who would've wanted. For the first time … I'm feeling like a free Gem," Ruby explained, taking one marshmallow and eating it up without missing a tune on her guitar.

That sure sounds like a song cue.

This ol' Ruby Rider …
Is Ruby ridin' alone.
she's a sturdy …
solitary stone.

The music rang out in the air all around them, and Ruby's friends began to get into it. Heck, even the Vultures, who were on a tree nearby, started to nod to the beat of the song. It was kinda hard not to at least get into the beat. Ruby got up, and began to pace around with the song.

This ol' Ruby Rider …
Not a fusion no more.
Now the dirt, and the dust, and the danger is my new home!

At this point, Ruby made a backflip onto a tall rock by the fire, continuing the song as if the rock was her own stage.

I used to think I would always be by your side
But lately you've been (Lapis+Applejack+Steven: oooooooo)
Rather cold. (Vultures: aaaahhhhh)
One look in your eye, can make an honest Gem cry
but Ruby Rider don't need no one to hold!

Ruby took a seat on the rock, whistling the tune as everyone (and everything apparently). Seeing this though, Steven actually started to calm down. He'd been worried sick most of the day, but up to this point, his fear of Ruby getting into trouble had slowly faded off away.

"Wow. She's really getting into this," Steven said.

"I'll say. I just taught her how to play that ten minutes ago," AJ replied.

"No, not that, I mean the whole "cowgirl alone" thing. She looks really … happy."

And indeed she did. most of the time they would see her she was either stressed out, or in a sparring match with Peridot during training. Here, she was at pure bliss with herself, pure joy.

This ol' Ruby Rider …
Is Ruby ridin' alone.
she's a sturdy …
solitary stone.

Yee-haw.

…….

The night, at least for the next few hours, remained pretty much undisturbed. Luna's moonbeams gently stretched across the badlands, much of the group now asleep. The only exceptions to this rule was Lapis Lazuli and Ruby, mainly because the two didn't need any sleep to begin with. Steven, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were well asleep, passed out on the ground by the remains of the fire. Ruby stayed up on her rock, and Lapis stayed over by the others, looking up at Luna's sky. All those sparkling stars, twinkling and shining in the night like the Diamonds she once devoted her existence to. She reached out towards them, but then saw that her one hand was free of any gemstone. A bit odd for her, since much of the time she would see -

And she made a mental slap for reminding herself of her again. She was a LONE rider, why was her mind drifting back that way again? Well, there was one thing she could do, and she hopped off of her rock to do it without waking the others up before looking to the comic again. It took her skimming through a few pages until she found the cowgirl pony marching off away from Daring Do into the night.

"I don't need no nightlight to get back. I can find my way home in the dark," Ruby said, though mostly this was to herself as she began to march off on her way. The situation was kind of a double-edged sword: one hand she could see for miles in the dry landscape. On the other than, she could be seen for miles in the dry landscape. Day time in the badlands was a bit of a rough time enough, but now with the nighttime skies instead of daytime skies, vision was not at best. The dead trees and their shadows was messing around with Ruby's own eyes and imagination. She would see a branching shadow for example, and would think something completely different was just close by.

You know how it is.

"Ruby?"

Ruby spun around, fists ready for an attack, but felt more at ease when it was just Lapis Lazuli and Steven landing nearby. Guess her attempt to go it alone didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh, it's only you."

"Yeah, it's us. So, where's "Ruby Rider" going?" Steven asked, walking over to her.

"Just passin through," Ruby replied. She took a few steps, but then Lapis actually nudged Steven. There was a bit more needed to be said, and it was Steven who wanted to say it.

"... Hey, Ruby? … You know, I got really scared, when you said you didn't want to fuse with Sapphire anymore. I thought I was gonna lose someone I cared about … but after today, seeing you having so much fun "buckerooing". It really suits you. Sorry for trying to push you back into being Garnet."

OH STARS WHY?! Ruby felt a sting in those words, even if Steven didn't mean to. Garnet: a fusion of love and perfection, and the idea that … that …

"Ruby, stop that!" Ruby thought, trying to Gem up. She turned back and smirked.

"Eh, it's alright, youngin," Ruby said.

"Well," sighed Lapis, "We're going to head back in the morning. Do you want to come back with us, or would you rather stay here?"
Ruby honestly didn't consider that much just yet. She didn't have any portal key herself, and she honestly didn't know where the Badlands exactly was in Equestria. These were but minor concerns though.

"I'm gonna hang out here! Earth's fun and all, but Equestria's got the true danger and thrill I need," Ruby concluded.

"Well, I'm not going to deny you of your calling, Ruby," Steven replied, giving Ruby a goodbye hug. Ruby began to head off for a little bit more, but before she could go too far …

"... Eeehhh … since we're not gunna see eachother fer a while … wanna go out fer one last hurrah?" Ruby asked. It was a question Ruby tried to make natural and casual. Ruby just wasn't as used to being completely on her own yet, so, what was the harm for a midnight stroll? Steven looked to Lapis Lazuli with hopeful eyes, and Lapis just couldn't refuse.

"I'll tell Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Have fun, beach buddy," Lapis said, playfully fluffing Steven's hair before flying away to rejoin AJ and Pinkie. Well, it was just Steven and Ruby now, and the whole world off to who knows where? Whelp, Steven wasn't so tired, and Ruby was ready to take on the land, so both started to go right off into the wild, all the while the Vultures nearby taking some very big intrigue in this.

"So, what do you wanna check out next?" Steven asked.

And their answer came in the form of some rustling. Ruby and Steven both stopped on hearing that noise, and looked on ahead to see … some creature. It looked like some quadruped, but what kind exactly was a bit hard to make out. Even with the full moon out and no clouds, it still looked a bit obscure. Just as the two had their curiosity peaked, the creature turned and rushed away.

"Too easy. After that mystery thing! Yee-haw!" Ruby decided, already rushing off after the mystery creature. Heck, it was something to do in this place, and Ruby was dead set on getting into some adventure. As the two went off after that, neither had noticed the snickering Vultures nearby.

"Too easy," said one of the Vultures.

~~~~~~

The mad dash lasted a good ten minutes at most, non-stop running after this mysterious animal that seemingly kept just far enough ahead to keep from sight, but not too far to lose them. Ruby was stoked on this little game of catch, determined to get a good view of this animal as Steven was just trying to catch up with her. It was a bit of a short notice idea, but there was no stopping Ruby. They were so focused on chasing after this thing, they didn't take much time to notice the change in landscape, going from the open plains to more rock outcrops and hillsides, not too uncommon to that of a kindergarten.

"We almost got em!" Ruby said.

"Why're we doing this?!" Steven yelled, not getting much response from Ruby. The creature eventually ducked out of sight all of a sudden, and Ruby was just about to reach it when -

*BZZT!*

"Aahh!" Ruby suddenly jumped back. It was just so sudden, and so quick, but it felt like her hand was suddenly glitched and warped, as if she just touched the sharp end of a Destabilizer! It was the instinctual fear of getting killed on the spot that finally made Ruby stop altogether, and they finally checked over what they ended up in.
Steven and Ruby were on a cliffside, looking out to another, more barren area of the Badlands. not a single tree, shrub, even root was left around the place, and in the center of the valley, looked to be some sort of formation. It looked like Blue Diamond's palace, or the Crystal Empire palace if it was burnt to a crisp. A single tower, even more dead than the trees they've been seeing, and they both could hear a very faint humming. It was vaguely similar to Steven's static TV.

"Oh my stars," Ruby gasped. she wanted adventure, and this SURELY looked to be it. Steven tried jogging his memory, he could've sworn there was something about this he had seen before in one of Twilight's books, but he just couldn't quite put the finger on it.

Ruby still wanted to check it out though, but she felt more wary. she reached out with her free hand again, and as before she felt a strong glitch on her finger. This was a specific boundary set for this effect. Right passed the very cliff edge they were standing on, she would start to glitch out. Steven checked himself, and while his body didn't glitch exactly, he still found that his hand had those similar-looking yellow veins in it, again, similar to that of the Gem destabilizers, or those prison fences Homeworld would use to house criminal Gems.

"This is weird. Are we by a homeworld base?" Steven said. He could never get used to such effects.

"Got a bit of a problem?"

Visitors. Ruby and Steven looked around the night landscape, and soon began to see something come over to them. These creatures weren't anything like they've seen before in a specifics sense: a set of strange, pony-like creatures coming from the same direction as the formation. They looked like ponies, but they were more insect than equine: holed legs, fangs in their mouths, bug-like wings and eyes, and blackish skin. Both of these figures flew right over to them to investigate, ruby standing in between Steven and the creatures.

"Howdy," Ruby said, acting tough again.

"You two wanting to visit the palace?" asked one of the creatures.

"Palace? What palace?" Steven asked. One of them pointed his hoof to the formation.

"Right over there. We've hadn't had visitors in years, so good you could come by. The queen would love to meet you," he insisted. They did seem like a very friendly lot, but Ruby tipped her hat.

"Just passin through."

"No, we insist! It's not often we get to see famous stars."

"Famous?"

"Sure! You're one of the Crystal Gems, right? We've heard A LOT about you. Please at least come in and say hello." and for some extra measure, both creatures gave a sort of "puppy eye" expression with a curved lip. Ruby and Steven looked to one another.

"You two don't look too bad … maybe just a little bit."

"But how can I? I can't go through without -"

"OH, that's just the forcefield. Here, we gotcha," the creature cut in. And suddenly, both creatures began to glow their horns and aim a magic beam at her, suddenly turning her from red to green. It was very quick and out of nowhere, and before she and Steven could react properly, she was lifted off the ground, and flown off near the boundary line. When brought through though, she didn't glitch out this time, the magic keeping her from doing so.

"Well, that's fixed," Steven shrugged, before being lifted off the ground himself.

"Darn right it's fixed. Come on, no time like now!"

…….

Well, the two were going places all of a sudden. Steven and Ruby flew on through the area, and while Steven basically turned striped from being in the area, he stayed together and quickly grown used to the odd feeling. The two didn't even let them walk, generous enough to fly with them holding onto their hooves. They couldn't be too bad if they were this generous though, so they didn't fight it. Still the main question remained: who, or what, were these guys? And for that matter, why were such nice creatures out in the Badlands?

"Uh, we're going pretty high. Think you can bring us down, pilot?" Steven asked, seeing that they were at least three stories high at this point. However, it was at this point when the creatures just stopped listening, and instead of dropping them, they flew straight into one of the holes of the "palace". Only when brought in did the two begin to feel their hooves start to slip.

"Uh, w-wait, too high! Too high, captain! HEY!" Steven's words were met with deaf ears, and both creatures released them! Ruby and Steven screamed as they fell, their yelps echoing throughout the palace. Both braced for impact with the ground, but … it didn't come? Re-looking, they were suddenly floating. Suspended in mid air, just inches from the ground. Ok, that happened. Ruby and Steven were placed upright by this magic aura, but were still dropped.

"Ow. Still hurts, but less," Steven said, as he and Ruby got a good look around the place. for a start, the area was crawling with numerous other members of this same species, all looking pretty much the same with some very faint distinct features for some. It was like the Equestrian version of a Gem type. One figure in particular, sitting on a throne of crocked, holed rock, was uniquely different from the rest of the hive. In a broad sense, she looked much like an insect version of an alicorn. She stood tall, Celestia's height, holes within her legs and wings. Her horn, crocked and bent like the branches of her kingdom. Her mane, smooth and silk like that of seaweed, and similar in color. Her eyes silted like a reptile, and just as cold-blooded. Her body rail-thin, to the point when she was practically a skeleton with skin.

"What do we have here?" she asked, her grin showing such sharp teeth, they could cut open her own muzzle, "More guests?"

"Just passing by, mam," Ruby said. The ruler just chuckled, before she fluttered towards them. Her wings didn't flap like those of the Pegasus they knew, but instead that of a dragonfly.

"Just passing by my kingdom? Big mistake," the queen hissed. All of her subjects, which surrounded them by this point, all snickered and hissed at them. The idea they'd be such a friendly and generous group was lost the second they showed this nature.

"... Uh … We thought you'd be happy to see us," Steven said humbly.

"I am happy to see you, it makes my job easier," replied the queen.

"What job?" Ruby asked.

"To take my revenge of course!" she bellowed, right in their faces. That enough make Ruby and Steven fall back as she explained, "My kingdom was banished out to this horrid place by that precious, pretty Twilight and that lovey-dovey marriage. I had a buffet, and they just blasted all of us away from that perfect day. Twilight had her fun, keeping all that love to herself. But now, it's time we have our share. And when I have all of them, Equestria will be ours!"

"That didn't take much," Ruby whispered to Steven. They barely asked anything, and yet she was telling them her life story. The queen went over towards her throne again.

"... And now look who decided to visit? Two Crystal Gems: one having such an identity crisis, and the other can't decide if she wants to be alone."

"How'd you know about that?!" Ruby asked.

"What's your first clue? The Rhinos, or the Vultures that followed you all day?" the queen mocked. just on cue, those same vultures flew in from the roof of the dark chamber, and once they landed, each vulture suddenly had a green flame around them, changing back into the same creatures that crawled all over the palace. This was … scary.

"Eh. I-I just remembered, we really have to get going, I have to help my dad clean Onion's scooter in the morning," Steven said, backing up.

"Y-Yeah, and I have to, uh, water my cat. So -" Ruby was cut off when the animals all hissed at them from behind, one nearly biting them. just leaving was out of the question.

"Oh please, I've spent weeks getting you all together, and all this handled, and I already lost one, I'm not losing you two," the queen said devilishly, as three of her subjects jumped them from behind. Ruby tried to raise her temperature, trying to burn them off her back, but nothing happened. Steven tried to get his shield up too, but again nothing happened.

"It's not working! Shield up! Shield up!" Steven said, trying over and over again. This just got the queen laughing.

"You're so naïve. No magic can work in my presence except for Changeling magic. So no shapeshifting, weapon summoning, or shield blasting in my throne room, okay?" she cooed. Well this was a danger.

"Shall I remove the Gem seal, my queen?" asked one of the Changelings. The queen shook her head.

"Not this time, I can't have fun with just a gemstone laying on the ground like the others. Just lock her up with that grub, and we'll get our invasion underway," she instructed.

"Invasion?! … Wait, grub?" Steven asked. But then the changelings tried forcing them on their way, but Ruby wasn't ready to go off yet.

"No, I can't let you do that!" Steven said.

"Let me?" The queen just laughed.

"Laugh all yee way, the others will be lookin fer us," Ruby said.

"Hmm? OH YES, thanks for the reminder," the queen said. With a whistle, two particular Changelings walked out. One of them had the most unique look outside the queen: a purple back with a red thrill and tail, with purple eyes. The second looked the same as any other changeling but with a paler back and "greener" eyes.

"Pharynx, Thorax, you two studied on them both, did you?"

"Yes, my lord," said Pharynx, giving a soldier's salute. Thorax just nodded. both Changelings knew what to do, and soon, ruby and Steven saw both of them change, and alter into an exact duplicate of themselves! Two Rubies and two Stevens in the same place. Suddenly it made more sense on what they were doing, and for that matter how they got so much information in the first place. The queen cringed on the appearance of them both.

"You could wait until you leave. but "Ruby", "Steven", you two better get back. Your friends should be missing you," the queen said, deliberately emphasizing their names for the changelings. Pharynx (as Steven), and Thorax (as Ruby), went right off on their way. Ruby and Steven could only watch as they left, and the other Changelings forced them away into the prisoner chambers.

Chrysalis is coming.

Tale-Wind

View Online

"... I just wish we can get out of here so I can ask her."

"Don't worry, we'll find a way out of here."

…….

Sapphire's future vision sure had been a little more on point since letting Ruby go off on her own. just a day or so ago, she would still be freaking out and unable to work out anything, but with her nerves now a little bit more lax, she had better time getting into it with some new visions in mind. At least these visions weren't as spazzed out as before ...

*SPLAT*
And of course, the crew had some bonding to do in a snowball fight. with the snow now a plenty, they got themselves in the middle of some war of their own, Sapphire off on one side with Lapis, Jasper, Diopside, and Applejack, and the other side being Steven, Bismuth, Connie, and Rarity. At the point, only AJ and Rarity really had time to go in and check on the Crystal Gems as of late, namely for the fact the others were off doing their own hunt for the items by the map (Pinkie with Somnambula, Fluttershy with Meadowbrook, Rainbow with Flash Magnus, and Twilight dealing with the book).

"HAH, got her!" Bismuth called. Seemed even Sapphire with her visions can't dodge all hits. This did get her back into the game though, just in time to see Jasper through a mighty snow boulder at the opposing fort. Not strong enough to get passed Bismuth's mighty stronghold.

"Sapphire, think you can give us a restock? The enemy's closing in," Jasper said, though this was less serious in tone.

"Gotcha covered," Applejack said, already getting at least three snowballs handled. One sharp throw by Connie was accurate enough to hit the mare's hat off, making her jump. AJ responded with a rapid-fire, back kicks to the snowballs, launching them right to the fort, almost hitting her right there. Connie dodged the hit, but they were still laughing and having fun. For this match, there was one more hit to seal the deal.

"INCOMING!" Bismuth shouted, her hands now shovels, and she launched a avalanche of snow right down onto the opposing team, burying them all in a heap of snow. Defeated in one quick swoop, but everyone was laughing in the end of it. How long had it been since they had a good snowball fight like that?

"Hah, that's that," said Bismuth, "Fun doing Bismuth with -"

"SNEAK ATTACK!" and all of a sudden, they were found in the open by two other, secret players to the game. A huge barrage of snowballs raining down hard from cooperation of two multi-versal friends. Launching out from their hidden fort by the shrubs, the exposed team was suddenly exposed to Hoppy and Hopper. The two were given a chance to visit thanks to Sapphire, and thanks to this sudden attack, all players were now hit and out of the game.

"Dang it, forgot about you two! Where were you guys?" Diopside asked, shaking some snow out of her hair.

"Working a little something called a "springtrap technique". Worked well for a first try," Hoppy said smugly. Hopper went over to Sapphire, who was still getting some snow off of her.

"THAT was a hoppin good session. We should do this more often when winter comes to the forest," Hopper said happily. Sapphire couldn't help but agree to this, seeing an image in her head with this game with more varied anthropomorphic animals.

"Sounds like a very fun plan, Hopper," Sapphire said with a soft grin. Hopper was psyched that she would think so, big smile and all. Bismuth picked up Hopper, the frog happy alongside her.

"You two just make up that technique on the spot?" Jasper asked.

"Eh, maybe," Hopper said, giggling. Being up on Bismuth's shoulders though left Hopper a little bit exposed to the cold wind, which gave the frog a good amount of shivering. Even after bundling up, she still wasn't as bundled as she should be when compared to Hoppy, who didn't change at all since she already had a fur coat on over her clothes.

"Oh dear, you still cold, Hopper?" Rarity asked.

"Nope, not me!" Hopper said with a big smile on her face … just as her skin began to turn blue. "... Maybe a little."

Rarity didn't need any more convincing, and with some magical influence, lifted off her own scarf, and wrapped it around Hopper's neck. It was a small thing, but like Hoppy, she too had her own coat of fur on, so it wasn't as bad in comparison to Hopper, who's skin was weaker than even Connie or Steven when you think about it. Hopper did feel very cozy with the scarf.

"So soft," Hopper said, amazed and feeling the scarf around her neck.

"Think nothing of it. I'd hate to see you catch a nasty cold," Rarity replied, as Bismuth placed Hopper back down by Hoppy. Steven stood aside with a smile, just happy to see some of the nicer times again, considering all the trouble already. It may not be everyone, but it's more than zero.

"Hey, sport, you have fun?" Applejack asked, trotting over to him.

"Yeah, I'm just happy things are starting to return to normal, and everyone's feeling better again. just wish I knew where the others are," Steven replied.

"Whelp, soon as we find em, we'll mend the fences and we'll be good as gold! They can't be gone fer that much longer," AJ reassured. Steven smiled, but still felt it'll be a bit before they would get all the time back.

"You're probably right, AJ. Nice for Hoppy and Hopper to stop by our world for a bit," Steven said, seeing Hoppy and Hopper. How often does one get the chance to hang out with a anthro rabbit and frog anyway? It was then Hopper went up towards him, hopping in her usual manor.

"Hey, Steven! I just had the a super idea: let's play fly-swatter together. We got plenty of players, and the perfect field, What do ya say?" Hopper asked, hoping for a good answer. But both human and pony hadn't ever heard of this game before. Steven actually shook his head.

"Oh, maybe in a bit. Twilight wants me to check in with her today," Steven answered. The excited frog stopped hopping altogether.

"Pleeease?" Hopper asked, giving Steven a begging look. Just one game was all she wanted, and Steven felt a shiver run through him.

"T-The cuteness. It's too much! So … cute … must … fight … AHH! OK, WE'LL PLAY," Steven said in surrender. Hopper beamed at the answer. Steven never realized how potent his own look could be.

Unfortunately for Hopper, she wasn't even going to get the chance to. She took a deep breath, but before she could even explain how the game fly-swatter even worked, they all heard the notable sound of a door opening up, and …

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

"Take cover!" Applejack called. Everyone quickly went out of the way of the portal door, with the single exception of Steven, who got slammed hard. He and the figure spun and spun like a wheel, until he found himself on his back, and Pinkie Pie on top of him, VERY psyched about something.

"StevenStevenStevenSteven! I GOT BIG NEWS, WANNA HEAR IT?!"

"... YES!" Steven said, that being enough to get Pinkie Pie off of him.

"What's up, Pinkie?" Connie asked. Pinkie took a deep breath.

"I was just finishing up my super epic adventure in southern equestrian, getting another piece of Somnambula with her glowpaz necklace, which I had to go into a pyramid with Connie II to get it, and on my way back, I was ready to drop off the thing when -" Pinkie only paused to make a HUGE breath, she was talking so fast.

"SLOW. DOWN," Lapis said. "Now, what's the big news?"
Pinkie Pie did calm down, and with a small *ahem*, took one step away from the door before something else suddenly bolted through, too fast to be seen! Applejack, Steven, and Hopper were left in a spin, with Hopper wearing AJ's hat, and the scarf wrapping around all three when they stopped spinning. The figure was gone for a bit, but Pinkie's whistle got the figure to rush around and skid to a stop, a wave of snow nearly getting a good amount of the group. Snow did cover Connie, Steven, Rarity, and Pinkie mostly, and Bismuth blocked some of the snow to keep it off the rest.

"I found Fulgurite! Hope it's cool!" Pinkie said, hoof out-stretched to reintroduce Fulgurite standing there.

"Long time no see. How're ya?" Fulgurite said, waving to them with a smile. It took them a moment, getting the snow off to actually see who was there, and she looked pretty chill with herself honestly.

"Fulgurite?" Sapphire said, the first to walk up to her.

"Sapphire, hi. You doing better since we last met, or what?" Fulgurite said with a smirk, patting Sapphire on the head.

"We should ask you the same question. I mean, technically, you were put in prison thanks to what happened," Lapis said. Fulgurite simply shrugged.

"Oh, that shtick. I stopped worrying about that the night I heard of it," Fulgurite said, hands casually behind her head, "She wanted to get out of the system, and she did with a bunch of her pals, one thing lead to another, and here we are. Yeah I got locked up for over five thousand years, but we've all been there."
They'd deny the fact, but another part of them knew better. Besides, they were captured at least twice by White Diamond, so there was that at least. They did wish they could say the same for both themselves and the others still gone.

"Did we?" Hopper asked, Hoppy just shrugging.

"The night you heard of it? But you've been gone for over a week!" retorted Steven. Fulgurite then smirked a smug grin.

"Eh, just escaped from queen Chrysalis."

… Ok then.

"Say wha?" AJ asked.

"Yep, it was nothing. Just a bit of low cunning, a speedy getaway, and … here I am."

"B-But, whoa, whoa, wait. You're talking about Queen Chrysalis, right? Queen of the Changelings? Tried to take over Canterlot?!" Rarity made clear. Fulgurite nodded her head, acting like it wasn't much of a deal.

"You got it. And apparently queen of exposition. Five minutes, nothing but blah blah blah, kept blabbering about her next "BIG PLAN" to take over Equestria. We might want to look into that, by the way, so you seen Twilight anywhere? Or did she high-tail it out too?"

… How was Fulgurite so chill about this?! Rarity and Applejack had some vague memories of the Changeling Queen themselves, this queen being the same Changeling that had, as Rarity said, invaded the heart of Canterlot during the great wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor. What was she planning to do this time?

"No, she's still here, but … oh how do I put this? …" suddenly, Rarity was inches from Fulgurite's face. "HOW IN EQUESTRIA DID CHANGELINGS END UP ON EARTH?!"

"How the heck should I know, they just jumped me and brought me back into Equestria. Can Changelings travel between worlds, or have a way to do that?"

"Nope. boy, we should tell Twilight about this," Steven suggested, troubled.

"Where is Twilight anyway? You still didn't answer," Fulgurite asked again.

"She's been busy looking over the map and the items for the pillars of Equestria. she's probably either at the Cutie Map, or in Canterlot."

"She won't be there."

A quick answer to hear, everyone looking to Sapphire.

"Won't be there?"

"No, neither will be the princesses. Or much of them for that matter. If you go there, you'll find nothing," Sapphire said, her future vision telling her the most likely outcome of just going off. With word of the Changelings, this raised some alarms.

"Oh boy, you don't think they'd got to em … did you?" AJ said.

"Nah, maybe it's the inter-species race coming up soon," Fulgurite said.

"The what now?"

Leave it to Fulgurite to know something about some sort of race, being the racer she was. She told them about the Autumn Drive, and now here was this Inter-Species race (go figure). Pinkie Pie had that covered for them, popping up behind Fulgurite and pulling something from her mane, which looked like an invitation from Celestia herself.

"We got this on the way here, straight from Celestia! Well, maybe not straight from Celestia, more like from Celestia, to her guard, to Derpy, and then to me, but we still got invited as guests for the race! And the prize is … NETITUS!"

Convenient, but amazing to note.

"Netitus? That's the fireproof shield belonging to Flash Magnus! You sure that's the prize?" Lapis asked.

"Sure as pie! And believe me, I know my pies," Pinkie said. More proof came up when Steven opened up the invitation, showing the colorful invite, with the Netitus itself being a cover for the letter itself. It also showed some racers in the form of a griffin, dragon, pony, and some others going towards a finish line.

"So, you think the others are gonna be at this race?" asked Hoppy.

"It's a high possibility," Sapphire figured. No doubt in her mind that someone like Twilight, at the least, would go for the opportunity to see numerous races in one place for study's sake. Rainbow would probably be going there for the sake of Netitus, and the chance to win a big race like this. Everyone else … well, it's a maybe. Steven then got an idea going in his own head.

"Let's check it out! All different races in one place? We can find out so much there! Their favorite hobbies, what's their favorite ways to race, and most importantly, we can get the Netitus!" Steven decided.

"And more MORE importantly, we can check join in on the race, and cheer for our favorite racers like all fans!" Pinkie added, already holding a Rainbow Dash flag in her hoof.

"If you're up for it, I won't deny it," Sapphire said.

"YES!" Steven, Hopper, and Pinkie beamed.

"Well what're we waiting for? Let's get us goin," AJ decided, getting out her Portal key to go. They would go off, but then Steven got an idea.

"Oh, wait a minute. Maybe we can invite Ruby along. I know she wants to be a cowgirl, but maybe she can join us for one more hurrah?"

"If you can find her," said Hoppy.

"Okay, I won't be long. Order some peanuts for me when I get back!" Steven said, as he went off to find Ruby. This was a bit of a nice gesture, and it was the least Steven could do before they would just go off. Even if Lapis Lazuli was a little bit perplexed about it.

…….

"Hmm … okay. What do we have to work with here?"

Farther away from the others, Ruby had some other matters to attend to. As everyone else was doing other things, the lonesome lasso rider was taking some mental notes on the Warp Pad in front of her. It was quite the peculiar design: a flatten surface, patterns along the body, though it sure didn't look too easy to work out. what made the item tick? Ruby scratched her head, this objective not as simple as brought on to be. As she was working with the object, she began to hear someone closing in on her, making her turn around and brace for the opponent, just to find Steven.

"Steven? What're you doing here?" Ruby asked, sounding a little suspicious. Steven though shook his head.

"Stop freaking out, Thorax, it's me," Steven said. He closed one of his eyes, and upon reopening it, he showed his eye to be that of a Changeling, and not a human. This eased Ruby a little bit as Steven changed his eye back.

"S-Sorry, it's sometimes hard to tell when you're in disguise," Ruby said, rubbing her arm.

"Quit complaining," Steven instructed, "Now listen. The group is about to go back in Equestria. Do you have your pieces yet, or do I have to do your work again?"
Ruby felt a shiver, but lucky for her, she had the pieces ready, and showed a fairly good amount of them in her hands. A good twenty pieces of them, all genuine from other distant Warp Pads she'd gone to over the last few days. Steven took the pieces and got them in his pockets.

"It's wasn't easy finding those pieces. I guess I should thank that Peridot for coming with me with her portal key to that "Communication tower"," Ruby said.

"So she is a gullible rock," sighed Steven, biting into one of them to be sure they were genuine.

"I guess so. She looked … very giddy," Ruby said. The very thought of it began to make her mouth water a bit, but Steven slapped her with his hand to snap her back to reality.

"Get a hold of yourself, you know how you get with love around you."

"S-sorry, it just comes out," Ruby said, blushing a little bit.

"You and every other Changeling. Look, all you have to do is find the pieces to these Warp Pads. I got the hard part. So unless you wanna do it, I suggest you wake up and smell the dandelions, or we're both gonna starve!" Steven even grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and shook her so the message was more focused on.

"Ok, ok, I promise!" Ruby said. Steven released her, and he started to walk on back with the pieces in his pockets. Ruby was left a little fazed, but unhurt.

"Now I told them I was gonna get you, so try to act how Ruby would act, ok?" Steven ordered. Ruby saluted him, and Steven walked away. Ruby was lucky she didn't get too hurt from this.

"What a grouch. Gheesh," Ruby thought. Thought, she would be dead if she said it aloud.

~~~~~~

A quick hop from one world to another got the group to the right location. With Ruby in toe, she and much of the others had arrived along the grounds of what would be the race itself. Much of the area itself was wide open, slightly cold due to winter and all, but shown to have quite a crowd around of numerous species. Varying pony races, a few lesser Dragons, a couple of griffins, a few anthro animals from Klugetown, and even a few newer ones (they even saw a deer or two going about) which Hoppy and Hopper took some notice to. Even in winter, not too much snow was present in the area, which itself was ironic because the area nearby was actually covered in water. It wasn't the same case as the Badlands, sure.
The group themselves were at the front entrance to the main racing grounds, which was less like a sporting event, and more like an area for either a campout, or an arrangement to watch fireworks. Tents of varying sizes were set up all over the place, suggesting one of two things: either the actual race won't be for a while longer, or these tents were pre-planned for the audience's comfort.
As for their friends, it took some time to actually locate them, but they did eventually figure out where they were further off down the path, seeing the group of ponies with their own accommodations. Twilight was present, and already chatting with what looked to be a pronghorn deer. Rainbow Dash was also there, practicing some wing-lifts, and Fluttershy too was present for the big race, handling encouragement in her usual quiet manor. Peridot and Amethyst, the only two Gem in the group, also was there and awaiting the events to start. They also note the Meadowbrook healer's mask over by her hooves, indicating she too had gotten her own item for the pillars too.

This meant only Netitus remained.

The deer trotted off by the time the others had arrived, Twilight seemingly very excited from her conversation with the pronghorn.

"Hey guys," said Steven, waving and getting their attention.

"There you are!" Rainbow said, already airborne, "So you guys got the news too?"

"Yep, we did. How fitting of the Netitus to be in a race for you, Rainbow. Guess the map might have some of Sapphire's ability," Jasper figured.

"I KNOW! I got this race in the bag," Rainbow Dash said, more than confident that they would get that Netitus. She could already see herself using it like Flash Magnus before her.

"You mean we got this," Fulgurite said, sliding up to Rainbow and nudging her, "I'm not missing this race for anything! Racing with you all is fun, but what chance can I get to race with so many species at once?"

"According to the poster, once every five years," Rarity said, reading it out for them, "Though, that's not so bad to Gems, I bet."

"Well, either way, it's good to have multiple friends in the race. Fulgurite, Rainbow, do your best," said Steven, giving them thumbs up. During this chat, Jasper sat down over by Fluttershy, seeing the mask by her.

"So, you got your item too, huh?"

"Oh, yeah I did. I had to lure those nasty Flash Bees away from the shores of the bog. Those mean bees were hurting all sorts of alligators, beavers, otters, and ducks," Fluttershy said. Jasper felt a slight cringe coming on at the mention of the Flash Bees. She personally never liked anything that resembled a thundercloud. Fluttershy didn't like them much either, and as she was a animal lover, THAT was very hard to say for her. Least she can rest happy knowing the flash Bees won't harm anyone there.

"Cattail did say he would've just given it to you," reminded Peridot.

"I know, but it's still a nice thing to do for those animals," Fluttershy replied.
It was then that they began to hear something else up in the sky. Despite being in the world of magic and ponies, the sound of jet engines started to fill the air. Looking up, they soon saw the indistinguishable sign of the Wonderbolts flying on in from the north, taking a landing off in another spot of the racing grounds. This sure got Rainbow Dash excited.

"The Wonderbolts are here too?" Rainbow gasped, her wings fluttering fast as hummingbird wings.

"Well I guess, since the princesses are here to observe too," Twilight figured. Rainbow just couldn't help herself, and she was already flying off to go and see them. OH it'd been too long since she'd seen her childhood heroes. Some couldn't help but either chuckle or get confused.

"Who's the Wonderbolts?" Hoppy asked, leaning towards Amethyst for some answers.

"It's Equestria's Aerial team. Rainbow Dash has been a fan of them for years," Amethyst replied. Outside of Daring Do, they were her greatest inspiration. Hoppy began to think about this Wonderbolt group. She wasn't sure if aerial team meant either military force or performers, though if it was enough for princesses to bring along, then it oughta be worth something.

"I'll join you in a bit, I'll just see Rainbow before she goes too over it," Lapis chuckled, before flying off to join Rainbow Dash.

…….

In another part of the area, Rainbow Dash and Lapis Lazuli found where the Wonderbolts had gone to, nearby Celestia and Luna, who had their own tent as well. One would expect better place of stay, but the princesses didn't mind this all that much. So long as they get to go and handle the sun and moon duties, they're fine with wherever they get to rest. The Pegasus and gem were quick to take notice from the Wonderbolts, Spitfire herself removing her goggles to see Rainbow face to face.

"Hey, long time no see, RD," said Spitfire, playfully nudging Rainbow Dash.

"Great to see you too, Spitfire! Oh, you going to race too?" Rainbow asked, very excited for the answer. If she was racing again, Rainbow could give Spitfire a good show of her own speed over the years, but the leading wonderbolt shook her head.

"As fun as it is, not this time. I'm just here to direct the event. No doubt you're gonna race, am I right?" Spitfire replied, though admittedly she too would love to go and give this race a go if she could.

"Hope you can keep an eye on me, because I've been getting faster by the day," Rainbow gloated, flying circles in the air to show her point. She went very fast, but not enough to make a tornado in front of Spitfire (as impressive as that would be).

"Impressive. Actually, glad I caught ya. Think you can do me one little favor?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow landed in front of her, surprised, but willing as the element of loyalty she was.

"Ready, willing, and able mam," Rainbow said, giving a hoofed salute to the head mare.

And the exact favor came up in the sky above them. As with Rainbow's rainbow path in her flight, and the thunderclouds in the Wonderbolts, whoever was flying now was leaving a electric lightning trail behind her. A unmistakable sign of one particular Pegasus. As for said Pegasus, she saw the crowd below her, and decided to go in for a landing. Lapis actually had to jump aside to let the pony land on the ground, the Pegasus not seemingly caring much for her.
It's soon revealed to be a light turquoise mare, one with strong amber mane and tail with eyes to match. What truly stood her out of the crowd though was her Cutie Mark, being that of a lightning bolt with three stars. They knew immediately who this Pegasus was the second she landed.

"Lightning Dust?"

"HEY, if it isn't left wing pony," said the seemingly cocky mare, giving Rainbow Dash a noogie to the head. Rainbow usually wouldn't mind it, but she was resentful this time, and fixed her mane.

"See you haven't changed," muttered Rainbow, "Haven't seen you since the Wonderbolt Academy."

"Yeah, yeah, but this best flyer's been doing some good wing-ups and laps since then. So, how's that "dream" of being a Wonderbolt coming along? Heard somepony's been slacking."

"NO! I've just been a bit busy, that's all," retorted Rainbow.

"Busy napping in a tree?" Lightning remarked smugly.

"Hey, you try to squeeze in Wonderbolt practice AND keeping track of two worlds at once! Like you would know anyway," Rainbow snapped. Lightning Dust snorted in the mare's face like a bull.

"The only thing I know is that this race has already won. See you in my cloud trail!" and with that final remark, Lightning dust bolted right off out of sight, leaving them in a cloud of dust. Clearly this reckless pony hadn't changed all that much.

"Who's that?" Lapis asked. Rainbow groaned.

"Lightning Dust. she and I used to be in the Wonderbolt Academy together as wing ponies," Rainbow explained.

"But," added Spitfire, "I sent her packing. She'd rather pull of all the stunts in the book rather than watch what she was doing."
Lapis did remember them mentioning something about the Wonderbolt Academy in record, though seeing a tidbit of it herself, she could see why Lightning would be kicked out. any Wonderbolt more on herself than on others' safety is a threat all in itself. The least Lightning Dust could do was not crash into someone when landing!

"So … the "little favor"?" Rainbow assumed. Spitfire just nodded.

"Ever since I got here she's been talking up about herself, railing up the competition. And between you and me," and Spitfire said this in a whisper, "I think she might try something, if you get my drift."

"Say no more, I'll make sure she's in line," Rainbow promised, again giving a salute. Spitfire smiled.

"Knew I could count on you."

…….

"So, this is the only event involving every race?" asked Bismuth. Twilight checked the event in a conveniently knowledgeable book.

'Well technically, no, but it is the one most races would actually come in to do. Each race is represented in the course, much like how they are in the Equestria Games."

"What I wanna know is how they got Netitus for a prize," wondered Diopside, "I'm not an expert on artifacts, but I'm pretty sure that's not easy to get."

"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that we better win this race if we want Netitus. I don't think anyone else will give that up anytime soon," Twilight warned.

"Don't sweat it, with me and Rainbow Dash in the race, we should be fine. What kind of competition do we have in here anyway - EEE!" the sudden yelp came from one other competitor of the race, a cold talon touching Fulgurite's back. Looking over, they soon saw sight of a Griffon racer. This one in particular is truly one built for speed: the bird half that of a falcon, and the lower body of a cheetah.

"Need any other answers just call," said the Griffon, a smile along his beak.

"And you are?" Sapphire asked.

"Name's lord Goldstone. I was just flying by, and can't help but hear two other racers joining me. Come to try your luck against the champion?" Goldstone said.

"Champion? You raced in this before?" asked Applejack.

"That's right. Not only that, my little pony, I've been the winner of these races three times over," Goldstone explained, grin across his beak. Three times? How old was this Griffon again? He sure didn't look middle-aged if these races take place every five years.

"WHOA, that's amazing … you don't even look that old," Pinkie said. not the reaction Goldstone anticipated. But what did catch Goldstone's eye was the gemstones on Fulgurite's knees.

"You one of those "Crystal Gems"? I heard Celestia and Luna talk about you," Goldstone asked.

"That's right, and I'm gonna make sure to win this thing for us," Fulgurite said with confidence. This just made Goldstone laugh.

"Determination. I like that. It'll actually give me some competition this year," Goldstone joked. Though, he felt confident in himself that he would win this time. After all, he did win three times, why would this one be any different? Goldstone went off on his way, but before he could fly off, he took a passing glance off away from the initial group, and found one of them had put herself off alone for a bit. Sapphire. And she didn't look too well with herself. Sure, she wasn't as sad as she was while Ruby disappeared, but that didn't mean guilt didn't hover over her head. Goldstone wouldn't bother with her if he didn't trip over some ice near her.

"Oi, you there, you making ice?" Goldstone asked. Sapphire glanced up towards him.

"Sorry," Sapphire simply replied. The Griffon got up to his paws and talons, keeping his balance well with his claws gripping the ice.

"How about you put up a warning sign next time? I nearly lost my feathers," Goldstone advised, checking himself to see if any feathers fell off of him. Sapphire simply nodded, but it was then that Goldstone began to see that more ice was developing along the ground, making him back up a bit.

"I know it's winter and all, but can't you control that thing? At this rate, you'll cover the entire grounds."

"I'm not meaning to. It'll calm down when I do …"

"When you do? What's your problem?" Goldstone asked, though he couldn't see her upset at all. She looked pretty fine to him. Sapphire just sighed.

"It's nothing. … I just over-reacted on my beloved, made everyone leave, and now she won't even fuse with me. … I wish I knew how to make it up to her," Sapphire summed up. Goldstone didn't really see any Ruby by the group at the moment, but all the same, past sins can mess someone up a little bit badly.

"Well, I don't know anything about relationships, but do us a favor and at least keep your ice off the race course," Goldstone advised, "This is a big race, and for Netitus, so we don't want any trouble from a Windigo-wannabe. Namely me. Ok?" and with the "advice" Goldstone flew off to get himself ready for the other racers.

"... The race …"

~~~~~~

Soon it was off to the race track. A bit different how much inter-species racers were actually within this race, but it made things interesting all and all. The announcer began to go on and call out the contenders as they came out.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman! Creatures of all ages! We got a full crowd and a mixed deck of a line-up this year, so let's meet our contenders! First up; Garble, a big Dragon with a even bigger bite, and a will to use it too. Be sorry for any sucker that gets in his way!"
Garble, the same Dragon that gave spike a run for his own money, marched out first, and announced himself with a good old fashioned firebreath to the sky, many the audience cheering (especially the dragons).

"Up next; Copper! Fast runner outta Klugetown, agile, clever, with ninja-reflexes!"
Out marched Copper, an anthropomorphic frilled lizard. And much like Garble before him, gave his own entrence by expanding his frill and giving a loud hiss, the crowd cheering for him as much as Garble before.

"Next up; Double Edge, natural long-runner from Everfree Forest, with speed to rival the fastest pegasi! Those thin legs can dash him through this race."
Double Edge, the pronghorn antelope talking to Twilight earlier, moved on passed Garble, not paying the ego dragon much mind, even after the dragon nearly bit into his horn. He was here to race, not to fight.

"Next we have Lightning Dust; skill and speed of a wonderbolt, and then some! She's been practicing since the academy, so we might have ourselves a speedster this year! Lot of power in those wings."
and Lightning Dust proved such when she rocketed out to the starting line, skidding between Garble and Double Edge, wings spread and enjoying the praise.

"Speaking of Wonderbolt Academy, next up; Rainbow Dash! Element of Loyalty, Wonderbolt Academy top-classer, and the Sonic Rainboom to top it off!"
THAT'S when the crowds went crazy, seeing Rainbow Dash flying in with her rainbow streak behind her, landing more carefully this time alongside Lightning, who personally wasn't enthused with the extra applause for her wing pony.

"Up next we have Lapis Lazuli; Diamond Court executive, but with plenty of agility and speed behind those sweet eyes!"
Lapis was glad to join up, though did blush on hearing the compliment, as she landed over by Rainbow Dash. It was a quick decision for Lapis to join up, plus it'd been a while since she tested her own speed in flying. She gave Rainbow a wink, the Pegasus smiling as the announcer continued.

"Next contender; Fulgurite. Speed Demon of the Gem race, she's been a veteran winner to many a race before this, let's see if experience can help her here!"
and out came Fulgurite, coming out like a blur, and making a on-the-dime stop right between Rainbow and Lapis. The gem was more than ready to get this thing going, as with the others.

"And finally we have Goldstone; he's been a veteran for these races three years running, and hasn't lost a single one. Let's see if he can hold it out this year!"
Goldstone's entrance was actually a bit more regal than the others. While they at least walked out, he was actually carried out by a pair of other griffons, like the lord he was, and placed down gently as he was drinking a milkshake. If that doesn't scream ego, then they didn't know what did. He gave the empty cup to one of the griffons before readying himself. The announcer continued going over the race as the others had some small talk.

"Hope you ponies are ready to lose," Garble growled mockingly.

"Fancy meeting you here, never paged you as a racer," Rainbow replied. Garble smirked.

"I just wanna see the look on your puny pony faces when I flatten you! Besides, I could use a new lava board."

Rainbow didn't even wanna know.

"Well, hope your ready to lose too, Garble," Rainbow said. She was gonna leave it at that, but Lightning Dust was a bit more cocky than Rainbow, and was right up at the dragon's personal space.

"Yeah, you'll be eating nothing but dust by the end of this race."

"You think you're better than me? I could just as easily eat you," Garble said, his muzzle pushing against Lightning Dust's face. The cocky Pegasus wasn't too troubled though, and flew off the ground, flying upside-down.

"Really? You're talking to the species that out-flew and out-smarted Dragon Lord Torch. That trophy over there? That's the very shield he used to do it. So I'd keep my muzzle shut if I were you."
Clearly Rainbow wasn't the only one who knew about Flash Magnus's legendary feat, and Garble snarled at her as she trotted away, smiling smugly as she almost whacked the side of Garble's face with her tail. Garble tried to think of something to say, but came up with nothing, and all he did was go passed Lapis and Rainbow in a huff.

"And you've been her partner before?" Lapis whispered to Rainbow.

"Eeyup. Just steer clear of her flight path," Rainbow advised. If she was even half as reckless and cocky as she was at the Wonderbolts Academy, then they'd better keep their distance, or otherwise get themselves knocked out of the sky due to a close wing clip.
Back in the stands, much of the group within this audience was keeping their hopes up for the racers to go off. Just like the racers, this was quite a mixed crowd as well, with the Crystal Gems and Mane six taking their own section of seats nearby eachother. While some like Hopper, Steven, and Pinkie couldn't wait to see this race get going, Ruby acted like she wasn't interested. At all. She found more interest off in the clouds than what's really going on.

"I can't believe we actually get to be witness to this!" said Twilight, very excited herself. "Our first inter-species racing event!"

"I know, I know, I about to burst with excitement!" Hopper said, "What about you Ruby?"

Ruby didn't answer. Guess wondering if this was gonna make her feel better was out of the question.

"Cheer up, Ruby. We're here, why not have some fun?" Steven insisted.

"Here, I gotcha," Pinkie Pie said, taking both sides of Ruby's mouth, and pulling them to make a big smile. Ruby got her face back to normal though, not really in the mood for this at all.

"Guys I'm fine! Just let me know when this ends," Ruby murmured. Peridot could tell this was very wrong for Ruby, and even seemed her own brand of depression had moved on to her. However, as the racers were moving off into position …

"Ok, racers, looks like we're about to - WAIT! WAIT! Looks like we have a latecomer! Let's see what this girl's got." Another racer began to come out to join this race. Her outfit dramatically changed to that of what looked to be a one-piece diving suit, with a pair of trackers' shoes. Her hair was also tied back in a ponytail so it wouldn't get more in her face, and seeing her as well left plenty of the teams in a bit of a surprise.

"Hello everyone. Nice day for a race."

"SAPPHIRE?!" gasped Peridot, actually jumping out from the stands and out to the field to meet up with her. Fulgurite and Lapis they could get, but Sapphire joining the race? Ruby pretended to ignore what was going on, but she was just as shocked to find Sapphire joining the race. not to mention flustered for seeing her in a diving suit (can you blame her if Sapphy looked hot in it?)

"Sapphire, what're you doing here?" asked Peridot.

"Racing."

"Well, yeah I can see that, but -"

"It'll be fine Peridot. Your main goal is to get the Netitus. As long as any of our friends win, it doesn't matter how many. Besides, I long for a nice run."

Unfortunately this caught the attention of Goldstone.

"What's this? You're competing in the race too? Come now, you can't even fly!" Goldstone said with that same smug grin.

"There're some things a Gem's just gotta do. Leave it to me," Sapphire said. This was a bit weird to hear from Sapphire, but another friend in this group to help get Netitus would help in their favor, so they didn't push it in any further. As Fulgurite got back in place, and Peridot back to the stands, Sapphire and Ruby both locked gazes for a brief moment. Sapphire kept herself to the race, as she needed to better focus, and Ruby … well, she was leaving a smoke cloud above her head. Some things don't need words.
As the racers readied up, Spitfire flew out to the racers, with a clipboard in her hoof.

"Alright, racers, listen up. As we have a mixed bag of grounded and flying racers, there's gonna be an added rule to the race. One: stay within the perimeter of the racetrack. That means no shortcuts or passes within the obstacles. Two: no physical sabotage to the other racers. … Garble, Lightning, I'm looking at you!"
Garble growled as Lightning rolled her eyes.
"And three: as we do have said mixed bag of racers this time, the air racers can not aid the ground racers, and visa-versa. Am I clear, or do I need to go over it again?"

"Crystal, mam!" Rainbow said, giving a wing salute to the wonderbolt leader. The others heard her loud and clear, but that didn't mean they all fancy it. They had a race to win, and that shouldn't be so restricted on how it was done.

"Good. On your marks!"

Up high above the race track, one other flyer was already taking off. This was no racer, but this bird was flying high up in the sky with what looked to be a glowing stone, easy to see from everyone all over the place. With the signal starting to come up, Lapis, Rainbow, Lightning, Sapphire, Fulgurite, Goldstone, Copper, Garble, and Double Edge all readied up, muscles tense and on a hair trigger the second the alarm goes. Lapis, Rainbow, and Fulgurite took a moment to glance over to Sapphire, who seemed just as determined to do this as the other racers were.
For this race though, there wasn't going to be an alarm sounding off, whistle, or anything like that. This was a older, traditional race, and as such, there was a different set of ideas in mind.

"The race starts when the stone hits the ground," called the announcer, just in case no one was getting it. When the other flyer was high enough, he then released said stone, it falling very far to the ground. Everyone in the stands and the track kept a close eye on it, waiting for the second it hits ground. There was no turning back now. When the stone did hit ground, like a firecracker, a loud crack echoed throughout the area.

Everyone tore out of the starting gate.

"And there off!" shouted the announcer, "Goldstone takes the lead as expected, and Lightning Dust takes a close second!"
The flying and ground racers were in pretty close at the first minute mark, but for the flyers, it was high up in the sky as Goldstone, Garble, Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash, and Lapis Lazuli flew skyward. Copper, Sapphire, Fulgurite, and Double Edge kept to their ground level in the forward run.
Up high in the sky though, the G-forces were harder to work with for the flying team, needing to aim up so high to get their first mark. For this part, Lapis Lazuli actually had no problem with this, keeping her eyes squinted and flying straight up, unlike the other racers who at least had to corkscrew their way upward. Being a Gem was surely helping out here.

"Where're they going?!" gasped Steven, seeing them flying high up as the runner kept rushing ahead.
The flying racers found the first mark up on a cloud, and as Lapis took ahead, all she had to do was tap it, and then she dove down. Same thing with Goldstone, Lightning Dust, and Rainbow Dash, and all four of them dove down fast, wings folded back into a falcon dive. This part Lightning Dust had better speed over, going into her own signature dive and aiming her hind legs first, wings back, and her body straight as an arrow.

"And Lightning Dust has taken the lead, Fulgurite coming in second behind! But she needs to slow down!" the announcer shouted.

"Yeah right," Lightning Dust thought. Suddenly, the Pegasus opened her wings at the very last second, her hoof just barely touching the ground as she rocketed off ahead, dust flying behind her. The other flyers rushed by the crowds, and moved in behind Lightning. All of a sudden, the runners no longer had the lead, and they were off together again.

"Hold on, how come you're in the lead?! We were miles ahead!" Fulgurite snapped, hearing the announcer.

"We got to our mark before you did, that's why!" shouted Lightning, "Step up your game if you can!"
The marks were more complicated than they thought. Fulgurite looked back, and they had just got their mark not too far ago. Working mathematics in this race, she now saw the full method of it.

"Dang mathematics," Fulgurite groaned.

With their first marks struck, now all the racers were a bit closer this time. Goldstone took the lead back from Lightning Dust after a short bit, and eventually Double Edge galloped into second place, leaving Lightning in the middle. In the back of the pack was Copper and Sapphire, the smaller Gem trying her absolute hardest as the reptilian kept just ahead of her.
Good thing they weren't too distracted: the first true obstacle started to present itself ahead of all the racers. The flyers may have gotten a natural lead, but when they struck in this one, they had to slow down, giving the ground runners a better advantage: a mile of twisting brambles.
Those amongst the crowd wondered how well they all would do, as some of the racers had to fly pretty high up to avoid the brambles. for the runners, this was a good start. Sapphire, Copper, Double Edge, and Fulgurite raced straight into the heap of twisting vines and rock-hard plants. The only flyer flying through said brambles was Garble, charging through the vines like a truck.

"Garble's charging through those vines like it's nothing! He's closing in on the - no! No wait! Double Edge is out-running the dragon!"
It was the deer's turn to shine: with his hooves small but sturdy, Double Edge was rushing and bolting around like a madman. Leaping, bolting, bounding, not even Fulgurite's natural speed could help her keep with Double Edge's agility through the forest. Garble's crashing may keep him straight, but not well enough to keep in front of the deer.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Garble yelled, keeping his head down so no brambles whack him in the eyes.

"It's like running through Everfree," Double Edge stated, making a bounding jump right through a hole in the brambles, exploding out of the first obstacle with barely a scratch. As for Garble, he slammed right into the thicket, tumbling to the ground below as the other racers rushed by him. He snarled, but was too tangled up to continue.

"And Garble's taken a fall, and left all tied up!"

"Thank Celestia," Rainbow thought, looking back for a brief moment as Garble struggled to keep up. This dragon was not gonna be bested by any ponies, not again. At the least, he was very far behind, but they need to be sure to keep it that way so Netitus wouldn't be some dragon's surfboard.
With the first obstacle done, it was onto the second piece of the course: a large water-covered field. This was when the flyers have the natural advantage again, as they kept above the fluff-covered reeds as the ground runners had to rush through it. Copper, being furthest up the ground runners at this point, saw his own way to even the playing field: his tail whipping the plants so it could form a sort of smoke bomb at the flyers. There was no time to get out of the way, Rainbow and Lightning both charging right into it. The golden fluff made it both hard to see and hard to breathe, both coughing a ton once exiting the cloud.

"Hey, cheater!" Lightning coughed.

"I'm not hurting you, am I? No physical sabotage," Copper noted, before his tail knocked another cloud into the air at the flying team. Even Lapis had some trouble with this, not able to see where she was flying, and all remaining flyers were slowed down tremendously. The crowds were seeing all of this themselves, and the group had a similar reaction.

"Hey, isn't that against the rules?!" Amethyst asked.

"He's not attacking them, he hasn't violated a rule yet," Spitfire replied, much to their dismay.
It would appear Copper found a loophole in the rule. But while it would seem the players had become a bit side-tracked, there was one exception to the rule …

"Having fun?"

"Huh?"
Goldstone! He had seen this coming a mile away and flew out of range of it all, keeping himself just ahead of Copper. It was his turn to get some well-deserved payback, as Goldstone gave a good flap of the wing, knocking up A TON of pollen, blinding those behind him. Copper of course got the worst of it, but by the time he got himself handled -

*BAM*

right into a tree. The only tree in the whole field, and he had to hit it. Whelp, that's another one out.

"Serve him right," Peridot said.

"Agreed," Rarity added.
With the distraction though, it seemed that Goldstone had a huge lead ahead of all of them, the Griffon feeling confident that he would keep in front of them for the whole race. But as he kept flying along, he took a look to the left, and notice something coming up from the sea of pollen. Something floating up from the field, and up to his flying level, no longer even running.

"I don't believe it!" shouted the announcer, "Sapphire has gone completely airborne! How is she even doing that?!"

"W-WHAT?" Goldstone gasped. No wings, no magic, and she was still flying alongside him! Sapphire did touch the tops of the flowers time to time to keep from slamming into the ground again, but she still was pretty much floating there, neck-and-neck with Goldstone.

"You were saying about my wings, Goldstone?" Sapphire said. Goldstone smirked.

"I admit, you got me there. Let's see how well you fly!" Goldstone said, and in a flap of the wing flew straight up. Good thing he did too, as they were approaching a tall, VERY steep hill. Now the land runners had a big problem, and shortly after reaching the hill, their speed dropped significantly, giving the flyers time to catch up. Double Edge had the worst of it, hardly able to get an actual footing with his small hooves, but Fulgurite made it look easy with her boots. Bismuth's cleat attachments were working wonders here, as she raced up like it was nothing.
On top of the hill was the secondary mark, and Fulgurite and Lightning Dust touched it pretty close to the same time, Goldstone being passed this point a good five seconds ago (which was big considering how fast they were going). But then came a surprise: although lagging behind a bit, Sapphire got completely airborne after the second mark, and was gliding off the hillside, her speed aided by gravity to bring her up forward.

"And by the second mark it's Goldstone in first, but Sapphire's flying in fast and passed out Rainbow Dash to take second place! We're down to the half-way point!"

"You hear that, Ruby? Sapphire's on a role! and she's not even rolling!" Pinkie said, extremely excited. Ruby was actually beginning to get a bit more invested in the race now that she heard that, and they could see the racers off further away, making the half-way loop back around.
for order: Goldstone, Sapphire, Rainbow Dash, Lapis, Fulgurite, Lightning Dust, and Double Edge.

Soon came up the third obstacle to this race, which appeared to be similar to before, except the entire field was submerged. Meaning the only clues to shallow and deep water was jutting logs and rocks. This meant that any pitfalls would be completely blinded to those running. For one flyer though, with the odds stacking against her, she had to make some risky moves to up her place back to first. Her first move was behind her with Double Edge, who was having enough trouble already in last place. All she had to do here was what Copper did earlier, and splashed a huge amount of water behind her. This quickly got Double Edge to lose his sight for a brief moment, making him clip his heels on some of the logs, and forcing him out. The flyers didn't have such problem, but for Lapis Lazuli, there was a bit of trouble waiting for her here.
And it was coming down fast!

"COMING THROUGH!"

Suddenly, Lapis felt something hit her back, and pushing her closer to the water surface! Looking back, there was Lightning Dust, hooves dangerously close to her gemstone, and Lightning used her as a sort of launching platform, forcing Lapis behind the speedy Pegasus, and almost knocking her into the water. Lightning Dust paid them no mind, and kept flying on, unaware how dangerously close Lapis Lazuli got to crashing. The crash however didn't happen because of Lightning dust, but from a branch that caught onto Lapis's foot, making her fall into the water completely in a nasty-looking skid and tumble!

"Lapis!" shouted Fulgurite.

"With a fall like that, she's out of the race for sure!" the announcer said. It sure seemed that way for those watching in the crowd, who waited for the announcer to call disqualification, but nothing happened.

"Ok, THAT'S sabotage! Why isn't he saying anything?" Hoppy asked. Peridot looked to the announcer, and looking very closely at his expression, he had an ever so slight smirk on his face.

"Wait. He's smiling?" Peridot wondered.

"I knew it, he got paid off!" Fluttershy concluded, both appalled and angry.
Out in the race, Fulgurite knew they had to keep going. Keep running. The now angry Gem looked up to Lightning Dust.

"Now who's a cheater?!" Fulgurite yelled. Lightning though didn't care.

"So what? So long as I beat that Rainbow Dash, I don't care," Lightning said, though mostly this was to herself. Rainbow Dash made her lose her status as a Wonderbolt back at the academy, she wasn't gonna lose to her here as well. Even if it did meant playing a bit dirty.
And it seemed she was getting closer to making that happen, closing the gap between herself and Rainbow Dash. The rainbow Pegasus knew what happened, and she wasn't about to let her do the same to her. Lightning dust flew up higher, and started to descend.

"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow quickly hit the brakes, just enough to keep her speed up, but missing Lightning Dust's dive. Rainbow gritted her teeth, as Lightning dust moved on ahead. She had the lead already, and now she was getting it back from Goldstone and Sapphire. Rainbow knew what was going to happen next if she didn't do something. So, she kept her place above Lightning Dust, rather than in front of her, keeping a better eye on her as they moved on from water, and onto land towards the next part of the race.
A waterside forest. THIS was when it got tricky. While the brambles weren't too tall, the forest was a lot more sturdy, and far easier to suddenly stop if one wasn't too careful. Goldstone, Lightning, Sapphire and Fulgurite wasted no time in getting in there, ground and air racers having the most trouble here. Rainbow Dash wasn't seen anywhere however.
The racers had to close in together to make this work, avoiding thick branches and sticks all the while avoiding crashing into eachother. With the cover of the forest, it was hard to say who was in what place, so this left the audience at their seats in anticipation. Sapphire had the best advantage now due to her smaller size, keeping up very close to Goldstone, and actually close to passing him up!

"Watch out, kids!" Goldstone warned, before he suddenly found an opening above them and took off skyward. The others didn't know what he meant by that until AFTER they got out of the forest.
A rocky wall, right in front of them!

"Pull up!" Sapphire yelled.

"WHOA!" Fulgurite almost skidded to a stop in order to better adjust herself, as the rest had to quickly rush upwards just to avoid slamming into the wall. Fulgurite had the most trouble, flighting gravity as she ran up the wall alongside Sapphire, as Lightning Dust zoomed up side by side as they neared the third mark. It was here Lightning Dust started to bump Fulgurite in the side, making her start to lose her focus and slip from the wall

"What're you doing, stop it!"

"It's called handicapping. Ever heard of it?!" And with that remark, Lightning Dust whacked Fulgurite right in the face with her wing, sending her back a bit before reaching the top, tapping the third mark. Rainbow Dash almost ended up hitting the wall itself because of that!
The order now: Goldstone, Lightning Dust, Fulgurite, and Sapphire.
Lightning dust felt good with herself, seeing the racers behind her and only one in front. The plateau they had to clime up gave Sapphire a huge leap of gliding time to regain her speed from all this sabotage from Lightning Dust. But then, as she looked, something was missing.

"Wait. Rainbow Dash, where -"

"HIYAA!" Bursting out of the sky, suddenly Rainbow Dash appeared, angry as ever for seeing Lightning do all of this, and gave the Pegasus a falcon strike right on her back! This move sent both flyers careening own towards the hard earth below. They both landed pretty hard, Rainbow making sure that Lightning dust was on the ground.

"And they're both down! Looks like two more are out of this race folks!" the announcer said, slightly reluctant for seeing Lightning Dust fall like that. Rainbow's friends were more happy than ever seeing karma catch up to Lightning Dust. The only thing that hurt more than her body was her pride, and Rainbow made sure she stayed down this time.

"You know this means you're out too, right?" Lightning Dust groaned, looking up at Rainbow. Lightning knew she was too hurt to keep up with the racers even if she wanted to, but Rainbow Dash wasn't too bothered by the idea of getting disqualified.

"I got enough of my pride to spare for one race," Rainbow Dash replied. The Pegasus standing looked up back to the remaining flying racers, Sapphire looking down to the situation. Rainbow gave the Gem a salute to Sapphire, who gave one back before she focused her own landing gear coming up.

"A true Wonderbolt," Spitfire said with a smile. It does take some guts to do that, even if it was against a rigged system. Ruby was off her seat now, looking over the bars at the race unfolding before them.

The order: Goldstone and Sapphire. … For so it first appeared.

"UNBELIEVABLE! Lapis Lazuli's back in the race! Just in time to reach the final part!" the announcer called, as shocked as everyone else was. She was very far behind, just making over the plateau, and doing a fast-charged dive towards the remaining racers in front, but she was indeed back in the race after her seemingly race-stopping tumble. Unlike Garble, Chopper, and Double Edge, this Gem was willing to guarantee the win of the Netitus. Even if so far behind, keeping her body streamline she was gaining speed until she was right by Sapphire, Goldstone not too far ahead.

"Where's Rainbow?!

"Forfeited," Sapphire simply said. Goldstone looked back.

"Not bad you two. Even with that sabotager you still kept up with me! Watch the final part!" Goldstone warned.
And Sapphire already knew what was coming up next. The fourth part before the final stretch: the giants' farmland. Celestia warned them about this part in particular, and how dangerous it was to go through here for most racers, flyers and runners alike. And that was shown immediately as they began to go through. For Lapis and Goldstone, they had the issue of cold biting winds coming at them, and Sapphire had a similar problem, and the ground itself being a bit more slippery due to ice forming here. Sapphire and Goldstone found a way to fix the wind problem in the form of a large cement water ditch, grates lining the top to let light in.

"What's the big deal? not much different from the forest and brambles!" Lapis asked.

"Flying straight is easy, it's the turns that'll get you!"
And just as he said that, Lapis and Sapphire almost crashed into a corner wall as Goldstone bolted off right. Now they could see how hard this was. At least with the brambles and forest section, they could keep rushing forward, only jumping around when need be. Here, they had to not only keep their speed up, but avoid just slamming into any of the walls They couldn't fly above this part either thanks to the grates, so they all had to suffer through this part. Only Goldstone himself had little trouble: with four legs and two wings, he both flew and ran through the twists and turns with relative ease, leaving both Sapphire and Lapis behind bit by bit.
Then they got to the long hall. A long path open at the top, and at the very end a vent opening. Goldstone knew this was his time to go, and he flew up high out of there. Lapis and Sapphire were both a bit behind at this point, but as Sapphire wanted to make it, Lapis had other ideas.

"Sapphire. You take this one!"

"What? Lapis!"

"Sapphire, I heard what you said to Goldstone earlier, I know she doesn't hate you! We all believe in you, Sapphire, and I know Ruby does too! Do it for her, just like you've done for everyone else."

This was more to her than just getting the Netitus for Rainbow. This was to make up for her mistake. A small tear went down Lapis's face, and before Sapphire could say anything else, Lapis flew up, and skidded to a complete stop, leaving Sapphire to run on ahead. This was to be her victory, one way or another.
Goldstone didn't understand what was going on, but one thing he did see was Sapphire continuing to run forward towards the vent.

"Hey kid! You can't get through that way!" Goldstone warned. Sapphire though still was comprehending what Lapis had said. She had felt so torn up for the longest time, but the ones that had helped her through this was those closest to her. It was still her fault that many of them ran, but even when exposed of her faults, they never truly left her. She may have left them, but they never left her.

Sapphire had to win this. Courage at its peak, Sapphire charged blindly onto the unknown, and into the vent. The world grew very dark the second she did so, walls and ceiling leaving little to maneuver for her. It was all a straight line, barely curving, but even then Sapphire was not stopping. There was a reason no one would dare try to go through this way.

And she knew exactly what it was: the tunnel was barred up! Sapphire would try to stop, but there was no turning back now, so she tried a very risky approach to it. she brought her hand out, her gemstone in front of her, and then …

*POOF*

The bars were too strong for her, and her gemstone went flying through at light speed. The explosion made it look like a bomb had gone off in there! This left the entire crowd gasping, think she may have killed herself going through.
Her gemstone though, as it bounced at least three times, started to reform itself in the next tunnel, and Sapphire, albeit VERY rushed, was back again! She still looked the same as before, only without her headband holding her hair back, but Sapphire didn't care for that right now as she charged through the next tunnel in the vent. This one lasted longer, giving Sapphire even more speed to work with, and by the time she reached the other end of the tunnel, she was no longer running. She was flying.

"There she is! She's in the lead!" Hoppy shouted.

"GO SAPPHIRE!" shouted Pinkie Pie. Ruby couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Sapphire barrel through like that.

Onto the final stretch. Now, the main idea would be for the racers to go around the upcoming lake to get to the finish line, but Sapphire's mind was on the straight and narrow. She began running across the water!
It felt amazing: rushing along the surface, and moving at such a speed to rival Fulgurite at her highest, barely making impact on the surface of the water, and seeing her friends waiting for her right in front. All of this felt too good to be true.
And it was. Sapphire suddenly felt like something was missing here. Or rather, someone was missing, as she began to look around for the missing person. Her gaze went skyward, and soon she found him: Goldstone was rushing down from the sky in a falcon dive right to the water!
And he was gaining fast! So fast in fact, he left his own splashes and waves behind him without even touching the water! Sapphire will not have it, and gaining flight, she began to gain as much speed as she could. she was flying sure, but she still had her feet running off behind her to go even faster. Goldstone soon caught up with her, and it went down to the final push. Neck-and-neck, side-by-side.

"Holy hop!" Hopper gasped, seeing their speed through her power device. And it was going CRAZY!

"7000. 8000. 10,000! Numbers have no meaning!" Hopper shouted, before her machine actually broke!
Sapphire and Goldstone were just yards away from the finish line, a race between the fastest flyer and fastest runner, both sides determined more than anything to win this race. They were so close. Sapphire closed her eye, only focused on running forward. Go forward. Don't slow down. Every force of G, wind, and water fighting her the entire way.

And then they made it over the finish line. It was a blur so quick, the announcer couldn't make out who actually won it. Sapphire and Goldstone finally slowed down and stopped altogether, waiting to hear what the announcer had to say, as the rest of the racers slowly made their way back to the main area. The announcer had to take a minute to replay the scene in his mind and slow it down a bit. So, the unicorn brought up the screen for him to see, showing the scene in slow-motion … and who won by the end?

…….

"IT'S GOLDSTONE!"

"G … Goldstone? … I lost …" Sapphire was SO CLOSE. Even in the huge ring of the applauding crowd, even with the multiple people on their side trying to get it, even after EVERYTHING, they still didn't get Netitus. Goldstone was proudly given Netitus for his reward, the Griffon holding the shield of history with pride, but his eyes still befell onto Sapphire, who now was on the ground. Despite being ahead for the whole race, he wasn't completely oblivious to what happened around him. He saw her friend Rainbow forfeit the race to stop Lightning Dust, and he saw Lapis give up so Sapphire could win it for them all. So, after a bit, Goldstone went over to Sapphire …

And placed the Netitus in front of her.

"Here, keep it," Goldstone said.

"You mean it?"

"Yeah; you gave me the most exciting race I've had in years. That and I've already won three of these things, knowing I won four's good enough for me. I don't need Netitus to prove it," Goldstone said, acting all smug about it. The praise for being the champion was more than enough for the Griffon, and in the end Sapphire got her prize after all. It was surely their lucky day.

They got everything they needed.

…….

If only things were as good for the real Steven and Ruby.

The prisonhold the two were stuck in wasn't anything too special, or comfortable. With some magic on the changeling's part, there was a small sort of barrier just outside of their cell to keep them in there. sure, Steven can go by no problem, but two things kept him still: the fact he can't use his abilities within the palace, and Ruby wasn't able to venture out without the spell to keep her body in tact. The changelings didn't really keep too much of an eye on them because of this, though a few did stop to check on them time to time.

The type of cell was a bit more unorthodox: a hole downward into a chamber, rather than being walked into. the walls were very steep, and the main light was from a hole above. Steven had been trying to reach the exit as best he could, finding a slight foothold on the rocks around the cell, and at this point inches from the top.

"Come on, almost got it," Steven groaned, reaching out as far as he could. His fingers were just about to touch the edge, when one of the Changeling guards peered in, and bit off the root he was holding onto. In a small yelp, he fell right back to the ground, only met with snickers from the Changelings above.

"Give it up, starboy, you're not going anywhere anytime soon," the guard said.

"Can't you at least give us something? A cup of water? Some blankets, maybe a movie to pass the time?" Steven asked.

"What is this, a hotel?" the guard spat, "You're not here for a visit, you're here as a prisoner. Or do we need to drop you both in the hole again?"

"What about some food? It's been days, and I'm starving. I'm sure Chrysalis wouldn't like a skeleton in her cell, right?" Steven retorted. As if on cue, Steven's stomach growled good and loud. Both guards glanced to one another.

"You're a rock aren't you? Eat some sand or something, there's tons of it by your feet," retorted the changeling. Steven looked down to the sand himself, looking more like dust.

"But I can't eat sand, I gave up on it when I was five!"

"UGH, fine. But ONLY because Chrysalis wants you alive when she gets back. Come on, let's find some grub," the guard decided, and both Changelings went off to find something for him to eat. They'd eat him right then and now if Chrysalis gave them the word. Ruby barely even noticed all of this happening, just sitting on a tall rock over by a corner of the cell, seeing little to nothing of the place. Steven looked over to her.

"Don't worry, Ruby, soon as we're out of here you can go back to being the free, rootin-tootin loner cowgirl just like you wanted. You'll be free in the plains before you know it," Steven promised. Ruby … well …

"... It's … not true."

"Huh?"

"All that stuff I sang about at the campfire … It's not true." when ruby turned to Steven, the Gem looked ready to cry, biting her lip and a blush on her face. It was the guiltiest of all guilt faces.

"W-WHAT?!" Steven gasped. Ruby turned herself around.

"I mean, I did have a lot of fun when we got here. I loved it! But … I … the whole time. I kept thinking about how much more fun I would have if I were … with her." Ruby paused to look at her free hand, one NOT with a Gemstone on it. "Sapphire was always there with me. I'd feel her smile … just like it was mine. … It's so lonely now."

Ruby groaned, before sliding off of her rock, landing on her square head.

"That's lame, right?!" she griped, "I left Earth to be my own Gem, but here I am thinking about "what'd she like"! "What she want"! All. The time." she fell to her side, arms crossed, and simply said "Turns out. I'm no good at not needin nobody."

Steven actually gave a small, yet gentle smile.

"Ruby, no it's not. You're still the awesome ruby who did all that stuff, even if you're thinking of someone else. Here, take a look at Flint. Flint's been someone who has been on his own, as this strong, self-reliant guy with his own schedule. But, truth is, he loves someone too. In fact, he thinks more about everyone else than he ever does for himself," Steven explained. Ruby paused, and thought it over. He may have been a bit selfish in some goals, maybe, but he still has his mind set on others in their reactions, and how to handle them.
A particular example that came to mind was with Stevonnie: the first true hybrid fusion. sure, Garnet and Flint were on the wrong foot with it all, but Flint never said anything about what he would get out of it. All of his worries were on Steven and Connie, and not on himself. Even if he wont admit it …

"... Well … if I'm making my own decisions. Then, I'll decide I want to be with Sapphire," Ruby decided. Sapphire was the best thing that could ever happen to her, and if she could chose to be with her from here to the end of time, then that would be the case.

"... I just wish we can get out of here so I can ask her," Ruby sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way out of here," Steven reassured.

We Deserve to Shine

View Online

"It was something to do with that Harmony Gem lot! I feel it in my bones!"

"So. Those ponies and Gems haven't the nerve to fight us face-to-face anymore. They're hoping to exterminate us one by one."

"You don't know that, mom."

"I most certainly do."

"How?"

"... Because WE would like to exterminate THEM."

"Oh lord, this is crazy! I thought we were looking for Changelings. Dad, wouldn't it be easier if we just made peace with the Harmony Gems? You know. Live together in harmony?"

*grrrr* "Wimp. All this peace talk makes you sick! And yellow, which is trouble. come on, let's split up - we can cover the ground better that way."

"... *sigh* right."

…….

Starswirl's journal. Rockhoof's shovel. Mistmane's Flower. Somnambula's glowpaz. Meadowbrook's mask. And now Flash Magnus's shield.

It did take them a while to get all of these items in one way or another, going all over Equestria and then some in order to even figure out the items' connection, let alone getting them. But with the weeks come and gone, they've finally got all items together. Each one representing the biggest moment in one of the pillars' lives, and a true mark on history within Equus itself. And now that they FINALLY got them all, Twilight's plan to get the Pillars free could finally go underway. Except for one little problem …

"UGH, WHERE IS PONHENGE?!"

So many pieces put together already, and the one obvious part was left a bit untouched. Twilight Sparkle may have heard of Ponhenge, but hearing about a place, and going to a place are two entirely different things, and nobody and nopony knew exactly where the place even was, nor if it even existed. Though, if the ponies could figure out the pillars and Pony of Shadows themselves exist, then odds were Ponhenge existed too. The only question now was where.
And apparently due to the Canterlot Voice being used by accident, they weren't getting anywhere at all. Twilight's main room was full of books upon books, and with Starswirl the Bearded's journal as some referencing they at least had something to work with. Too bad it wasn't getting anywhere AT ALL. Twilight could barely keep her eyes open, staring into a book about historical landmarks of the pre-equestrian era, pencil in her mouth as she did so to give her body something else to do. With a yawn, Spike went over to Twilight, getting the candle from her side which by now was down to a dud.

"Anything, Twilight?" Spike asked. Twilight just groaned, before tossing the dead candle into a nearby bin (which had at least thirty of them by the way). This stirred up another helper underneath numerous scrolls, bolting upright in a startle from what could only be a nap.

"Huh, EEHH! Oh, did you figure it out?" asked a very tired Connie, who tossed off a scroll from her head. Of course Twilight didn't do this alone, and for the moment her friends for that afternoon included: Connie, Applejack, Ruby, Starlight, and Sapphire (you can guess who wasn't tired). A mixed bag, but it was something as the others were off doing their own things.

"Nothing," Twilight groaned. "Starswirl is a genius, obviously, but this writing. I know some old ponish, but this doesn't look like any language from anywhere!"

"Twilight," yawned Applejack, as she moved some books aside, "You've been studying, and referencing, and cross-referencing, for three days straight now. Bout time you'd be giving it a break?"

"She's right. I love reading and all, but I haven't read this much since the last Spirit Morph Saga book was released," Connie agreed, yawning too. Twilight switched that book and was just about to get another from the stack, before realizing there wasn't anymore to check. The alicorn was dismayed, slamming her head on the table. What kind of clue was missing here? They've gotten it figured out so far with the map, items, and what happened supposedly, but this final clue was a very well-kept secret.

"Three days? I don't wanna waste three seconds!" retorted Twilight trotting away from the books for a moment and checking out a chalkboard off to the back. Much like Ronaldo's sketches in his own tower, this board had plenty of drawn out pictured, arrows, references, and so on, with Starswirl's hat at the very center.

"We got all the items we need, and have the plan to get them out. The only piece, the ONE FINAL PIECE we have left is to find Ponhenge! I'm so close, I can feel it," Twilight said, hoof on the drawing of the hat. Her hero, and savior from so long ago, and she was just one step away from making the final move. But how to even find that step?

"Twilight, the mystery's not goin anywhere anytime soon. Why don't you just stop what you're doing for a while and get back to it later? you might even find it out before you'll come back," Applejack suggested. Twilight took a glance over to the chalkboard once again, before nodding her head, and backing up.

"Ok, I see you're point. It doesn't help that some of the Gems had already went on a trip to Empire City," Twilight agreed.

"Oh yeah, they did," Starlight said, "Greg got a check for a commercial, didn't he?"
The details on how exactly it happened was a bit vague since Greg and Steven were a bit caught up in it, but the main idea was an old commercial with his music earned him a ton of Earth US money. This gave Greg the idea to go off on a winter trip to Empire city, and he brought a few of the Gems with him (Steven going with of course). This however did leave not too many behind to aid Twilight in this endeavor, but at least the trip wasn't caused by a lie by a particular Diamond, and instead for a good gift by the TV staff.

"I think so. They should've left by now," replied Twilight. She surely felt that she was getting very close to the end of this one, but in that same vain, it did remind her of a lesson she knew about from Fluttershy's own case involving her first visit to hayseed swamp. Twilight was wearing herself out, and it was probably for the best of she and the others would stop for a little bit to recharge (she didn't want to go through another "ghost" incident again). Twilight yawned, stretching her wings and hooves.

"Alright, we can stop for a little bit. Here, maybe there's something going on in Ponyville today," Twilight decided.

"Good plan, you'll collapse after ten minutes if you'd kept going," Sapphire said, grateful that it didn't have to come to that. Before they could go though, there still was one person seemingly too busy looking into some of the books to actually pay attention - Ruby. The red Gem, much like the others earlier, was nose deep into one of the books, and wasn't exactly paying much attention to the others and their conversation, looking at a particular book about teleportation. Ruby was only snapped out of her reading when Spike poked her in the side with his claw, making her jump.

"We're gonna head off to Ponyville, Ruby, you can stop now," Spike said.

"Oh, really? I can go through a few more books," Ruby said, showing the book in hand.

"It's alright, Ruby. Like Applejack said, the mystery's not going anywhere if we take a break from it," Twilight replied. Ruby took a small glance over to the book she had with her, but while she did want to continue studying, some time away might be good for her. Ruby reluctantly placed the book back onto the shelf.

"Okay, if you say so," Ruby replied. She could always come back to the place later. As the others were starting to go off, Ruby was ready to go with them, but then she felt someone grab her arm, only to turn back and see Sapphire behind her.

"Ruby?" Sapphire said. Ruby felt shivers.

"Uh, yeah, what?"

"I know you've been wanting to be by yourself, but I've been hoping … maybe we can spent a night together," Sapphire offered. Ruby scrambled her mind to try and find an answer that would be believable. She can't just flat out refuse … right? She did mention she wanted to be by herself, so it was a bit of a mixed mess.

"*ahem* Whelp … I dun need nobody … but, if you insist," Ruby decided, a bit formal from her usual behavior. Sapphire was sure pleased hearing that, but didn't go all out over it outside of just a smile.

"Thank you. I have a surprise for you, I know you'll love it," Sapphire promised. Before Ruby could say or do much of anything, she suddenly found herself being pulled away, and off outside. Ruby did kinda freak out when Sapphire decided for the window instead of the door, but again, Sapphire was just a little too excited, and floated on out.

And the only ones who saw this was Starlight and Spike.

"Ok, that happened," Spike said. He was ready to go off, but Starlight Glimmer actually placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"Wait a second. Can I, uh, talk to you?" Starlight asked, bringing Spike over to the window. They both saw Sapphire and Ruby go off, Ruby kinda freaking out still.

"Ok, I didn't want to say it in front of Twilight, so she wouldn't freak out, but … does Ruby's behavior seem a bit, uh, off to you?" Starlight asked. Twilight had enough on her plate, and Starlight didn't want to bring up anything further.

"I dunno," Spike replied, "Looks fine to me."

"Well, I don't think so," Starlight admitted.

"Why?"

"W-Well think about it: Lapis told us they had a slight run in with -" Starlight suddenly stopped and re-checked to be sure that somepony wasn't close by, before leaning in and whispering "The Changeling Kingdom." she went back to normal after that, "And now she won't fuse with Sapphire at all? It's like she's … avoiding her."

"Well she did drive Ruby away," Spike reminded.

"Maybe … but, a Changeling did show up disguised as Twilight to keep me and Trixie apart. AND another one disguised as Lapis to attack Sniper."

Suddenly Spike didn't feel so confident anymore. Steven and Ruby were acting slightly … well, off, lately.

"Y-You don't think …"

"I could be right, or wrong - really don't wanna be right - but, think you can just tag along with them? You know, just in case?"
Spike could see what issues Starlight Glimmer had with this situation, and it lead to two options: either Ruby was not Ruby, or a Changeling could come in and take them both at once while alone. both sure sounded pretty possible, and it was making Spike himself break out in a cold sweat. He heard how much the Crystal Gems had already done, there was no point in getting them into another.

"You can count on me!" Spike confirmed.

"Super, thanks! Good luck, Spike," Starlight said, heading off to rejoin the others, leaving Spike, the Brave and Glorious, to his task. …

"... Wait. How do I get there?"

~~~~~~

As for Ruby and Sapphire, the two flew off for quite a bit of ways from Canterlot. Sapphire made sure to land properly, and smoothly for Ruby, who at this point was pretty terrified all and all.

"Here we are … Ruby, why're you so scared?" Sapphire asked, though she couldn't help but chuckle. She just was so cute. Ruby managed to get an answer.

"I-I was … just caught by surprise," Ruby said. Sapphire then gave Ruby another surprise: kissing her on the cheek. This made her even more red in the face.

"Save your surprise for what I'm gonna show you," Sapphire replied, before she began to bring Ruby along. Ruby thought they were gonna fly again, but instead it was just a simple run, Sapphire bringing out something to get them there: a Portal Key. It was still Garnet's key, though she was still a component of Garnet so it can work just as well. Sapphire found a good hillside to use the key on, and once she got the door good and open, and brought Ruby right on through, the other Gem a little freaked out, but not as much as flying from Canterlot.
The flight through the portal was not as long as the first one, and as Sapphire hoped, the two Gems landed off in a … well, a new location. ruby didn't recognize this place at first, looking at what could be described as a forest. An open forest with scattered pine trees and copses abound, with some distant mountains off to the distance. Winter had made it here pretty hard, much of the area put in a lot of snow over the last week or two. Ruby was left in awe of pure nature, but Sapphire wasn't done yet. And where did she take her? Sapphire knew this place like the back of her hand, and since it was changed O so little, she knew exactly where to go.

And soon, she found it. Sapphire brought Ruby into a small cave in the wilderness, still uninhabited and isolated from so much of the world. The ground was lined with line needles, and twigs from outside, and the snow kept itself by the entrance. Ruby was a little perplexed at first.

"Here we are. Do you remember this place, Ruby?"

"Oh. Uh, y-yeah, of course I do! It hasn't changed a bit," ruby said, slightly hesitant at first but recovered quickly. Sapphire walked on inside resting down easy.

"It's the same cave where we spent our first night together," Sapphire said. "You can't imagine how happy I was when I found it's still here. … Join me?"

"Um, ok," Ruby replied, taking a seat over by Sapphire. This was much more relaxing than just flying off somewhere. It felt comfy, and warmer than the cold from outside now that the wind stopped blowing at them. That didn't mean it wasn't chilly at all, and Ruby could feel some shivers up her back.

"Do you … want to build a fire?" Ruby asked. Sapphire smiled.

"By all means," Sapphire replied.

…….

"WHOOOOOOA - OOF!"

And finally enter Spike with a telescope, who at long last got a portal open himself with someone else's help. It wasn't easy getting someone to get their key working, but either way, he finally made it from Equestria to Earth. Well, as far as he knew. After getting the snow off of him, he took a look around the forest, not recognizing any of it at all.

"They need to work on location," Spike said, "So … where do I start? Guess it could be anywhere."
not too far from the truth, as Spike began to go off around the place. He ended up in one of the copses of the forest, so, there was quite a few spots to hide if one were a Changeling. A piece of leaf? A branch? A rock? For a Changeling, it was practically endless really. As he continued looking, he eventually took sight of something off just between some trees. Spike had found his target.

"Aha. Thought you could sneak by me? OK shadow, how do I know you're really a shadow?"

No response.

"Not talking huh? Well you can't fool me!"
Spike quickly made a jump right at the shadowed figure, just to slam headfirst into what turned out to be a snow-covered stump. Somehow, the snow was piled in such a way it looked like, well, a Changeling. Spike got himself together and out of the snow, embarrassed and now with a headache.

"OK, not a changeling. Lots of places to hide," Spike said. But then he got an idea. If he can't figure out where a Changeling was down here, them maybe he can get himself to higher ground to get a better lay of the land. In this case, Spike climbed up one of the pine trees, getting a good forty feet off the ground. Once on a sturdy branch, he spun the telescope, got it out, and examined the area.

"Let's see … Snow piles. Rocks. OH, WAIT - … no, that's just a funny-looking bush." since when does a bush look like a Changeling? No one said it would be easy, and a Changeling in a forest had a LOT of places to hide. The only one thing Spike didn't look out for was the branch he was standing on …

*snap*

"AAAHHH!"
And just like that, Spike found himself falling down from the tree! The branch seemed so sturdy at first, but some of Spike's steps were just enough to weaken it and snap it near the base. Spike could only wait until he would completely hit ground, closing his eyes, but for some odd reason, it never came. Spike knew he couldn't fly, so how was he even flying like this? He found his answer above his head, as he gently placed Spike down into the snow.

Thorax. And without the Ruby disguise this time (he can't fly as Ruby and get away with it). Spike was … confused. To say the least.

"You … saved me?" Spike asked. He couldn't believe that this Changeling, of all things, would actually rescue him from a nasty fall like that. The tone kind of told Thorax the end result already.

"it's okay, I know you don't wanna be friends," he sighed. He was ready to just walk away, but Spike still wanted some answers to this situation. So, he went over in front of Thorax before he could go too far.

"Wait. But, you're a Changeling, and they're supposed to be evil, right?" Spike asked.

"Evil? N-No, not me," Thorax explained, "The other Changelings always bullied me because I'm not as brutal, and as rough as they are. Ever since I came out of the nursery, I didn't have anyone to help me, and all I ever wanted was a friend. … I was, apart of the attack on Canterlot, but I never before saw true friendship like that. A-And I couldn't just steal it and feed off its love. I wanted to share it. … Ever since we've been banished to the Badlands, I felt I no longer had a place in the Hive."

Spike was brought to tears by all of this information, immediately regretting calling him "evil" like other changelings. Thorax rarely had chances to just talk to anyone, so a chance like this surely felt like something was getting off his chest, even if a little.

"Sorry about that. But, why don't you just … well, leave?" Spike asked, concerned a little.

"I've thought about that. But, there's still my mom, Chrysalis. She's the mother of all the Changelings in her hive, I-I can't just leave her. … And …"

"And what?"

"I'm starving! A-And Sapphire has so much love in her right now for Ruby. It's driving me crazy!" Thorax said, stuck almost shaking in his hooves.

"That's because they've been together for over 5,750 years, and been fused together in a love fusion to be Garnet," Spike answered. The very mention of the word "love" made Thorax hiss and snarl for a bit, like some ravenous animal. However, he quickly got himself fixed.

"S-Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that! Something like that kinda brings it out, I'm just so hungry."

Spike then got his brilliant idea.

"... Hey. Maybe if you have a friend, maybe you won't need to feed off of love!"

"Well, I guess, but who would want to be a friend with … a Changeling?"

"Believe me, from what the others had gone through over the years, you're nothing to be afraid of," Spike encouraged, giving him a friendly nudge.

"Really?" Thorax asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course! And we can start right with Sapphire and Ruby. Uh, you didn't see where they went, have you?" Spike asked. Thorax looked down to his holed hooves, but rather than talk to Spike, all he had to do was transform into Ruby for Spike to get the full picture.

"... OOOOHHH. Yep, that'll be a bit harder."

"It's kind of also why i'm out here. I can't just stop now, w-what'll she think of me? I-I've seen how she can be … well, determined."

"Oh yeah. … Here, I know. I'll make sure you can go through this time with Sapphire, and when we're done, you can introduce yourself to them that way. Then Sapphire won't be upset, because she wouldn't know it was you here instead of Ruby. How's that?"

"Sounds great! Wow, I-I can't believe you wanna help me."

"Sure. Hasn't anybody just been nice to you?"

That just made Thorax hiss and snarl again, the Changeling quickly covering his mouth. It was a bit creppier seeing "Ruby" doing it over Thorax. Though, it still did answer the question.

"Ok. Well, at least we know you're the only one out here. … you are, are you?" Spike asked, as they began to head on back to Sapphire.

"Yeah, it's only me out here with her," replied Thorax.

.......

And no sooner after Sniper saw all this, he quickly bolted off away through the nearest corner back to his home. His home wasn't too fancy for a pony or human, but the Tindalos's main home was best it can be: a large cavern-like den with numerous corners for the Tindalos to travel through. And Sniper wasted no time in reaching his father and mother, who were sitting side by side.

"You were quick, Sniper," his father said, "You really cover the area?"

"I did, and guess what? I found that Changeling who attacked me! As plain as the nose on your face - just hanging out there in the afternoon sunshine," reported Sniper. The father couldn't believe his ears.

"Basking in the sun? I can't believe he'd have the cheek! Not after what he did," the father growled. Attacking his son on sight, and he decided to chill in the winter sun? It was just insulting, and the mother couldn't help but agree.

"You feeling better, by the way, Sniper?" asked the mother. Sniper looked to where the Changeling cut him, and while it wasn't as noticeable anymore, it still was slightly sensitive thanks to the cold.

"I'm fine, but here why don't you go after him? He's the one that got me."

A good idea, but his father was slightly suspicious.

"You're quite sure you're not making this thing up, Sniper? To keep me quiet?" the father questioned. Sniper perked up.

"What?! Why should I?" Sniper asked.

"Because," said the father, "It sounds suspiciously like more of your "peace talk" to me!"

Not exactly Sniper's idea, but guess that could be apart of it too. Sniper just huffed.

"There's no point in making war over nothing. If my injury had nothing to do with the Harmony Gems, then -"

"Excuse me," cut in the mother, "But … now I've come to think of it. I have heard of a something called a menagerie lately; when creatures like Gems keep exotic creatures to themselves to be used. Am I right?"
This got the father thinking. If this Changeling was apart of this menagerie of theirs, then it was even more the reason to pin the blame on them. After all, you can't blame a dog for guarding his master, but the master who made him guard him. Sniper didn't believe such, but the father made up his mind.

"Now that you mention it … Nothing to do with the Harmony Gems. PAH!"

"Hold on," retorted Sniper, "The Changeling isn't apart of their menagerie - Starlight said so!"

"And who is this Starlight?" the father asked, jumping down to him. Sniper didn't mean to call the unicorn by name, and ended up clamming up.

"A-Another Tindalos I met on the way here," he replied, trying to fix his mistake, "She went into their world too. Been keeping an eye on them, you see."

"Oh? And a she," said the mother, "Been meaning to find you a mate before long, but looks like you're covered."

"W-We're just friends!" retorted Sniper.

"That's what they always say," joked the mother. Oh why does this always happen when it came to love? Well, the father was more focused on the task at claw, and moved off to one of the corners, fazing through it. Sniper could only hope he was just after the Changeling.

…….

for much of the day to follow, and onward to the setting dusk, Sapphire, Thorax (who was still Ruby), and now Spike, went on through the day with a bit of their own fun. Sapphire shared much of what they used to do in this forest, albeit in a different way since it was winter, but all of this fun was really helping out Thorax more than she realized. With this fun and love sharing to him, he didn't have too much trouble keeping himself undercover, though the temptation was still there. On which case, spike would remind him to keep calm and not lose himself, something the other Changelings would probably be a lot more vicious about. It honestly was all good.

Well, to a point.

Sapphire, and Ruby found a good viewing spot to watch the night sky nearby the cave, and decided to do a bit of star-gazing. Nice, but, they were left in a bit of a spot. Ruby was a bit stiff, sitting completely still, as Sapphire was enjoying the view of the winter sky with her. The stars were always a better look in such a forested landscape, them sparkling in the sky. It was a picture perfect moment … you know, if Ruby wasn't looking so uncomfortable, that is. All this affection, it's a wonder he could even keep himself together. Spike couldn't intervene, and he was just crossing his claws just hoping this all will work. Sapphire gently placed her gem hand onto Ruby's gem hand.

"Can I tell you something? Ruby?"

"Uh, y-yeah, go ahead," Ruby muttered. Sapphire looked off into the sky.

"... When I realized you ran away, Ruby. I got very worried. I thought that I was going to lose someone I cared the most about. I know you don't want to fuse into Garnet right now. But I just want you to know …" Sapphire paused, and looked Ruby right in the eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said. And no matter where you are, I just want you to be happy. I love you, Ruby."

Then it happened.

"S-s-s-so much love. A-All at once, I - … I …"

All of this talk, all this affection, care, kindness, love, it was just all too much for Ruby. Ruby got up and actually began to back up. Her heart was racing, her hunger sky-rocketing, and her mind going all over the place. Sapphire was left a bit confused by this action, seeing Ruby basically suffer a panic attack. And before they knew it -

*HISSSSSS!*

Thorax was exposed. Driven by his hunger, he hissed long and loud right at Sapphire, fangs drawn and tongue whipping the air like a snake. Thorax hissed and snarled at Sapphire for a bit, but the Changeling was in a severe mental fight, not wanting to hurt one of his first friends. His hooves kept backing him up away from Sapphire, but his mind and mouth kept wanting to get that love. Such succulent, tasty love.
Thorax actually was ready to jump her, but Spike quickly rushed towards Thorax, grabbing him by the tail. This made Thorax turn and snarl menacingly at Spike, until -

*SLAP*

"AH! Huh? W-Wha? W-What happened? I blacked out for a second," Thorax asked, his voice still the exact same as Ruby would be. … only then seeing his hoof. Then the rest of him.

"Yeah, the jig's up," Spike said gravely. Thorax felt fear creep up on him, now realizing what actually happened, and he was afraid to turn around. The cold winter just got a little bit colder, Sapphire taking in what was going on. It took a bit of courage for Thorax to slowly turn around to face Sapphire, who was eerily silent. just standing there. Silent. And no emption on her face. Thorax no longer felt that love drive like earlier, but this fear made him keep his distance. … And then she started walking towards them.

"... I've been through a lot," she began, her tone calm, but hints of her inner rage made them both scared. "I've tried to work out so much confusion when I first came back. I felt so lost for many weeks, my future Vision being a complete mess. But I've managed to work it out. …"

Thorax knew who she was aiming for, and slowly started to back up, but each step didn't add any distance between him and Sapphire, Spike meanwhile getting scared himself.

"Not long after that, then I found out how much of a fool I really was. My old leader, Rose Quartz, had lied to everyone, hiding her true identity as Pink Diamond. I've felt horrified, betrayed, and it was that that made the others leave for a while. And now. When I finally thought everything will be better, that everything will be okay ... You show up. And thought it would be a great idea to replace the one Gem I've held closest to my heart!"

Thorax was terrified when he finally saw her eye, the cold hard spears and daggers skewering whatever confidence he ever had left. It was staring cold death in the face, and that bellow of a roar threw Thorax off his hooves right into the snow, and looking back up, he found that Sapphire was actually crying. The weight of the situation to any other Changeling like Pharynx would probably mean nothing, but Thorax … well, tears shown on his eyes too.

"NO, Sapphire, stop!" Spike finally called, rushing in between Sapphire and Spike, "You got him all wrong, I-it's not what it looks like!"

"So he's not disguising himself as Ruby, while the real Ruby is imprisoned off somewhere?" Sapphire sternly questioned.

"... OK, I guess it is what it looks like," Spike admitted. He was gonna try to correct himself, but Sapphire spoke again, more tears coming up.

"I can't believe how blind I am. I should've known something wasn't right when Ruby came back, I know I should've! and now she's probably being tortured somewhere because I can't see past what was right in front of me. Oh Ruby …"
Sapphire just waited for a minute, tears streaming freely from her eye, but she still didn't go beyond small whimpers. But as for Thorax …

"WAAAHHH! I'm so sorry!" he wailed, tears now flowing from his eyes. This was a big surprise towards Sapphire, as Thorax cried. He knew this was wrong for a while, but this was on a level he could never of thought of. And it didn't help it was him who was impersonating her either.

"There, there, Thorax, it wasn't you who got her, right?" Spike said, trying to get some of the tears to stop. Some did, but not all of them.

"I know. But it doesn't matter, all I did was stand there as I watch it all happen - I didn't do anything! Doesn't help I had to follow Chrysalis either and get roped up in all this. Sapphire, I'm so, so sorry about everything," he sobbed, rubbing some tears from his own eyes. Sapphire was slowly calming down herself, but she still didn't say anything.

"... Sapphire? You ok?" Spike asked. Sapphire was just quiet for a moment, the ground under her feet now frozen solid. Spike got that fixed best he could with a quick firebreath, just enough so she wouldn't be completely stuck in the spot. Spike waved his claw in front of Sapphire, but with little reaction. It was difficult to say if she was either contemplating what she heard, or if this was just too much for her to handle all at once. Thorax was just waiting for the initial attack, verbal or otherwise, but she then turned over to Spike.

"How long did you know about this?" she then asked.

"Uh … since this afternoon?" Spike replied. More silence, Sapphire left to think again. …

*grrrrr*

"Huh? W-What's that?" Thorax asked, frantically looking around the area. He and Spike tried to find the source of this growling, but both Spike and Thorax were looking in the wrong place, as they began to hear rustling right behind them.

"TINDALOS!" Spike exclaimed. And this was Sniper's father charging out of the foliage! Thorax and Spike bolted for it, jumping different ways to get out of the frantic charge from the Tindalos. Sapphire actually didn't react much to the Tindalos charging out, even when Spike landed by her, and the Tindalos skidded to chase after Thorax, the snow landing on them in said skid.

The Tindalos rushed right off after Thorax with ravenous rage across his muzzle, Thorax freaking out and screaming, flying as fast as he could ever manage to try to get away. But this Tindalos was keeping up very well, and in one jump, grabbed Thorax by the tail, and swung him back into the snow hard, making the Changeling tumble a bit as the hound closed in. Thorax's only sanctuary left was a small burrow just by a tree. It was too small for a Changeling like him to fit in comfortably (or quickly), but he had no choice and scrambled to get in. He almost managed too, but the Tindalos sprung at him, and got his teeth right into one of Thorax's legs. One chomp, and a snap echoed around, just before the Tindalos spat out what remained of Thorax's hoof. Thorax was hurt, but he was more scared than anything.
Spike and Sapphire managed to catch up, seeing this happening from not too far away.

"You miserable, creeping worm," the Tindalos snarled, the hole only big enough for the Tindalos's snout to fit through. Thorax moved as far back as the burrow would allow him, but he was still just a foot away from his jaws. "You think you can hurt me like you hurt my son?"

"S-Son? What? I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Thorax shivered. But the Tindalos was not buying it.

"Don't pretend, Changeling. My son told me that you attacked him!"

"H-How do you know I did it? I'm not the only Changeling," Thorax said, trying to get some bit of innocence to come forward.

"You're the one with the Harmony Gems all day," retorted the Tindalos. This was overheard by Sapphire and Spike, and while "Harmony Gems" didn't fit the name, it was more than enough of a hint to see what he was talking about. The blame seemed more apparent.

"Well, maybe, b-but I don't know what you mean, I-I never even met Sniper!" Thorax quickly covered his mouth, but the Tindalos heard him loud and clear, and he wasn't having any of it. He then began to dig his way in, much to Thorax's horror.

"HELP!" Thorax called. The only sound he could hear though was the snarling jaws of the Tindalos, which jabbed and jabbed at the burrow, trying to reach him. He would only pause this just to dig in a little bit deeper, getting closer and closer to the Changeling inside.

"Thorax! Sapphire, we got to do something! … SAPPHIRE!" Spike called. But Sapphire seemingly wasn't listening, caught up in the so many visions, and thoughts, it was like Padparadscha all over again. Spike didn't had time to wait, and went off down to confront the Tindalos. No amount of tricks could make Thorax get out of this one. All Thorax could do was covered his head and close his eyes, waiting for the Tindalos to reach in and grab him.

"Ok, Spike. One. Two … *inhale* HEY DOGBREATH!"

One glare from the Tindalos's glowing blue eyes immediately stopped Spike cold. The effect of that glare was just too much for the baby Dragon to handle. It was a quick distraction, but Thorax took the chance and pulled himself out, just to be stomped on by the giant hound. Spike had to act fast, and almost blindly, he rushed in right behind the Tindalos.

"I must be crazy. … Yep, I'm crazy," and he bit the Tindalos hard on the tail.

*AROOOOOOOOOOOOO!*
The howl from the Tindalos echoed through miles, scaring every creature within the forest. This startled even the calm Sapphire, and especially freaked out the now three-legged Thorax. In an instinctual response, the Tindalos reared back, and kicked Spike right into the nearest tree, making him see stars and let go of him. It was clean and quick, but spike jumped back up, and quickly got in between the Tindalos and Thorax.

"Watch it you! I'm Spike the Brave and Glorious, and if you want him, you're gonna have to go through me!" Spike shouted. Thorax smiled to his friend, though he wished he could say the same for the beast. The Tindalos just stood there at first, snarling and ready to attack, but bizarrely he didn't step any closer towards them. Thorax and Spike didn't realize it, but the Tindalos was actually having his focus split between them and something else. There was a bit of a stand off at first, but eventually the Tindalos began to slowly back away. Grudgingly, he came to his decision after seeing the hoof in the snow.

"Fine. You'd probably freeze to death without your foot anyway."

The Tindalos then left them with that, and disappeared back into the foliage, leaving only a injured Changeling and a surprised Dragon.

"Huh. Can't believe that worked," Spike noted, impressed that his own title could drive the beast away. … That was, until he turned around.
A giant monster was standing right behind them! Spike and Thorax screamed, hugging eachother and freaking out for a bit. Anything that could drive the Tindalos away was NOT going to work out well for them. Lucky for them though, upon a second look, out came Sapphire, the moonlight revealing the monster was nothing more than an ice statue.

"You can stop screaming now," Sapphire simply said. Spike did, though it took a nudge from Spike to make Thorax stop, realizing the danger was now gone. Well, relatively speaking - he still had Sapphire to deal with.

"So, that was you who did that?" Spike asked.

"Yes. Not bad for a first try," Sapphire replied, glancing to the ice statue. Spike was just glad they were alright, but Thorax still tried to slowly move away, stumbling a little on his missing hoof. He barely got too far before Sapphire and Spike looked to him.

"Thorax," Sapphire said. The Changeling stopped, but didn't ready for what happened next.

"... You okay?"
Was he okay? Thorax needed a minute to make sure this was a question aimed at him and not Spike, looking back to see them both looking to him. Anyone would be concerned after seeing his hoof was missing, but Thorax wasn't sure how to answer. After all, how many Changelings asked eachother if they were "okay"?

"I … I guess so."

"Really? Seriously, you have your hoof missing," Spike pointed out.

"Oh, that. It's okay," Thorax said. He took some bit of magic focus, and soon they watched his leg just grow back, good as new. It was clean, quick, and actually a bit impressive for a standard Changeling ability. Still, Thorax wasn't feeling too good with everything.

"Well, I guess … I'll just be going," Thorax decided, just about to fly away from the two. Far as he was concerned, Sapphire was probably still very upset with him for the disguise, but now that Sapphire had collected her thoughts, Thorax found her coming over to him. No longer the angry, resentful one he saw just minutes ago.

"Thorax, it's ok. I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that. I'm just under a lot of pressure, and I took some of it out on you. … Does having a friend really mean that much to you?" Sapphire asked. Thorax silently nodded his head. It was the one thing he truly ever wanted, after all.

Sapphire gently lifted his front hoof, holding it with a surprisingly warm touch.

"Well then, if Spike says you're his friend. Then so am I. I hope you can forgive me for earlier," Sapphire said. Thorax stayed quiet for a moment, the tears coming up now those of joy instead of misery. Spike was very glad that this was being worked out, and for Thorax, he thanked Sapphire for the hand of friendship with a hug. Sometimes, one action can say so much.

"Thank you," Thorax simply said. Sapphire smiled and returned the hug, Spike barely able to contain his excitement.

*bzzz**bzzz**bzzz*

Wasn't it always annoying? In one moment, and Thorax began to hear the Changeling signal go off, his ears flickering and vibrating like a phone. Thorax grew alarmed when this happened, which would be normal for him, but a bit more alarmed now with Sapphire and Spike standing right next to him.

"Pharynx! Sshh, sshh, keep quiet," Thorax said to the others. Sapphire and Spike did so, and Thorax "answered". He had to answer it. He also made his voice like Ruby for some authenticity, as if he hadn't been figured out.

"Thorax here. … No, I'm good. … The others? … Uhh ..." Thorax glanced over to Sapphire and Spike. Far as Pharynx was concerned with this, Thorax didn't get caught yet. but then, Thorax got an idea.

"I have a visual on them. I was also wondering, should we capture them too? … Well the Sapphire has a lot of love, Chrysalis can have that. … She's alone. … Okay, I'll bring her to the Changeling Palace -" he winked to them as he continued, "- and put her with that Ruby soon as I can. Uh … you want her with Ruby or Steven? … S-Sorry, I just wanna know for sure, we need all the love to make that Warp Pad work, right? … Uhuh. … Ok, roger."

… Did … did he just mention Steven? Steven Universe was with them too? This would be Thorax's ultimate screw-up if he wasn't caught and found out, but Thorax knew what he did.

"... They took Steven? AND Ruby? …" Sapphire looked about ready to break.

"Well, yeah. They were kinda found by the edge of the kingdom, so -" Thorax stopped when he looked to Sapphire's eye, which was now enraged again. Bad enough her beloved Ruby had been taken away, now her most favorite Human in the world too?! It didn't help that, in technically, THEY HAD A DIAMOND IN THEIR CASTLE! And the Warp Pad too, it was coming together.

"So to recap: Chrysalis took Ruby and Steven, and she's using them to make another Warp Pad?" Spike summed up. Sapphire felt her hands shake, and turn into fists.

"That's pretty much it. She had me, Pharynx, and a few others to come into this world to find stray pieces to make it. That, and she's been using energy from gemstones to get it to work, like you do … uh, sort of."

*PHEW*

"Huh? What's up?" Spike asked, he and Thorax turning to Sapphire.

"Don't worry about it. We have our information for now."

"But what about Ruby, and the -"

"It's. Got."

"... Geesh. O.K then," Spike simply said. And Spike fell silent. Dealing with Sapphire's far more difficult than dealing with Twilight, indeed. Sapphire then went over to Thorax.

"Thank you very much, Thorax," Sapphire said.

"Well, y-you're welcome, but. Oh, who knows what's going to happen now? I can stop, but the other changelings, and Chrysalis -"

"I know exactly what's going to happen," Sapphire reassured, beginning to walk off on her way.

"Wait. You do?" Thorax asked.

"Yes," Sapphire replied, "And if we can go back to the others, you'll have enough time to explain the whole thing before they leave for Ponhenge and complete their own mission."
Sapphire was confident this time, but Thorax was immediately up in alarm. This was a bit of a quick step

"Wait. You want me to tell them? Me me? N-not one of you?"

"You're a good-hearted, and caring Changeling, Thorax. They'll listen to you. And won't hurt you on sight. I promise."
Thorax found this to be a bigger step than he realized. it was a big enough one to get one friend, but not only did he get two, but now he was being asked to go to the heart of their team!

"You really think they'll be friends with me?"

"Absolutely! And they're also friends with the princess of friendship herself, so you'll have friends from both worlds," Spike said. Thorax was super excited on the possibility, barely able to keep himself still, to the point when he began flying in the air, wings fluttering like mad.

"Oh, ok, ok, you talked me into it! This is AMAZING! … But, where are they?"

"I'll show you," Sapphire replied.

Diamonds in the Rough

View Online

From the moment the meat hits the flame, my stomach is growling without any shame!
And I know in my gut, it's been worth the $5.95.
Would you like a burger from Pepe's Burgers?

"... That's it?" asked Jasper.

"Apparently," replied Greg, "Marty sold my song as a burger jingle, and now I'm filthy stinkin' rich."

That commercial for Pepe's Burgers may not be all too fancy, but it's what ended up getting them the "stinkin' rich" money. It wasn't until they were off and on the road to Empire City that they took a look at this commercial of his. Jasper, Rarity, Steven, Peridot, Pinkie, Jade, Bismuth, and Lapis were present for this trip … which made the van a bit crowded, even with Bismuth and Jasper in the back.

"I can see that," Jasper remarked, "But that's worth the ten million dollars in that paper?"
Greg checked the envelope he got his money in, and while it wasn't exactly in dollar bills - it was a written check, mind you - the 10,000,000 was right there in black and white.

"Copyright claims are a VERY big deal," Greg replied. him being a Rockstar once upon a time taught him that, at least somewhat. Regardless how much it truly mattered, there was no denying how much money he got from the commercial.

"By the way, Mr. Universe, what's the game plan now? I'm no expert on "money" but that's A LOT you got there," Bismuth asked.

"I don't know," Greg admitted, "I never really had this much money before. What do rich people usually do? Buy fancy houses? Drive in limos? Play golf?"

"OOOO, get a super deluxe chocolate fountain!" suggested Pinkie, who popped up right behind Greg. "That way you can brag and say "I have a chocolate fountain, and you don't!"

"Rich people do tend to brag a lot … but, I'm not gonna have it go to my head. I got my carwash, and my van, and that's just fine by me," Greg concluded.

"You're a wise man, Greg," commented Lapis Lazuli.

In some odd twist, the only one who wasn't really paying much attention was Steven. All he had been doing was just sitting in the passenger seat, staring off out the window in … surprising boredom. There was a lot to chat about, yet Steven had been a bit quiet throughout most of the trip. He wasn't seemingly much interested in the chitchat, and no one really spoke to him yet.

"How did I end up in this?" Steven thought, "I'm better off in a war than with this bunch of loons."
Yep, not the best road trip ever, at least to him.

"Why the LOOONNNG face?" Pinkie suddenly asked him, her hoof pulling on Steven's chin. Steven took a minute, rubbing his now sore chin. He was hoping not to get too involved with the group, but guess that wasn't gonna happen.

"Sorry, I'm just daydreaming," Steven simply replied, before looking off out the window, trying to see if this will make them all just go away. Sooner this is done, sooner he can get his actual project done. However …

"What'chu daydreaming about?" Pinkie asked (somehow outside the van, and upside down by the window) "I daydream about a lot of things: like what if I can fly without wings, balloons, or my flying gizmo, or how Gummy can eat peanuts with no teeth!"
Pinkie continued on with this blabbering, Steven honestly just keeping to himself. Which Pinkie would note of being weird of Steven if not for being distracted in her own blabbering.

…….

Empire City.

It took them a while longer to fully get there, and on the arrival, it was quite the eye-catching place. It was a pretty big city right along the eastern US coastline of the Empire State. It at first seemed like a basic city in it's own right, but like Fillydelphia with Dragon Town, or Las Pegasus with it's big "amusement park" theme, Empire City had it's own special touch to it - in this case having a sort of "Eiffel Tower" building built within it, which the group could see as they began to drive on to it from the highway. Steven and Greg got the first look at Empire City, Steven looking a bit intrigued with such a establishment. Something to note for later.
Greg managed to find himself a parking spot off further into the city, which seemingly stopped right in front of a place called "Le Hotel" (how convenient), which gave them a spot in the heart of Empire City itself. The others got out (relieving some weight on the van), and had some time to check the place out. Rarity and Lapis both were pretty pleased especially, Rarity for the hightime of the city, and Lapis for … pretty much the same thing.

"Oh my," gasped Rarity, "This place is just as grand as I hoped! I've always wanted to come here, but never had the time."

"You've never been here, Rarity? I thought you'd be the first to come here the second you heard about it," Greg said, getting out of the car.

"I KNOW, but accounting all the business at my boutique, and all the adventures we've done already, it's hardly been a good time for it," Rarity replied. Well, at least she had her priorities in tact, and seeing Empire City and all of it's activity was such a buzz, it was making her all giddy.

"Oh, the great city, what you do to me!" Rarity said, full drama mode. She even found a convenient light post to hang off of in her dramatic pose. Jasper smirked as Bismuth chuckled.

"Okay then, you all can check out the town, I'll get ourselves the deluxe rooms," Greg said.

"Thanks, Greg. Come on, Steven, let's own this town!" Lapis said, and before Steven even realized it, he was suddenly lifted off the ground. Steven laughed along with Lapis, though in his eyes, he was taken completely by surprise. And NOW did Pinkie notice something off with that smile. The smile looked … forced. As if he had to smile, or if he's making himself smile for the sake of the situation. Almost as if -

*FWEEET*

Not even five minutes, and already some of them got themselves in a bit of trouble. As Jasper, Jade, and Bismuth stuck behind to get a room with Greg, the others found themselves by a cross light. Lapis and Steven had no such problem, as they just flew across, though it can't be said for Pinkie, Peridot, and Rarity.

"Come on, you guys!" Steven called. Peridot was ready to go off, but all she needed was two steps off the curb before a car quickly gave a loud honk at her. Good thing Pinkie was nearby to pull her back, as the car went by.

"HEY! Use your vision spheres, you clod!" shouted Peridot.

"Peridot, you can't just "mosey" off in the middle of the street," Rarity advised, "Remember, you're in the big city now! Doesn't this resemble how it was on Homeworld for you?"

"First of all, it's been at least over a year since I've last stepped foot on Homeworld. and second … we didn't have these transport vehicles," Peridot replied, seeing numerous amounts of cars go by them.

"Be that as it may, the big city's all about speed and confidence! It's something you're gonna have to keep with," Rarity advised, just as the crossing guard whistled for the crosswalk to go. Rarity demonstrated her method and trotted right on through, and despite the human eyes looking to her a little bit confused, they didn't stop her going through, and soon the Unicorn was on the otherside.

"Ok. Speed, and confida - aah!"

"Onward!" Pinkie said, suddenly having Peridot on her head. Peridot yelped as Pinkie galloped right through. The pink mare bolted, skidded, side-stepped and bounced about the crowd to avoid running into someone (much to Peridot's dismay). It lasted only two minutes, but Pinkie Pie was already on the otherside, Peridot very dizzy, and glad it was over. Steven couldn't help himself, and covered his mouth so the others wouldn't see his giggling grin.

"Warn the little green Gem next time," Peridot murmured, falling off of Pinkie Pie's back. Riding Pinkie was like sitting on a rodeo bull, and twice as energetic.

"Wowie! So, where do you wanna go? Town square? Dining row? Central park? That funny looking tower that looks like a Gem Communicator in disguise?" Pinkie offered, ready to go off exploring the second they would give the word. Steven was still intrigued by this "communicator in disguise" thing, though him suggesting that might be a bit off-putting, so he simply waited for someone to pick something else. Greg did say they were gonna stay around, so at least he had time to check it if he needed to.

"Take your pick: Culture, Cuisine -" Rarity was then cut short when they heard Lapis begin to flutter again, her eyes catching something just off down the road. Lapis made it to the spot before the others did, and once they caught up to her, they found what got Lapis Lazuli so excited.

The Chandelier Theatre. And it looked as extravagant as the rest of the town, Lapis very excited to see it.

"Oh my stars, the Chandelier Theatre!" Lapis said, very excited to finally see it herself.

"The what?" Peridot asked, a bit confused.

"It's the Chandelier Theatre: only one of the most popular stage theatres in Empire State! At least that's what Jamie told me while getting that big play of ours together," Lapis said, thinking back on it. Jamie mentioned the Theatre at least once or twice during script chances, and given how deep in theatre Jamie was, no doubt Lapis got hooked into finally seeing the place herself. Looking around the Theatre herself, she then began to see a poster for the latest show along the wall.

"And they're gonna have a new show in the next ten minutes - can we go, please?" Lapis asked.

"A new show?" Steven asked, looking to the poster and time himself. The poster showed a few figured posing in front of a crowd, stars behind, though vague enough to not show who they truly were. And according to the time said, If they went in now, they could get their seats just before the show.

"What luck! Seeing such drama unfold on stage, it would be a great way to start off our trip," Rarity said.

"But what about Jasper, Dad, and Bismuth? They wouldn't want to miss this," Steven suggested.

"Oh, you are so right! I'll get em, you get the seats!" and before anyone could say, Pinkie Pie bolted off to get them, leaving them in the dust. Steven felt more conflicted about the whole thing, as the others went off to get the seats for the coming show. All Steven could do was just go along with it.

~~~~~~

What a time to get there too: any minutes earlier, and they most likely wouldn't of found their seats for the next show. The theatre itself was just as Jamie had described it to Lapis: many seats for hundreds of visitors, all lined up passed the doors leading to a gigantic stage. This was no place for half-cocked shows, and thanks to Greg's large amount of cash from his commercial gimmick, he got the group a seat amongst one of the "boxes", giving them a great view of the stage without bothering anybody down below. Rarity got herself one of those "opera goggles" for the best view possible.

"Boy, I'd never thought I would end up in a box at a place like this," Greg said, getting comfortable in his own seat. Bismuth playfully fluffed Greg's hair.

"Says the millionaire overnight," Bismuth joked. Greg saw her point: he never thought he would ever get rich so quick, and so prominently either.

"So anyone even know what this is going to be about?" Jasper asked.

"A drama-esque solo I think," Lapis replied, "A song devoted to a lone lover, her heart torn between the one she loved, and the one to whisk her away," Lapis explained, all with a deep case of Jamie's ever-prominent "Drama Zone" in her speech. This already sounded like a pretty interesting show.

"And I just spoke with the ticket lady." Rarity added, "Apparently, and this is just rumor, that she had such an amazing first audition, they allowed her right on the spot."

"No kidding?" Bismuth asked.

"Someone with that much talent will make this show simply extravagant," Rarity reassured.

"I'm still kind of confused. Who's this big singer, and -"

"SSHH. It's starting," Lapis replied.

And indeed it was. The crowd started to quiet down, the musicians finished up their practice, and the lights began to dim out, with the exception of course being small lights along the stairs (wouldn't want anyone tripping). Soon, the air was filled with orchestral music, signifying the beginning of what were to be a "extravagant" show. Lapis had gone to a few different plays with Jamie over their time together, and if that told her anything, it's that a good musical would begin with some music. The stage itself was dark, and no one could really see much of anything, though they did hear someone walking out onto the stage. Or rather, a balcony, as it turned out, all set up to resemble a balcony on a hotel building (how appropriate).

And then the spotlight was on her. A lone women up by the balcony. Her outfit was that of a tuxedo, pure black with a few exceptions: dark blue top hat, dark red bowtie, and a flower in her hand, plucked from a bouquet of flowers in a nearby vase. The group couldn't believe who it was that was there on stage.

Pearl.

"No. Way," said Jasper.

And Pearl began to sing.

I was fine. With the men
Who would come into your life, now and again
Cause I knew, as for them
That they never truly mattered, until him.

In this chorus, Pearl began to walk towards the audience, heading to the edge of the balcony, her voice frilled with the sorrow filled up within her through so long. No one dared say a word, not wanting to stop her, and wanting to hear what she had to say. Even if Pearl had seen them in the box, she probably didn't give them much mind as she continued.

I was fine. When you came
and we fought, like it was all some silly game
Over her. Who she'd choose.
After all that time, I never thought I'd lose. …

She tipped her head, her hat rolling off into her hand, and if they didn't recognize her before, the gemstone now open for everyone to see was more than enough. And just as well, the words she sang were more precise, and laid down the point of the song. The idea that Pink would chose Greg. Over her.

It's over, isn't it? Isn't it?
Isn't it over?
It's over, isn't it? Isn't it?
Isn't it over?
You won. and she chose you
and she loved you, now she's gone.
It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?

As the chorus slowly began to pick up a little, Pearl got off of the safe balcony, and landed precisely onto the border fence. It was her own personal stage, and she treated it as such as she danced on it with a mix of swordsmanship, and grace like any other time.

War, and glory. Reinvention.
Fusion, freedom, her attention.
Out in daylight, my potential
Bold, precise, experimental

At the end of her dance, she actually laid down on the rim of the fence, as if it was her own bed, looking up to the same heavens where Pink would now forever reside.

What am I now, in this world without her?
Petty, and dull, with the nerve to doubt her?
What does it matter? It's already done!
Now I gotta be there for her son. …

The chorus calmed down again, as Pearl got off of the fence, looking off once again. Now THIS point they knew she saw them, her eyes looking right up to them. Pearl knew they were there. But she didn't say anything.

It's over, isn't it? Isn't it?
Isn't it over?
It's over, isn't it? Isn't it?
Isn't it over?
You won. She went with you.
And she loved you, NOW SHE'S GONE!

Pearl threw the flower into the air, the remanence of what was now all just some game she and Pink played for thousands of years. Now disappearing into the crowd below, and out of existence. Simply standing there, Pearl felt a single tear also come through.

It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?

As Pearl disappeared behind a wall of curtains, the crowds went into applause, with the exception of much of the group. At this point, they couldn't believe what they had just seen.

"Oh my Celestia," Rarity gasped.

"HAH, good call bringing us here, otherwise we'd miss her," Pinkie congratulated, nudging Greg. They were still stuck on the fact that Pearl was not only here, but also performing for the theatre. What exactly happened to have this end result for her? Of course, with them not seeing her in weeks, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and figure it out. Steven took some unique curiosity and interest in this himself.

"Come on, let's go see her," Steven decided.

~~~~~~

There was many other shows to be had for the theatre, but with her performance over with, Pearl began to head off backstage, away from the crowds and getting some quiet time as other performers went with whatever they had in store. It was probably good that her act went first, and such her emotions could come out right away. Still, even if she finally got a way to get that out of her somehow, she did wonder if it reached her target audience as she hoped it would. But now it was up to them to figure it out for themselves, for as the song itself stated: it's already done.
Pearl went off towards one of the back rooms of the theatre, this one being the dressing room. It had a standard layout for a Hollywood star's personal dressing room: a mirror with lights, some costumes hanging up, that sort of thing. And when in there, Pearl got her outfit hung up, revealing that she was no longer in her "first regeneration" phase, but instead the form before being stuck on the space station. There wasn't exactly a point keeping that form if the purpose was no longer there (it would've made costume changing a lot harder, anyway). She got the suit hung up, and was just about to get the top hat off, when -

"How did it go?"

The sudden voice made Pearl jump out of her skin, bolting around just to find yet another Gem with her, one that put her at ease right away.

"Star Quartz, I thought we went over this: at least TRY to make your presence known before you talk. Please?" Pearl asked. You'd think they would've been used to her by now, but it was very hard to.

"Ok. … How did it go?" she repeated, her presence known.

"It went well. At least they thought so. Is Emerald with you?" Pearl replied, placing her hat down in front of the mirror.

"Right over here, P," Emerald replied, strolling in from the door, closing it behind them. It seemed when the group split, they didn't all just go it alone. Pearl took a seat on a nearby chair, as Emerald went up to her.

"See, was I right, or was I right? The crowd loved it!" Emerald asked, though it was more him caught up in the performance than much else. Star though nudged Emerald a bit roughly to remind him why they actually did this.

"Oh, right, right. So, does it feel good you actually got that out?" Emerald said, correcting himself.

"Actually, it is. And you were right - the others are just outside. some reason they were up on uh … Box, I think it was," Pearl said, checking herself in the mirror as she was explaining, a cup of tea right next to her. This was pretty interesting to Emerald.

"They got a box for the theatre? Dang, they must've got more bucks out of that commercial than I thought. You gotta pay at least thirty dollars a person for one of those seats," Emerald replied.

"That's a lot of money just to sit somewhere," Star Quartz noted.

"I know, but Earth's got this dumb thing called "economy", and they've messed with it A LOT, let me tell ya," Emerald explained. The phrase "I blame the economy" hadn't got passed Emerald's ears. Pearl took a few sips of her tea before she spoke next. Pearl sighed.

"No matter, they're here now. And if they're here, I assume their next action would be to try and see me," Pearl concluded.

"Who did you find?" Star asked. Pearl paused and thought about it.

"Well, there's Bismuth. There was also Jade, Jasper, Pinkie Pie um … Lapis and Rarity, naturally. Along with Greg, Peridot, and … Steven." Pearl needed a minute to get out that last name. Steven, being the first to be told about this whole scenario in the first place, and inexplicitly started a fire that didn't really need to.

"K, I'm not expecting the whole team to show up, but heck let em see ya," Emerald said.

"I don't know what to say!" Pearl quickly retorted, "I haven't seen any of them since … well, you know what. What am I supposed to say?"

"Alright. Buddy. Real talk: You guys had been together for years already, and yeah you all got all stingy, but you really think they will just stop because of that?"

"... I haven't heard from any of them since I left," Pearl said quietly.

"But you haven't been there since you left," Star pointed out.

… Touché.

"Right, so I'm just gonna go, see if I can get em back here. You just hang tight and get your stuff together," Emerald replied, heading off towards the dressing room door. Pearl knew she would at least have to see them at some point, but it was a bit of trouble to get her to actually go for it. After all, this was her secret that got out, and made this whole problem happen in the first place. Still, with Star quartz by her instead of Emerald, it did give Pearl some better time to calm down, and not freak out completely. As for Emerald -

"PEARL!"

And within just milliseconds of opening the door, Emerald was quickly hit by a pink blur, albeit by accident. Pearl jumped out of the way, as Star caught both Emerald and Pinkie in her grip.

"Hello Pinkie," Star simply said.

"You're ALL here?! Lucky day for us!" Pinkie gasped, as they began to see outside of the room, just to find some of the others there; Steven, Lapis, and … Greg. Oh boy, with what she sang, how was THIS going to work well, she had no idea. Steven went right on in, very happy to see Pearl after so long, and hugged her right away, as Lapis and Greg stood aside. The others didn't seem to be anywhere here, though it was possible they couldn't get everyone a backstage pass.

"H-Hi, everyone. Uh … what brings you here?" Pearl asked, clearly nervous on what to actually say.

"Great to see you, Pearl. You killed it out on stage back there," Lapis said with a wink and grin.

"It's nice to see you're alright," Greg said, "So, you decided to get into show business?"

"I wouldn't call it "getting into it" exactly," Pearl said humbly, hands raised a little, "It was just a one-night stand."

"Are the other ones with you?" Star Quartz then asked, standing not too far from Greg. He was startled, but not as much.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, they just couldn't get a pass to come back here. They could only sell so many passes at once," Greg replied. Well that explained why they weren't there. Emerald then slid up to Greg, nudging him.

"Having fun with your check of moolah, are we?" Emerald asked smugly.

"How'd you know?" Pinkie asked, right next to Emerald in a slide of her own. Emerald had that look of smugness that seemingly answered Pinkie Pie's question for them, it clicking in Pinkie's head almost immediately.

"You gave us that check?!" Pinkie gasped. A surprise to hear from most of them, and Emerald readied to explain himself.

"Guilty," Emerald said, though he sounded more cheery about it, "We saw that "Pepe's burger" commercial thing while passing through the city, and got your copyright claim on it. One thing lead to another, and well, here you are."

"It was a bad plan to get you back together," admitted Star, stabbing into Emerald's pride.

"Hey, it worked didn't it? They're right here!" Emerald retorted. Why else would they be in Empire city anyway without a cash grab to get them here? Surprisingly generous of him too, getting the proper copyright claim for Greg over his own song.

"Wow, thanks Emerald," Greg said.

"Don't sweat it. Be glad you didn't have to tango with Marty for an hour over it," Emerald replied, feeling a little drained remembering it. Pearl smirked though, remembering the defeated look on Marty's face once it was all done. They still had Pearl to deal with though, as according to the performance, still had some bit of emotional baggage.

"So … you guys feeling better now?" Steven asked.
It was honestly an inevitable question that had to be asked. Star Quartz felt a bit indifferent about it, and simply shrugged. Hard to feel much for something that happened thousands of years before you were made.

"I'm alright. … Emerald and Pearl had as long talk about it, and after that we went over here. Something about a vacation?" Star Quartz answered.

"A getaway plan to chill out," Emerald cleared up.

"Right. Pearl needed to share her feelings, so Emerald suggested this place. She shared with a lot of people," Star finished.

"We saw," said Greg. Though, they could tell that even with the feelings being brought out in full, it wasn't exactly enough to get it all out, so eventually, Steven began to get a big idea. … Though, whether or not it would work was still up to debate.

"Pearl? We're here on a vacation trip, you like to join us? We can all have a vacation together!"

"W-Wha? you want me to - uh … I've been kind of pre-occupied at the moment, and past experience has taught me that "three's a crowd"," Pearl said, feeling very uncomfortable. it was nice to see at least some of them were together, but this was going a little bit quick for her. Star counted out the number of people there.

"Hmm. One. Two. Three -"

"Figure of speech, Star," Emerald cut in.

"Aww, come on, it's been forever, and we're a big family! It'll be great: just you, me, dad, the Crystal Gems, … and don't forget mom," and Steven lifted his shirt to show his gem, and it just made both Greg and Pearl even more uncomfortable. Lapis HAD to do something before it could go downhill.

"HAHAHA, oh Steven, how funny, heh, let me just have a little word with him," Lapis said, pushing a confused Steven just outside of the room, much to everyone else's confusion on the situation. Lapis got Steven isolated from the group, and her happy demeanor suddenly turned more serious, both over by a nearby wall, and Lapis having Steven by the shoulders.

"Steven, what're you doing?!" Lapis asked in a hushed, yet urgent tone, "We're trying to make Pearl feel better, not worse!"

"But I am making Pearl feel better, I'm trying to make her comfortable," Steven replied, seemingly not seeing the problems this was actually causing.

"Pointing out your mom under your shirt is not making it comfortable! I'm sorry Steven, but what's gotten into you?" retorted Lapis. How was Steven acting so oblivious to this? The whole thing began because of Steven's mom in the first place, so bringing her up now was probably the last thing they wanted to do.

"Nothing's wrong with me, what're you talking about?" Steven asked. Lapis took a deep breath.

"Steven. I've known you for years now, and ever since you came back with Ruby, you've been acting a bit off. You barely talked to any of us on the trip here, and now you're bringing up Pink Diamond to Pearl? Steven, you're better than this!" Lapis made sure it was made as clear as it can get, and Steven meanwhile had no choice but to agree.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Let's just try and make things right, ok?" Steven said, getting a slight headstart to walk back to the others. Lapis though quickly flew right in his way.

"Steven, clearly something's bothering you, what is it? You're never usually this stern," Lapis said.

That was when thing's started getting weird. Steven looked a bit perplexed, and seemingly "corrected" himself.

"OH, it's just finding Pearl again, and how distant she's acting," Steven said, sounding more cheerful, "But I promise, I will give Pearl the best time of her life, and get her to come back to the team, so we can all be a happy family again!"

Well … that was quick. A little too quick. Lapis didn't leave just yet, but Steven tried to go passed her. Something wasn't right about this, and Lapis Lazuli wondered just what was going on with her "friend" since they came back. There was one, rather eerie theory she had in her head for a while now, and now felt like a good time to actually test it. To make sure Steven stayed with her, Lapis opened up her wings, covering up most of the hall so he couldn't pass.

"Lapis?" Steven asked, a little nervously. Lapis looked Steven dead in the eyes, looking at them very closely. And it was then that she noticed one very minuet detail in the way the light bounced off of it. and it showed a very slight greenish color. Steven's eyes were not green.

"Imposter!"

*POOF*

It happened too fast for Lapis to do much of anything. Upon reaching this conclusion, Steven glared daggers at Lapis, before his body ended up covered in green flames, revealing Pharynx under the mask! Rather than hiss, or threaten, Pharynx went for broke, and Lapis only made one step back before her head was skewered by the changeling's horn, poofing her almost on the spot. All that was left was a Changeling, one Lapis Lazuli gemstone, and a lot of water on the wall and ground. For Pharynx, it was a lucky break.

"Great," Pharynx groaned, "The rocks actually have brains. Better hide this one away before they find out."

What did he do with Lapis? Carrying his gemstone, making sure no one was around, he galloped off to another room, which itself was nothing more than a closet. Checking himself quickly, he rushed in with the gemstone in his teeth. He could soak up her love, but it was far too precarious now, so he had to keep her hidden for a while. He still wasn't sure how Gems worked overall except that they disappear inside stones to regenerate. So, he made sure she regenerated somewhere out of sight, and threw her stone inside, before closing and locking the door as best he could. Quick, and easy. Once that was done, Pharynx turned right back into Steven, and began to walk away. He'd better get back there before anyone else would get suspicious about him.

And not a moment too soon.

"Steven, there you are," said Greg, "What happened back there?"

"Eh, sorry, I may have gotten a little carried away. Come on, let's have some fun," Steven decided.

"Where's Lapis?" asked Star Quartz.

"She decided to go back to the hotel, we'll meet with them later. looks like it's just us to take on the town. ONWARD!" Steven said with enthusiasm, getting a slight headstart to get their "fun" started. It would be something Steven would do to cheer them up, if he could help it. They still felt some bit of awkwardness between Pearl and Greg thanks to what Steven had said, but they still went with him anyway. … Except for Star Quartz, who took a glance back to where Steven was just at, noting the strangely large amount of water.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, there was some cooldown time for the others off back in their hotel room. As before with the backstage passes, and the "box" for the show, Greg's multi-millionaire bank account had scored them all a high-class suite. The room itself was less like a hotel room, and more like a personal resort: small pool with waterslide, a fountain, second-floor accommodations. To sum it up, the room could easily be a mansion in of itself, and it also was apparently by the fact they were on the top floor.
Rarity and Jade were getting some drinks, as Peridot, Jasper, and Bismuth hung out by the pool, Peridot just sliding down the waterslide as they came over. It was a pretty good time, especially for Peridot, who was glad to be with her friends.

"Well, this is a nice change of pace," said Rarity, "Hard to believe they put all of this in just one room."

"I don't think many of the Homeworld rooms were this luxurious except for the Diamond rooms," agreed Jade. Where else can one say that had a full-sized fountain, AND a full-sized swimming pool in their hotel room? Jade and Rarity sat over by the edge of the pool, as Peridot swam on by, Jade taking a taste of the new drink.

"What did you order, Rarity?" Jade asked, actually cringing a little bit.

"Oh, it's a fruit cocktail. You don't like it?" Rarity asked. Rarity took just one sip of the drink and immediately understood what she meant. Yeah it tasted like fruit, as a fruit cocktail should, but this drink tasted a lot more bitter than she was prepared for.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I'll pass," Jade admitted, placing the drink aside with the other beverages. Rarity tried not to look too disgusted with it, but had to agree.

"Usually a fruit cocktail in Equestria's a lot more sweeter than this. Did they spike it or something?"

"Maybe. Humans like doing that for some reason," Jade replied. It was something that seems to happen a lot when it comes to these drinks, but Jade and Rarity were not going to fancy it. As they discarded the drinks, both Gem and pony checked out the pool, Peridot doing some back strokes, dives, and such. It was all just in some good fun for her, and by this point she was joined by Bismuth, Jasper still taking time to actually relax herself by the pool. Not much weights or boxing items to use in this place.

"Well, you're taking it easy, I see?" Rarity said.

"There's not that much to do," Jasper sighed, "If this is being rich, I'd rather not."

"Here, you just gotta find something to do, that's all. You don't think the rich mares and stallions of Canterlot just stand around looking pretty all day, do you?" Rarity inquired.

"I don't see them do anything else," Jasper bluntly stated. Rarity felt a cringe coming on.

"W-Well they do. … OH! I got the perfect idea. any of you heard of a game called "Chicken fight" before?"

…….

"So, like this?" Jade asked. Soon, four Gems were in the pool, Rarity standing just alongside the rim of it. Rarity got the basics of the set up brought around, and it was a pretty obvious set-up: Bismuth and Peridot for one team, with Jasper and Jade on the other.

"You all got it."

"So … now what?"

"Well that's simple: try and knock eachother over. Last one standing wins," Rarity replied. NOW they were getting somewhere. All day not doing much except for riding in the car, check out a show, and hang out at a hotel, and finally Jasper and Bismuth were given some prime action. Peridot felt a victorious snickering coming on, though Jade was taken by surprise.

"Wha?"

"NOW we're talking. Ready to topple over, Bismuth?" Jasper asked, cracking her knuckles. Bismuth smirked.

"You dreaming on me? Show me what you got!"

Rarity probably should've been more specific. The minute that was said, Jasper and Bismuth rushed right into eachother, Jasper hitting Bismuth with her helmet, with Bismuth using her hand-shields to block the hit. Not the exact rules, though Peridot and Jade were a bit puzzled on what they should be doing next.

"Are we supposed to do something?" Jade called to Rarity.

"Help your partner out, that's what. Like I said, the first to topple over loses!" Rarity called back. Jasper and Bismuth pushed eachother back, but now with this information, Peridot readied up, snickering to herself and arms at the ready. So long as she didn't fall off, she'll be fine. Jade too, though a bit hesitantly, got ready herself as both Bismuth and Jasper locked hands. Peridot made a battle cry and slammed her strength into Jade.

"NYAHAHA! Feel my combine power!" Peridot announced … as she barely even fazed Jade. In fact, Jade looked even more puzzled now, and despite all of Peridot's strength, Jade was not even budging.

"Um … you sure you wanna do this?" Jade asked.

"That's the whole point of the game!" Peridot said, her voice straining as she tried so hard to move them. Well, at least they were in water.

"Okay," sighed Jade. … As she grabbed Peridot's arms, jumped at least ten feet up, spun like a top, and threw Peridot straight down!

"WHAAAAA!" Peridot spun and tumbled in the air before slamming right into Jasper's face, knocking them both down into the water with a big splash. Jade meanwhile landed right back on Bismuth's shoulders, as if she didn't move at all. The splash almost got Rarity, though if it did, Rarity was too stunned to have noticed. Bismuth soon broke into laughter.

"WHOA! Way to go, Jade, where've you hid that?"

"I guess I picked it up while Ruby and Peridot were fighting," Jade admitted, as Peridot got back to the surface, dazed, and spitting out a stream of water. It was good Peridot was a tough cookie, otherwise it would've poofed her on the spot. Jasper was alright as well, again slightly dazed.

"FOUL! FOUL! you jumped off of Bismuth, so we won!" Peridot accused.

"What? You fell over," retorted Bismuth.

"But I didn't get off of Jasper! According to Rarity, the rules state that you can not get off your partners shoulders for ANY moment," Peridot reminded, though this was just so Peridot and Jasper could win over Bismuth and Jade. Jade though blushed a little.

"Oops."

"Don't worry, Jade, you did great. Hey, we should get Aquamarine and Topaz to do this," suggested Bismuth. She could easily imagine the two in a game like this, considering their size difference.

"If we ever find them, they rushed off on us," Jasper reminded, as Jade was placed back on the side of the pool, not getting wet at all.

"They'll come back. We're the only ones who actually have any ticket to Homeworld, they just need to drop their pride for a bit," Bismuth said, mostly referring to Aquamarine.

*tap**tap* "Hello?"

AND a sudden voice made Rarity jump, and accidentally fall into the pool. Good thing she didn't have clothes or fashion on, otherwise she'd be fuming by the time she got out of the water, as Star Quartz simply stood there.

"Star? Is that you?" Rarity asked, getting her now wet mane out of her eyes. Star was glad to see them here too, and when Peridot saw Star, she made a mad scramble right out of the water, and right to the dry ground. Peridot herself needed a minute to get herself together, but honestly, after missing Star Quartz for so long, she just couldn't help herself.

"Hi. Mom."

"S-Star!" Peridot rushed into Star Quartz in a hug, hugging tight. Star quietly returned the hug herself, though this moment was kind of broke when Peridot remembered the others were there too.

"Er, uh … it's great to see you. Again," Peridot said, blushing. Star Quartz just smiled.

"I missed all of you. … Is Lapis here?"

"Lapis? I don't think so, we thought she was with Steven," Rarity figured. Star Quartz paused.

"... Oh dear."

"Oh dear what?" Jasper asked.

"Steven said she was here with you. Did she leave again, or did she not make it?"
The suspitions were starting to rise. Lapis Lazuli would've been here, she should've been here according to Steven.

"I don't know, where'd you last see her?"

"STEVEN!"

Their answer came by far quicker than expected. The voice started out small, but suddenly one of the windows swung open, and Lapis Lazuli rushed right on inside! She wasted TOO MUCH TIME stuck back at the theatre, and who knows where they could've gone off to by now? She barely had time to explain herself, and she only had one question to ask who remained.

"Where. Is. Steven?"

~~~~~~

Out in the field, as time ticked on towards night, Emerald, Greg, Pearl, Pinkie, and Steven went basically all over the place in Empire City, having loads of fun. They went all over: from the shores of the sea, to the park in midtown, and wherever else their heart takes them. On the surface, it was just a family having their blast of fun, but in truth there still was some tension between some members of the party. Pearl and Greg (mostly on Pearl's side) still had a few things to work out, and Pinkie Pie kept a single eye on Steven and his behavior. Sure, Steven may seem carefree and cheery as he would usually be in a situation like this, but Pinkie still felt that something just wasn't too right about him. With all this, the only ones that truly were having fun were Emerald and Steven, even if one was just acting as such.
Eventually in their runaround, they reached that "Eiffel tower" of Empire City. This was what Steven was silently hoping they would reach, giving him a chance to have a closer look at the subject. There was a Eiffel tower existing in this world, namely one across the sea, though why would Empire City have one too? Steven took some time to check it out, taking some mental notes of it. Good thing they were going to go on inside it, otherwise it would make this a little difficult to accomplish.

Typically, as the group came inside, they already got a bit of a taste of the place: restaurant attachment, and some rooms as well. Guess this was a visiting hotel too? Not what Steven hoped for. The man up at the counter was unsure at first as Greg went right up (he didn't look aristocratic after all), skeptical even, but his mind was quickly changed the second Steven came over and placed the money right on the front counter. Nothing like plenty of greenbacks to get minds changing. They were taken in right on the spot, and since this was Empire city (maybe) … well …

Cashier; Hey shake a leg!

And suddenly, a number of other attendees just popped up out of nowhere, much to the surprise of Pearl and Steven.

Workers; Hey, shake a leg!

Cashier; It's Mr.Greg!

Workers; It's Mr.Greg!

Cashier; And he's here to spend his dough, ALL OVER THE TOWN!

All of a sudden, as this sudden musical number was bright on, the workers actually began lifting them up, and carrying them off on their way to check out the tower. Greg, Emerald, and Pinkie were happy with it, but Steven and Pearl were both at odds with this, Pearl stiff as a stick as they moved along. What the heck's going on?

Workers; He's got the bucks!

Greg; I've got the bucks!

Workers; It's all deluxe!

Greg; It's all deluxe!

Next thing they knew, they were in the restaurant attachment to the building. They all got their own seat, everyone catering to them, though Pearl and Steven were left just too dumbfounded to react to much.

Greg; When you're dining out with me, it's the finest steak and brie.

Steven glanced off away, trying to find some way to check out the place but there was just too much going on, Greg jumping onto the table for crying out loud and dancing. Maybe this could work for Steven …

Greg; And if I break a table
It ain't no-- whoa!

And of course, the table lost its footing somehow, knocking Greg onto the floor. Maybe with the song cut short Steven could get moving, but as the cashier went to him, Greg took the fall in stride.

Greg; "just put it on my bank."

Cashier; A hundred bucks? Gee, thanks!

"Why couldn't this happen at the other hotel?" Steven thought, as the workers rushed everyone off around the tower, giving them the best time in this place. It was all just happening far too fast, and Steven needed a minute to comprehend what the heck was happening as they were going off through the tower.
Next thing he knew, they were inside what looked like one of those indoor water park deals, not too dissimilar to the hotel room's get up. It didn't take long for the group to get comfortable, Pinkie, emerald, and Greg getting right into the open pool, as Pearl stood just outside along the rim of it. Steven was exhausted already.

"This is crazy. Come on, gotta slip away somehow. Think, think," Steven thought, trying to look around for something to give the others something to think about. And better yet, stop this dumb song! Soon, his eyes began to check out the door, but he can't just rush off to it and not be noticed. And a pretty pricy vase off a few meters away looked to be just the ticket. Steven felt a plan coming on …
AND got short when Emerald got a top hat on Steven. Guess he had to play along no matter the case, at least for a little bit. A tuxedo was also worn by Greg, and later Pearl.

Pearl; I must admit

Pinkie+Emerald; You must admit

Pearl; It's a perfect fit!

Pinkie+Emerald; You look great in it!

Pearl; And these fountains I find wasteful, are actually quite tasteful.
This city sure does have its charm, unlike that termite-ridden barn.

And suddenly, Steven and Pearl began tap-dancing. Steven had to go along with it.

Pearl; And anytime with Steven, makes for such a delightful evening!

Ok, he had enough of this.

Pinkie; you're having fun!

Pearl; sure, I guess

Pinkie; If you wanna dance, just say -

*CRASH*

At LAST, Steven found his way out of the situation. Getting his shoe, one well-aimed throw at the vase knocked it right off its perch and shattered it almost the second it hit ground. As everyone looked over there, Steven just managed to slip right back out the door, closing it up quickly, and not stopping until he was a hallways down. He could still hear Pinkie's distant voice.

"Hey, who ruined our song?!"

"FINALLY. Okay, now to check in," Steven sighed, wiping some sweat from his forehead. At LAST he can actually figure some things out, walking well away from the situation before they realize he left. Once he felt isolated enough, he decided to do something else, his finger tapping his ears, as if starting to send out a signal. His normal ears turned back into Changeling ears, and he kept moving, checking around, as he phoned in.

"This is commander Pharynx calling Thorax, come in, Thorax."

Thorax here.

"Thank goodness. Okay, you're not caught over there, are you?" Steven asked, keeping his voice a little quiet just in case.

No, I'm good.

"Good, I just managed to lose my group - for once. You still have sight on the others?"

The others? … Uhh …

"Out with it, Thorax, I don't have all night!" Pharynx said. He really was on limited time, between exploring this tower, and keeping as much time away from the others as he could.

I have a visual on them. I was also wondering, should we capture them too?

"What? Why?" Pharynx asked. Thorax wasn't one to usually ask for such things.

Well the Sapphire has a lot of love, Chrysalis can have that.

"Hmm. Chrysalis is hungry ... She with everyone else?"

She's alone.

"That case, you do that. Make sure no one else sees you, okay?"

Okay, I'll bring her to the Changeling Palace, and put her with that Ruby soon as I can. Uh … you want her with Ruby or Steven?

"Don't get all picky with me, can't you just do it? This was your idea, figure it out!"

S-Sorry, I just wanna know for sure, we need all the love to make that Warp Pad work, right?

"Whatever. I'm checking on something at the moment, I'll return to base soon as I'm even able to with this lot. Got it, or do I have to grub you again?"

Ok, roger.

Well at least one side was keeping out of trouble, far as he knew. Pharynx though wasn't sure if he could keep up with this any further. Just how much more singing can one Changeling even take?! Well no matter, there still was a chance to -

*AHEM*

… Nevermind.

"Oh, Jasper, Peridot, you're here!" Steven said with a smile, "I thought you two didn't want to come by."
Looking though, he quickly realized that Jasper did not look too pleased with seeing him there, staring down daggers at him.

"Uh … do you wanna see the others? They're just off in the next room, and Pearl's feeling a whole lot better."

...

"... You're not buying it anymore, are you?"

"No."

Steven slowly began to back up away from Jasper, putting on one of those "poker faces", just to find that he backed up right into Bismuth. Turning around, he saw Bismuth, and Lapis Lazuli blocking his way. Well, if Lapis was there, what was even the point of staying as Steven? In a quick change, Pharynx was back to his changeling self and immediately made a charge directly for Bismuth. All bismuth had to do though was raise her hand, and Pharynx got his horn stuck in the palm of her hand. Clearly the same tactic was not going to be the same thing as before, and it didn't take much longer for the Changeling to be captured, held single-handedly by Bismuth.

"Jasper, wanna go tell the others?"

"Gladly," Jasper replied, going to find the rest of the group, as Pharynx hissed, roared, and struggled. It was then his gaze turned to Lapis.

"What the? I thought I got rid of you!" Pharynx hissed.

"You threw me in a closet!" Lapis said, dryly.

"I locked the door!"

"It opens from the inside too, you know."

"Really? … Weird. They always lock it from the outside."

"Actually ... yeah. That is weird."

"WHAAAAAAT?!?!"

And with that sound echoing throughout the halls, Pharynx knew the information had reached the others. Nope, there was absolutely no possible way to hide anymore. Everyone else went right over to the situation, Pharynx exposed for them all to see. Pharynx struggled all he could: biting into Bismuth's hand, hissing, growling, wiggling, whichever, but the hardly Gem was not letting him go. For the second half of this group, they needed a minute to comprehend. So the Steven they found at the theatre, hanged out with, and danced with was actually a Changeling in disguise.
for Pharynx, the irony of this stung him the most. Why was HE the one to be caught first? … Oh wait, he threw Lapis in a closet. Right.

"T-That's not my baby!" gasped Pearl, terrified on seeing such a hideous creature.

"Steven?" Greg asked.

"This bug is not Steven," reminded Jasper. Pharynx groaned.

"Alright, you caught me. But good luck with your interrogation, because I'm not talking!" Pharynx stated, giving them all a loud hiss.

"You know what? We don't have to. Hey Pinkie, got any ideas?" Lapis asked, looking to the pink mare. Pharynx was a bit confused, but past experience did remind Lapis Lazuli of a few special details in this reality-challengedmare. Pinkie Pie took a minute, her head "ticking" like that of a clock, before she got it.

"AHA!"

"Yeah right," Pharynx huffed.

"You were sent out here by queen Chrysalis, alongside a few other Changelings, to find pieces of a fancy Warp Pad in order to make your own personal road between Equus and Earth, so you can gather up all the evil, powerful items here and use them against Equestria and take over everything all at once, using the abilities from Ruby and Steven trapped inside your palace in order to power the Warp Pad!"

… OK. WHAT? Pharynx was WAY out of his league. How the hay did this mare sum up their entire plan in just five to seven seconds?!

"H … H-How - WHAAAAT?! How the hay did you - did you spy on the hive?!"

"Nope. Just a hunch," Pinkie simply said, giving Pharynx a wink.

"... A ... hunch?"

"Don't even try. Trust me," Bismuth said, before dropping Pharynx down onto the ground with a thud. Pharynx shook off the fall, but with all the odds now stacked against him, Pharynx was in no position to fight. He could, but he wasn't gonna win anything for it, especially with Jasper and Bismuth (the strongest physical Gems) right next to him.

"So you know the plan now, it's too late anyway! See if you can handle the rest of the horde!" Pharynx slipped by the Gems, and just managed to find a route out. As Pharynx made his escape, some did try to go off after him, but for some reason Bismuth stopped them from rushing to him, letting the changeling go out the nearest window and fly away.

"We don't need him around," Bismuth said, "We already have the whole plan. Besides, Steven and ruby are more important than some … what was he?"

"That's a Changeling; things that can look like anybody and feed off someone's love. Such rotten creatures," Rarity replied, disgusted with Pharynx, and herself for tolerating him somehow.

"That kind of thing has my son?" Greg asked, terrified.

"WHAT'RE YOU ALL DOING?! Steven's trapped with Ruby, he needs our help!" Pearl suddenly spoke. Bad enough that this whole time Steven wasn't even there, it was even worse that he was trapped with the same creatures, being treated like who knows what.

"You sure you can handle it, Pearl?" Star asked.

"Forget about me, I've cried long enough! I'm coming Steven!"

And soon, Pearl was off, leaving the group to go straight off back home. She never should've left. It was a pretty quick decision, but now with the final three members properly handled, calmed down, and brought back around - as good as it'll get -, they finally had made enough tracks to recover the team.

Now they got Ruby and Steven left.

To Change the Future PT1

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The nights inside the Changeling Hive were anything but peaceful for Steven and Ruby. Both human and Gem did get the Changelings to get them some food time to time, but it really wasn't all too much in the broad scheme of things. If anything at all, it was just one bit of fruit scrounged up from the wastes outside. Ruby and Steven also were forced to deal with the constant buzzing of passing Changelings over these few days, and sleep itself was anything but easy. That night was no different; Steven and Ruby simply sitting there, hearing the Changelings go about their own plans.
It was such a shame though for Ruby in particular; if Ruby hadn't just rushed off on them, and decided to check out the Badlands, they wouldn't even be in this mess. Ruby just laid there, staring up at the ceiling for a bit longer before looking to her only companion. Both just couldn't get much sleep, if any at all, and were left to just laying there and looking up to the ceiling. The buzzing was only switched when one of the Changelings came back.

"Hey, get up, time to eat," the Changeling said, tossing in some dried fruit at them. It was all they could find at the Badlands, and soon as they did that, both flew away. Steven didn't say much, finding the fruit to eat.

"Steven, now's your chance," said Ruby, "You can get out of here."

"Ruby, I'm not leaving you," Steven said, as he ate the fruit. Ruby can get the idea this was to keep her company, but he wasn't trapped in this cage like she was.

"But … I mean, look at you," Ruby said, worried sick over Steven. It could be a trick of her eye, but she could've sworn Steven looked a little thinner than usual. Steven himself just yawned.

"Don't worry about me. Everything's going to be fine, I promise. We'll both get out, go back home, have a good meal, and you can meet with Sapphire again. I'm not leaving my best friend in here alone," Steven promised. Steven worked hard to try and find them before, he wasn't gonna lose them again. Tired, Steven finally laid down and began to feel himself fall asleep. Hard to believe with much of the noise.

"Oh, Steven," sighed Ruby. She may not need sleep herself, but in such a situation, what else could she even do? Ruby laid down right next to Steven, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

…….

"STEVEN!"

What a bad wake-up call. The voice, bellowing and strong enough to shake the ground, shocked Steven right back awake. However, he didn't find himself trapped inside the Changeling Hive, but instead within a eerily similar landscape: a land of ice and starry skies. Again. Steven remembered this place pretty vaguely, only seeing it once before, but this time the dream was not going to wait around, and looking around, Steven found that he wasn't alone.
The Spirit of the world yet to come had returned. And she was not pleased. The same cold air filled the area, Steven backing up from the huge figure.

"Uh … Hi?" Steven said humbly. At least before he had someone with him, but he was all alone now.

"Don't you "Hi" me," the spirit bellowed, "I've given you one warning, ONE. SIMPLE. WARNING. And you all just ignored it. The world will fall and it's all your fault." The spirit was getting right to the point this time, no cutting corners and getting to the heart of the issue. Much to Steven's dismay.

"Whoa, no it's not," Steven retorted, his exhaustion making him a little more irritable than usual, "We've been trying to protect the world!"

"No you haven't - you ignored everything I said and STILL brought all the Gems together. I made it perfectly clear to not bring them together, did I not?" snapped the spirit, leaning over him, towering over the boy. Steven couldn't get it, feeling a groan come out of him.

"Well, ok, but that doesn't make sense. How does keeping the Crystal Gems apart be good for the future?! If they're together, we can all protect everyone from the Windigo! Them, AND the changelings," Steven said. but it seemed his words were reaching deaf ears, as much of it didn't even faze the spirit in question. If anything, she was getting more annoyed with the boy.

"The Windigo will come out Because of you," reminded the spirit.

"You're not making this any easier," Steven grumbled. Angry, the spirit was suddenly on top of Steven, her horn dangerously close to his face.

"I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN THE DETAILS!" the spirit roared, snapping Steven out of his irritable nature, making him spooked all over again.

"That's not fair! Isn't there a way to stop them and bring everyone back?" Steven asked, picking himself up.

"NO. The future is a path set in stone. I tried veering you in a new direction, but clearly you'd rather kill off the world than preserve it. Nothing can be done now."

"... Y-You sure?" Steven asked, a bit more humbly this time. That was not the answer he was hoping to hear, but the spirit didn't answer back. The silence was all the answer she needed to give him. Steven felt so defeated ...

"That's not true."

"Huh?"
Now who said that? Sure, this was a dream, but one controlled by the Spirit, so who else was in here with him? Steven looked around for a bit, but eventually both he and the spirit looked off a ways, just to find there indeed was someone else within this little dreamscape with them. Steven recognized her almost immediately.

"RUBY?!" Steven gasped. And even worse, the spirit rushed by him, and was going straight for Ruby! Steven was not going to let her attack Ruby, dream or no, so he rushed right over to the Gem, and got out his bubble shield just seconds before the spirit could flatten them both. A quick save, but the spirit was still angry.

"Ruby, how'd you get in here?!" Steven asked, shocked.

"I don't know, I just fell asleep and next thing I knew I'm here. Steven, you okay? What's she talking about?" Ruby asked. The spirit cut their conversation short when her long horn skewered the bubble, popping it instantly. Both human and Gem were now exposed to the gigantic creature. The spirit was upset with her, though didn't want to kill her immediately.

"This is none of your concern, RUBY. How much did you hear?" The spirit questioned, looming over them both.

"All of it?" Ruby replied, "But you can't change the future? That isn't true."

"How would you know?" The spirit asked, towering over Ruby. Ruby felt a cold shiver run through her body confronting this being, but she was not alone. Steven kept close to her, right beside her, and that reassurance was enough to at least give her strength to speak.

"Well, I did it! I changed fate. While I worked for Homeworld, Sapphire said the Crystal Gems would fall, and she would be shattered, but I saved her instead! If it wasn't for me, Homeworld would've taken Earth and made it another colony," Ruby answered. The spirit paused for a moment. Steven remembered going through something similar to this in his own dreams years ago, the details replaying in his head how he would've seen it. Ruby too replayed the events in her head as she said them, and since they were in a dreamscape, much of both was actually played out for the spirit to see herself. So, no matter if the Spirit did know of it or not, the proof was already there. There were plenty of other things that wouldn't of happened, though Ruby and Steven felt this was more than enough.

"THAT future was already set," the spirit scoffed, "The one Sapphire said was just pleasing her Diamond, that's all. Any Gem would lie to make their Diamond happy."

"W-Well ... well … Can you show us WHY this is so bad?" Steven finally asked. Ruby felt this spirit was just lying to them now, but then again, she didn't know more about the future than Steven did. The Spirit gave a long groan.

"I didn't want to have to play this card … but you left me no choice."

And so she did. Spreading her wings, Ruby and Steven felt the cold winds of the Windigo rush by them, and the environment around them all changed. Soon, it was no longer the flat ice plain there, but instead, they saw a vague, yet accurate vision: ALL of the Crystal Gems, all facing some sort of dark entity. It was a bit hard to tell who it exactly was, but they began to see what looked like tentacles shoot out from the darkness as evil laughter echoed around them. All the Gems rushed forward, but in an instant, the angry enemy's tentacles skewered out all over the place. And got each and every single Crystal Gem on the spot, leaving nothing left but scattered stones. Steven and Ruby were stunned at this quick, yet violent destruction.
And as for what attacked them, it didn't look like any creature they've seen yet. It looked vaguely pony, dark like shadow. They thought it was Sombra, but this creature looked to be completely made of shadow, unlike the dreaded unicorn before.

"Happy now?" The spirit then asked. The broad idea was all there: the Crystal Gems falling to this new adversary. In a flap of the wing, the entire vision disappeared, leaving nothing behind. Steven and Ruby were quiet, now having a better idea on what was to happen.

"... No. … You're lying," Ruby said.

"Take the truth how it stands, as I have already done," the spirit stated. Ruby and Steven thought it over and over again, taking in what details there was in that onslaught.

"... Wait … wait, no, that's NOT the future!" Steven realized. The spirit felt insulted.

"True as I'm standing here. All the Crystal Gems will -"

"But they're NOT all there! I'm here, Ruby's here, and Flint actually left the team! That's not everyone, maybe we can still stop him!"

The spirit had enough.

"You'll pick anything just to feel right, don't you? THE FUTURE OF THE REALMS WILL FOREVER BE GONE!"
The winds began to grow even more harsh and horrid, blowing right at Ruby and Steven. The idea was to force them awake, but surprisingly, Ruby's own warmth was preventing her from doing just that, the harsh winter stopping altogether.

"Have you ever tried to change the future?!" Steven asked.

"That's not my place to involve in. Besides, even if the future wasn't the result I showed, there's nothing you can do anyway, for it is you two that are trapped."

"You're wrong! We can change the future, and we will save everyone!" Steven announced. The spirit was actually backing up, but not amused by all this defiance.

"Be it by your own head." And with that the spirit rushed skyward, the entire world turning black. There was no wind now, only the slight warmth between Steven and Ruby. In fact, the only thing they could see was eachother, just floating around as if they were in space.

"Steven. … Steven, I'm so sorry."

"What for?"

"For everything! Steven, I was the one who told everyone, I made everyone run away, and now all of our friends are in danger because of all this! If we would just stay together, we wouldn't even be trapped right now! I should've let Pearl say it herself instead of going off on her! … I'm the worst." Ruby was close to crying by that point, her wiping away some tears. Steven reached to her, holding her hands.

"Ruby, no you're not, not even close. Even if you told everyone what happened, you're still one of my two favorite people in the entire world. Everyone had the right to know. We all love you Ruby, alone and as Garnet, and nothing you can say or do is ever going to change that."

Ruby stayed quiet at first, and eventually, slowly, a smile began to come up on her innocent face. It took a minute or two of silence, before Ruby went right up to Steven and gave him a hug, good and tight with a smile on her face. Her time alone made her almost forget that, and Steven was more than happy to return the hug.

*FLASH*

…….

"W-what? … what? …"

"D-Do we tell Chrysalis about this?"

Soon, Steven and Ruby were both back in the plain of reality (as much as reality as it could be). Some details to note: much of the buzzing was actually quieter now, much of the Changelings not as active. In fact, looking up to the exit, there was actually at least ten to twelve Changelings looking in, curious and a bit perplexed by what they were looking at. They got up, but when they did, they both felt a bit … well, taller. It took Ruby and Steven a few more seconds to realize what actually happened in there.

"This … is … AMAZING," the figure said, her eyes starry and in amazement. She took a bit to see herself over. She was about as tall as Garnet or Rhodonite, but with a bit of a thicker build almost as thick as Smoky Quartz. The outfit on her had Steven's shirt and shorts, with the Ruby outfit mixed underneath it. Her hair was still square in shape, though a bit more curly with rounded corner. One gemstone on her stomach, and one in the palm of her left hand, both now a redder pink.

It was a more subconscious approach, but a fusion's a fusion. And none of the Changelings knew what to do. One brave Changeling flew directly into it after a while.

"Who're you?!" the Changeling demanded. The fusion looked up to the Changeling horde, and looked down to the changeling in front of her. Both components to the fusion were not fond of the Changelings at all, so she didn't answer it right away.

"Like you need to know," she huffed. It wasn't a completely cold statement, slightly more childish actually.

"WHERE'RE THE OTHER PRISONERS?!" demanded one of the Changelings from above. The changeling in the prisoner's cell looked around, but couldn't find them anywhere.

"They're not in here! … unless …" The changeling looked to the fusion, and then saw the gemstone that once belonged to Steven. The Changeling looked up to the fusion, flying right in her face.

"What did you do to them?!" the Changeling asked.

"Hey, back up bug!" the fusion demanded back, moving the Changeling back a bit. The fact she fused was a bit of a step already, and while she didn't want to step down to a Changeling, she knew she had to do something otherwise things would get nasty.

O-Oh Gemeny, we're caught so soon, uh … Ruby, any ideas?

I'm trying to think! Um … uh … OH!

"I got hungry."

… OKAY THEN. To say the changeling was shocked was an understatement.

"You ATE THEM?!" The Changeling asked, completely terrified. The other changelings above couldn't believe their own ears either. But though, seeing the bug terrified at the though did give the fusion an idea, getting a clever smirk on her face. both sides weren't known for trickery, but take a lie as it comes.

"Yes, I did. Not half-bad either - a little crunchy but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. And unless you wanna get eaten too, you'll let us - er, ME leave!" the fusion instructed. For some extra measure, the fusion even lunged forward, and biting near the Changeling. What were they supposed to do now?! They needed Steven and Ruby for the portal to work permanently, but how were they gonna do that with this person EATING them already? As if on cue, they all then heard a notable growl coming from the fusion's human stomach.

"AH! A-alright, alright, jump out of here! Just stay over there for now, ok?" The changeling squeaked. He must be a high guard, because every other changeling above agreed. The fusion was glad to hear that, and jumped right out of the pit, making most of the Changelings scatter away from her. None of them wanted to be on the menu for whatever she was, and better yet, they didn't split once jumping out, though the glowing veins Steven had still shown on this fusion. In her head, Steven was feeling good to have a getaway plan, and Ruby was laughing at how quickly that worked.

Woo, we're out! Now to find the others, stop the Changelings and that evil pony, and save the world again!

But there was still one more problem, making her stop.

"Any of you mind showing me the way out of here?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Chrysalis would find out eventually. The fusion froze on the voice, as Chrysalis jumped down from a opening in the hive, much of the Changelings humbled at the angry mother.

"Oh clod," the fusion thought, shaking in her shoes.

"WHY are you letting them out?!" Chrysalis yelled.

"B-Because she ate them, my queen. She said so!" A changeling answered. Chrysalis turned to the now shaken fusion, and her hoof met her face. Groaning, she turned back to the hive.

"Ate them?! Blast. … Ah well, we'll just need a new source for permanent power. Changelings go and lock her - where'd she go?"

It was a split second, but the fusion was already running like mad to try and find their way out. No way were either of them going to stay around right with the Changeling Queen. In this mad dash though there was so many factors working against them: she was glowing, the hive was alert, and the tunnels themselves were so disorientating, they could've sworn that they were moving on their own! They got a headstart, sure, but that didn't help in the broad scheme of things, especially when they skidded to a stop at a crossroads.

"Ok. Ok. Eenie … meanie -" the fusion stop talking at one more factor that was working against her: suddenly, the tunnels began to close off! Two of them did so, as if an entire tunnel had just disappeared, only leaving them with one path.

"Uh. I guess you," The fusion shrugged, running right through …

…

"AAHH! CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD!" ONLY to be met by a Changeling patrol. Go figure: the Changeling Hive would direct them to the Changelings themselves. Several Changeling guards flew right at the fusion, teeth snapping and almost grabbing them. The fusion did turn back on occasion to either punch, or kick a Changeling back, but it wasn't much help.

For stars sake, where're they all coming from?!

I don't know, there's got to be a way out of this hive! THERE!

Salvation, they actually found a hole connecting right off to outside, them just able to see the stars. It was their only shot to get out of this place. Unfortunately, the Hive itself almost seemed to be working against them: and not only did that hole close, another one opened up under their feet. The Changelings zoomed over the hole, almost slamming into the other wall, but when they got down there, the fusion was simply gone. not a sign of her anywhere. Much of the swarm split up down the tunnel, and soon they were gone from sight … the fusion moving a rock off of her.

"GEESH, those bugs sure are determined," the fusion sighed, catching her breath. "At least we're out of there way. Now to get out."
But where was out? The tunnels seemingly had a mind of their own, and can change and alter at anytime somehow. The fusion, now a bit more calm, tried to think of some method to get out without drawing too much attention to Steven or Ruby.

Steven, un-fuse with me for a minute. I can clobber that wall down with one punch!

Ruby, you can't form that way! … Wait. Can we still do that?

The fusion wasn't sure if it would still apply to this, but heck it'll be worth a try if it could even work. Ruby and Steven were NOT going to stick around, so Ruby tried summoning her gauntlet … only to find nothing. She tried over and over again, her doing a sort of fist-pump action for a bit, but accomplishing nothing ... except for looking like an idiot.

"... OK, plan B, hope a hole opens up outside," the fusion confirmed. She wasn't going to wander around to find one, that would just make them all even more lost. So, all she did was sit there and waited for a hole to randomly open up to this place. …

And one actually did after a half an hour!

"YES!" the fusion gasped, springing to her feet and running right for it, only for the hole to close up a few moments later. "Nooo …"

Moments later, another hole opened up to outside, but when the fusion got to it, it slammed just literally seconds before they could get out, making them charge right into the wall.

"Quit trolling me, hive!" the fusion shouted … a little too loudly. The fusion clamped her mouth shut, her "Ruby" coming out at a bad time. The whole hive was on alert, and it would be back to square zero point five if they were to be found out again. It really didn't help that they were just glowing practically either.

"Ok, forget this, I'm making my own hole," the fusion decided. They had no time to wait for another hole to open, and so they began punching the wall. The strength was a bit dulled down thanks to the Changeling Hive, but it still was the only strength they got, and both had plenty of determination to do this, even if the punches were hurting them more than the wall. Ruby was not a type to give up when her mind was locked onto something. The changelings were buzzing closer and closer, and the fusion was working like mad to break through the wall, getting some good cracks in it.

"There she is!" shouted a Changeling from a hallway that opened up behind her (because why not?). The fusion tried to get out a bit more panicked this time, as the horde rushed right towards her. All the fusion could do was quickly duck, as the horde charged by … slamming through the wall for them.

"... Thank you!" called the fusion, before jumping out of the hive's interior.

They weren't out of trouble just yet though. Sure, they were out of the hive, but they still had a whole empty field until they could reach the boundryline. It was a straight line, away from the hive, and right to the finish line. The fusion took a deep breath to regather herself.

Ready, Ruby?

As I'll ever be.

"On go. Three. Two. One. … GO!"
On go, the fusion made the mad run for their lives. It was a dash for the boundary, and if they could just get passed that before the Changelings could get them, they'll at least have a fighting chance. Much of the Changelings only managed to see them once they got a good fifty feet away from the hive. A much better headstart than what they got inside the hive. Some of the Changelings were ready to rush after them, when Chrysalis managed to see them go off.

"Stop!" Chrysalis shouted to the Changelings.

"But she's getting away!"

"I see that, and now that thing's out of our manes. She doesn't know about our big plan."

"But she ate our power sources!" retorted one of the followers. Chrysalis gritted her teeth on that reminder.

"We can get more power sources when we arrive into Earth. All we have to do is complete the Warp Pad, and everything will fall into place."

~~~~~~

To say things had heated up back at the barnyard was a bit of an understatement. Much of the parties had come together after hearing Pearl, Emerald, and Star Quartz had come back, but the bigger and more urgent news was more about that of Pharynx, and the information regarding the Changelings as a whole. This was a problem they've kept away long enough: a changeling disguising itself as Twilight, one taking the bloodstone off of the bloodstone scepter, one attacking Sniper as Lapis, and now replacing Steven and Ruby. whatever plan they got going here, it was coming to fruition soon.
At the moment, there was plenty of conversation with the Crystal Gems and mane six, along with the Off-colors and Starlight's friends too who were present, Twilight still trying to work out Starswirl's book. Thorax himself was on his way with Spike and Sapphire, although while he was excited at first, little by little, he wasn't feeling all too excited about it. It didn't help that there was so many of them at once too.

"Eh, I don't know. M-Maybe I should look like a pony or something? They might warm up to me a little faster," Thorax quietly suggested.

"Come on, it'll be fine. We'll go warm them up, and you just come in on your cue," Spike said, strolling over to the group. Thorax decided to keep on the safe side, and disguised himself as a rock. Nothing suspicious about a rock anyday. Sapphire and Spike went over to the group.

"Hello everyone," Sapphire said.

"Sapphire, Spike, there you are! I got worried sick, you two ok?" Twilight asked.

"Sure, but what's all the hubbub?" Spike asked

"I'll tell you what: we have a Changeling problem. I know you might not want to hear this, but …" Jasper took a deep breath. "They have Steven."

"Steven AND Ruby," reminded Lapis, "Somewhere in the Changeling Kingdom."

"Oh my. How'd you find that out?" Sapphire gasped. She was more surprised that they actually got the information first before Thorax could get it out. Then again, the information about Pink Diamond was a similar story, so who was she to say otherwise?

"Pinkie Pie's epic stroke of a hunch got it out, apparently," Starlight replied, fluffing the pink mare's mane.

"It was nothing," Pinkie shrugged, waving her hoof.

"Can we focus please?" Pearl asked, "Steven and Ruby need our help, does anyone know where this changeling place even is? Who knows what they could be going through in there?"

"What about the rest of us?" Rhodonite asked, scared out of her mind, "Here's Ruby and Steven trapped in such a terrifying place, who's to say they didn't replace anyone else?"

"Rhodonite, don't start that, things are nutty already," Tiger's Eye groaned.

"They said Changelings can disguise as anyone, CLEARLY THAT'S AN OPTION!" Rhodonite retorted.

"Calm down please," Connie said. "We just gotta find a way to this place. Anybody got any ideas?"
not much was brought out at first, as none of them really had seen the changeling hive's main place before, but Sapphire and Spike found this the perfect Segway in.

"I think we know just the guy to help," Spike said.

"You do?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, we do. He's got all the knowledge about the hive, and he's a good friend. Introducing …!" Spike even got in a sort of introductory pose for Thorax to come out. However, Thorax's main entrance was rudely interrupted when something else actually jumped onto the "rock", and reveal himself to the group.

"Eh, Spike, I introduced Sniper already," Starlight said.

"... Huh?"

"Hi there, glad I found you," said Sniper. Thorax could feel the weight of the Tindalos on top of him, and it didn't help that Sniper jumped off him, the claws digging in by mistake. Thorax was NOT coming out now, no matter who said what.

"Me too," said Starlight, "good you can show up. Listen, Steven and Ruby are missing, and -"

"I may have done something really terrible," Sniper cut in, gravely. In front of so many beings that could kill him on site, that was rather bold of him to just go out to say.

"Really?" Rhodonite questioned.

"Isn't he one of those who nearly killed you guys?" Star asked. Both Gems got cut short with Emerald hitting them.

"Anyway, you have a Changeling in your company?" Sniper asked. Spike felt tense on that question more than most. His friend Thorax was already almost killed by a Tindalos already, and with how many Changelings had come about the place, this question had a sense of irony. Suddenly, he didn't feel so thrilled about introducing Thorax right away, not with Sniper here.

"Not at all," Starlight blankly stated.

"WELL, unless you count Pharynx for about fifty five seconds," Pinkie chimed in. Thorax couldn't believe they knew Pharynx by name, making him even more nervous. Sniper though gave a sigh of relief.

"I thought so. I'm afraid I got something to tell you - My dad's gone on about some "menagerie" of the changelings with the rest of you for attacking me. … And. Well, there's going to be an attack."

"What?! An attack?! When, where?!" Trixie asked, in a panic. She wasn't sure if the other Tindalos would fancy her "teleportation" trick on their boss. Thorax didn't find this any better either, as with everybody else.

"Trixie, calm down. It could just be some trick," Rhodonite said.

"But it's true," insisted Sniper, "When I got back to our cavern not long ago, I heard my father planning it. I came to warm all of you."

"But he's your father, why would you do that? I thought you liked him," Starlight asked.

"... Because of you. You never gave up on me, even after I long did. I wanted them to keep you safe," Sniper admitted. A bit forward, but they saw the logic in it somewhat. All of this aside though, their attention went on back to Trixie, who at this point was freaking out.

"Changeling invasion, and a Tindalos attack?! I can't deal with this, I'm just a performer! This is - this is princess-level stuff!" Trixie said, her voice stuttering a little bit. Pink diamond finally had enough of her stuttering, and got a hit on her head, making her come back around.

"... Thanks. … Ouch."

"Look, everything's going to be fine. Sniper, Spike said you have all the information we need for the Changeling Hive. what is it you can tell us?" Connie asked. Sniper was … confused.

"Eh? … What're you talking about?"

"Spike just said you were an expert, just now," said Amethyst. Well, Spike was on the spot, feeling a bit nervous. He intended Thorax to come out, not Sniper.

"Did he? I know all my knowledge on changelings from Starlight, I'm not any expert. … Or did he mean someone else?" Sniper questioned. Spike gulped, this whole introduction was going way downhill. But before he could even get a word in, Sniper's nose suddenly picked something up. The accidental cut on Thorax got a new scent in the air, and it wasn't until this point that Sniper got a hold of it.

"Ok, do you know ANYTHING about Changelings we should know about?" Rhodonite asked. Sniper started to sniff the air.

"Hmm … funny smell," Sniper said, as he began to near Thorax himself. The Changeling got more and more scared as Sniper neared him. He could look like anybody anyday, but scent was universal, and Sniper saw through the appearance in no time at all, immediately going right up to Thorax. Sniper was right in Thorax's face, the so-called rock beginning to shiver. Spike needed to do something fast for a better impression, and quickly sat down onto the rock.

"EH, you sure you don't have anything else for us, Sniper ol buddy, ol pal?"

"I barely know you," Sniper said, more focused on the scent he was picking up. It was then that Sniper's nose hit Thorax's eye.

"OW!" Thorax was exposed. He couldn't keep it up for too long after that, and it made Sniper bolt back, Spike landing on Thorax's back. Not the BEST first impression ever, but there was an immediate alarm when most of the group saw him, some scared while others readied to attack him.

"SPIKE! What is that?!" demanded Peridot.

"W-what's what?" Spike asked.

"THAT! STANDING THERE!"

"Spike, get away from the Changeling!" Twilight demanded, and before spike could even try to explain, her aura got around spike and brought him to their side, leaving Thorax standing all alone with a wave in front of him.

"Wait, you don't understand, he -"

"He was spying on us to report our plans back to Chrysalis, what other explanation could their be?" Bismuth retorted.

"He's not going anywhere," said Pearl, readying her spear right to Thorax.

"STOOOOOP!"

Everything immediately stopped at once, Sapphire's voice leaving a echo in the winter air as the Gem went in the way between Pearl and Thorax.

"Pearl. Put the spear away."

"B-But, but isn't that -"

"HE isn't a danger. This is Thorax, and he's my friend," Spike finally announced. He wished it could've gone a bit better, but might as well take it as it was. There was … an awkward moment when they heard this. didn't they just go over how dangerous Changelings were? The silence hung in the air a bit, and Thorax began to feel like this was a bad idea.

"It's okay, I know nopony wants to be friends with me. I'm used to it."

"Now, hold on there. You mind explainin yourself?" AJ asked.

Deja Vu.

"It's a long story, but the short version is that I always wanted a friend. None of the changelings were nice to me, and ever since I saw you fight at the Canterlot Wedding, I wanted to share that love. … I just never got an actual chance to until now," Thorax explained, looking to Spike and Sapphire.

"... Heh, I buy it," Amethyst shrugged.

"He doesn't look like he wants to hurt anyone," Fluttershy agreed. Guess this was the actual expert Spike was talking about, and she was actually quite impressed Spike was able to do this.

"Alright, Thorax. If Spike says your his friend, then so am I," Twilight said. This made Thorax feel a little bit better, as Sniper moved over towards Trixie.

"That's a bit quick, don't you think?"

"It tends to happen a lot. but they did forgive a Tindalos after they tried to eat them," Trixie whispered back, according to the stuff she heard from Starlight Glimmer.

"A Tindalos? I-Is that what you are?" Thorax asked.

"Yeah," replied Sniper, "Only my kind can grow a lot bigger than me. You already knew that though, I bet."

Thorax gulped. "One kind of tore my back hoof off, and tried to eat me. It was Spike and Sapphire who saved me."

"Hmm … yeah, that's my dad alright."

"WHAT?!"

"CAN WE FOCUS?" Pearl asked urgently, "This is fine and all, but we still have the Changeling problem, and NOW a Tindalos problem to deal with. He need to know where the Changeling Hive is on top of Ponghenge," reminded Pearl, dead set on getting Steven and Ruby back. They were so close to recovering completely from the secret she had to say, and she wanted the full one hundred percent score in this game of theirs. Thorax felt a bit more troubled though hearing they would go off into the deep end.

"Ponhenge? What's that?" Thorax asked.

"It's an ancient area of Equestria where the pillars of Equestria are trapped in. We've been trying to find a way to get em out, and we have everything … except for where it is," Tiger's Eye explained, showing Thorax the book in question. Thorax had never really heard of Starswirl the Bearded, let alone what could be in the book, and as he was looking through it, he was left kind of stumped himself. Old Ponish was definitely in there, but there're parts when it just didn't add up much at all.

"What kind of language is this? I've never seen any like it before."

"Beats me," Tiger's Eye replied, as Thorax just passed it to Pearl. It was all just a humbled mess, and he couldn't figure it out.

"We gotta be close to something! Seriously, we only have two Gems missing, and the only thing left for those pillars is -"

"Within the heart … of the temple of Ponhenge." Pearl said, actually READING off the book. Twilight couldn't believe her ears.

"You can read that?!" Twilight asked, shocked.

"Well yeah. It is a bit sloppy, but looks like Starswirl actually knows Gem writing. It's actually decently legible," Pearl replied, as she continued to read.

"At the … base of foal mountain. … we're to have our last stand," Pearl finished. It really wasn't too fancy of writing, but DANG did that answer come up quick. Twilight wasn't gonna question how Starswirl knew Gem writing (he knew everything, what else did she expect?).

"Well, sounds like a clue to me," Spike said.

"But what about the hive?" asked Starlight.

"You're going right to the hive? Well, the thing is -"

"Wait, what're we doing? Thorax, you're a changeling, you know where the Hive is, right?" Rhodonite asked.

"Well, sure, it's in the Badlands. It's like a giant, rocky beehive."

"That's all we need to hear. Power up, ladies, we're going in!" Pinkie said, immediately pulling out her portal key almost right away.

"W-Wait, right now?! Guys, wait, hold on a second!" Thorax said, but they were a bit quick to go off into the portal to save Steven and Ruby. In fact, only Sapphire stayed behind with Padparadscha, the rest through the portal already.

Panicked, Thorax rushed through the portal they just made, and soon, the group ended up finding themselves just along the boarders of the Changeling hive. It wasn't inside the changeling hive, nor anywhere close, but being right on the boardline of the hive was a bit of a risky set up. It was luck alone that the changelings weren't anywhere around, otherwise they'd all be caught on the spot. Still, this was a bit of confusion to take.

"Huh? We're over here, and the hive's over there. But why're we over here?" Pinkie pondered.

"No biggie," Amethyst said, "let's get our A-game on."

"NO!" Thorax finally had enough, and grabbed Amethyst by her hair just before she could just rush on in. Good thing too, because amethyst suddenly found her face glitched up the second it passed the boundary line, surprisingly practically everyone there. Amethyst quickly got her face back the minute she got behind the line, pulled by Thorax.

"What happened?" Rainbow asked.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! Nothing but Changeling magic works here," explained Thorax, "Chrysalis's throne is made out of a dark stone that soaks up magic the way Changelings soak up love. And she even added a Bloodstone so Gem magic can be sucked away too. It's how she keeps the hive safe!"
Better late than never. To test this, Twilight moved over towards the boundary line, her horn glowing and just passed the line. It was just a simple spell, but when she casted it, the only thing that came out was a fine mist, and nothing else. This would explain why the Portal Keys didn't get them to the right place - they can't work passed the line. It didn't help more than half the group can't even go into the hive without glitching out.

"So … do you happen to have a plan B?" Peridot asked. This was a bit of a tough spot. Either someone needed to use magic, or was made of magic. Sapphire and Padparadscha caught up by this point, and it was Sapphire who took center stage.

"I do."

"Great! … What is it?" Trixie asked.

"Like all the best plans, it's simple. How many of you don't use magic?"

Pinkie, AJ, Sniper, Connie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike went over towards Thorax.

"Good. You all can rescue Steven and Ruby inside that Hive. The rest of us can go to Ponhenge and release the Pillars of Equestria for the Tindalos."

"You can count on us," Applejack promised.

This was all nice, but for Thorax, there was one tiny thing he still had on him he neglected to mention …

~~~~~~

"The portal is almost ready, my queen."

Chrysalis sure was pleased. EVERYTHING was falling well into place now: with the boundaries of their make-shift Warp Pad nearly complete, Chrysalis couldn't wait to get rolling with her plans. Knowing of a world outside of her own she can exploit will not only better her chances here, but over there as well. Such opportunity she was NOT going to slip by again. With the bloodstone powering it, and the emotions she sucked out giving it some life, she was just but minutes away from actually getting it working.

"Excellent work. As soon as Thorax returns with the final piece, the next universe will be ours for the taking. AND, once we get our extra power, we will regain Equestria. Two worlds all for us!" Chrysalis declared. All of the Changelings cheered and applauded her for such a brilliant idea.

"Speaking of which, where is Thorax?" whispered one of the Changelings.

"I don't know, but he better get here soon. I'm starving," the other Changeling replied. It was hard finding food in the badlands to begin with, the chance to get a power boost in another world was too good to pass up. They simply had to wait until Thorax would come back, wherever he would be.
Then the crowds quieted down, as they heard a particularly notable buzzing noise. Changelings all had their own specific sounds in flight, and when they heard this buzz, they all knew who was coming back from his flight.

Thorax.

"AH, welcome back home. I trust you didn't fail me this time? And where is Pharynx?" Chrysalis asked, as Thorax landed by his fellow Changelings.

"I-I don't know. The last time I heard him he was checking out something on Earth. He never said -" Thorax was cut off when Chrysalis was suddenly in front of him again, taking a closer look at his wings.

"Your wings look … different," Chrysalis said. Thorax looked back to his wings, which unlike every other Changeling, now looked sparkly, and shimmered even in the dim light.

"I guess they do," Thorax shrugged. His shimmering wings were kind of a new detail to him, but lucky for him, Chrysalis didn't care for it too much.

"Aren't you excited for this, Thorax? The worlds will soon belong to all of the Changelings," Chrysalis said. The other Changelings were more than happy to agree, but for Thorax, the idea itself felt a bit more muffled this time. Especially after what he had just gone through.

"Uh, y-yes, my queen, of course but … um … Maybe this isn't such a good idea?"

"... WHAT?" Chrysalis's glare made Thorax back up. He never could truly talk to the queen unless if it was agreeing with her on anything, but him seeing the dangers of the other world himself, it was something he was a bit more sure on. sort of.

"W-Well, I've seen that world myself, and … it looks a bit dangerous."

"Of course it's dangerous," Chrysalis exclaimed, "And it's that danger we can use, and bring back here. That's the whole point!"

"But what if it doesn't work?!"

Every changeling and their brothers turned to Thorax. A plan from Chrysalis. Not work? One might as well hang from a tree saying that, and those words made Chrysalis hiss at him.

"... Why would you think that? Thorax?"

"I-I'm sorry, let me try again," Thorax said humbly, "I mean to say that we, uh, don't exactly understand this other world either. W-what if something comes in we Changelings can't - I-I mean … didn't intend?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Thorax," Chrysalis said, rolling her eyes, "Isn't that what you already did out in the field with Pharynx? We got a pretty good idea already."

"W-Well, I was just thinking … it might not be the hive's best if we -" Thorax was silenced with Chrysalis's hoof almost slamming onto him.

"I decide what's best for my subjects! Not some cowardly grub!" Chrysalis made clear. Thorax gulped.

"O-Ok, sorry, sorry. I-I'm just worried what else can happen if we do this … that's all." Not the entire truth, but it was something they could get behind, including Chrysalis. Thorax was waiting for a verbal or even physical thrashing, but nothing came up except for Chrysalis bringing his eyes to hers.

"Don't you worry your head. By the time anything surprising happens, we will be in control of everything. All we need now, is you to add the remaining piece of the Warp Pad onto this. when it connects, so will out ticket into their world," Chrysalis announced. Thorax did indeed had the piece with him, hidden underneath his back plates. But after what he saw and nearly happen, he just wasn't so sure. Chrysalis was seeing this all too well from him.

"Oh Thorax," Sighed Chrysalis, as she began to slowly circle him.

(Unleash the Magic - parody)

Chrysalis; I realize that you've always been the outcast.
It's not everyday a changeling likes to smile.
I've found some others just like you, I've had one, or maybe two
But they always disappear in a short while!

Changelings; Oh oh wah oh wah, oh oh wah oh wah

Chrysalis's circling stopped by this point, as a few other Changelings began to slowly move over to him (exception being Kevin), crowding him, and making Thorax back up towards the nearly-complete warp pad, and right by Chrysalis's holed hooves. Thorax turned around fast to see Chrysalis face to face, her eyes so close her muzzle pressed his.

Chrysalis; Now, I understand you have your little worries.

Chrysalis backed up, and brought out some stones, which vaguely looked like that of a changeling as she sang.

It's hard to feel your strength now quite so torn.
but if we don't win this time, I think you will realize
what would happen if we have the losing score!

Chrysalis made her point clear when she stomped down on the stone, crumbling it to pieces much to Thorax's horror. It was plain as day: they would be killed if this didn't work. It was then the other Changelings, which now were above him, started to make their point clear as well.

Changelings; Complete the magic! Complete the magic!
If we lose, then you're to blame!
They've all have used it. Maybe abused it.
So then why can't we do the same?! (Oh oh wah oh wah, oh oh wah oh wah)

Thorax was in such a corner. And his queen surely wasn't helping him out either, now on her throne in a position not dissimilar to Rarity's "drama" moods.

Chrysalis; Call it power (power!)
Call it magic (magic!)
If we lose, it will be tragic (tragic!)
More important, is the new home we have lost.

Chrysalis got back up again, Thorax looking to the portal, and Chrysalis right above his shoulders, moving her head to his ear as she continued the song.

Chrysalis; It is a chance of a lifetime
for something truly divine!
Isn't rescuing your kind not worth the cost?

Changelings; Oh oh wah oh wah, oh oh wah oh wah

The changelings flew over Thorax's head in a circular manor, as if they were but the angel or devil themselves speaking to Thorax's ears. On one hoof, he would be saving his species, but the expense is that everyone else would suffer. Was there another way around this?

Changelings; Complete the magic! complete the magic!
We're not friends here, after all.
Our only interest
in this business
Is seeing Canterlot palace fall! (Oh oh wah oh wah, oh oh wah oh wah)

Thorax was soon at the center of the room, with various Changelings circling him either by trotting or by flying, leaving him at the very center alongside Chrysalis, who landed right in front of him.

Chrysalis; What I am asking's very simple (aahhh)
And it's this win that we all need (aahhh)
You only want to know about (aahhh)
the new power you've have seen. (aahhh)

Chrysalis then began to fly upward, right in the middle of the circling Changelings, leaving Thorax down on the ground by himself, staring up at the display.

Chrysalis; and as for me, and all the others (aahhh)
We only want what we deserve (aahhh)
That our kind will clench the win

Changelings+Chrysalis; AND OUR LEGECY WILL ENDURE!

The changelings began to march up towards Thorax once more, all in time with eachother, and blocking the only possible exit. Thorax had no choice but to stay still, as they sang and moved around him.

Changelings; Complete the magic! Complete the magic!
If we lose, then it's a crime.
but we can win it, if you begin it.
It's up to you to NOT FAIL THIS TIME!

Thorax was left only the path back to the nearly complete Warp Pad, changelings side by side, and Chrysalis landing behind him. One straight line, defying one destiny over another. Changelings amongst the rows still had the same message repeated over and over again, like a nagging echo.

Changelings (male); Complete the magic, free the gateway now!
Changelings (female); Complete the magic, free the gateway now!

Thorax slowly began to walk over towards the warp pad with the final piece, and as he was, his mind really was going off on which decision was the right one, racing through thoughts and outcomes.
On one hoof; him being amongst the friendly Gems and ponies who, even without his disguise, still showed him a level of friendship never shown by Chrysalis. Smiling. Playing. Friends for the first time in a lifetime, and for a lifetime.

Thorax; Imagine all I'll learn by setting it free …

On the other hoof; he could see himself admired by all of his fellow Changelings. They'd show him as the savior to the whole Changeling race, the spark that reignited the fire for his kind. Cheering. Applauding. A hero of his species, now and forever.

Thorax; … And now saving my kind depends on me …

It was a choice between true friendship, and admiration. almost before he realized it, he was standing inches away from the warp pad. Just one piece. ONE. FINAL. PIECE. and it will change everything for both Changelings, and every creature everywhere. Thorax stared at the remaining piece. But one lingering warning still hung in his head, despite all the chants echoing around him.

Thorax; And what doors will I open if I try to use this? …

This was a world beyond his understanding, beyond ANY of their understanding. He looked back once more at his queen, who encouraged him with a nod and a smile. His species, or his friends … he had no choice, as always. Right?

Thorax; But the friendship's what I really want to see!

He placed the piece in. Perfect fit.

Then. silence. Every changeling in there waited for something to happen. a spark, a flash, something, ANYTHING. Thorax took a few steps back and waited for a brief moment, no longer seeing any sort of "imperfection" onto it. A perfectly modeled Warp Pad at the very center of the castle. But with the throne there, if this was magically powered, they can't use it. Chrysalis was willing to fix that, and her horn began to glow.
One magic blast, and suddenly the warp pad came to life! The changelings backed up on seeing the mighty beam of light and sound, with the exception of Pharynx, Thorax, and Chrysalis. Chrysalis got the special seal on it so it can still work inside the castle, and upon seeing this, her muzzle formed a sinister toothy grin.

"Oh, this is going to be … delicious.~ Every Changeling, move out!"

And on that command, much of the hive present followed Chrysalis right through the activated portal, leaving only little Thorax behind. It was a swift succession, but with practically most of the hive through, Thorax had enough time to slip away.

…….

Meanwhile, just outside of the Changeling Hive, Pinkie, Connie, AJ, Spike, Sniper, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, all were waiting for the right moment to go inside the Hive. It was a bit of a foreboding sight to behold: a gigantic beehive-like hive with numerous amount of Changelings buzzing around it like the insects they were. It was like getting a bug's eye view of an actual den of hornets. The memory of their last fight with Changelings hung on most of their minds, and they knew just how dangerous they can actually be, especially with the whole hive altogether like this. It was a miracle they weren't even found just yet, though probably it was from the commotion going on inside. None of them were to go in just yet, and as they kept to their post, one of these Changelings actually came out of the Hive towards them. Fluttershy yelped on seeing him, but the Changeling cleared his throat.

"Clumsy …"

"Draconequus," replied Spike. Clearly a code word, and once they heard this, they all calmed down. Better yet, they got a point of entry at the bottom of the hive. This didn't lead them directly to the right chambers, but it did get them at least in a more isolated area. The main part of this tunnel was rocky walls, and a number of bug sacks hanging from the ceiling From inside, without as much buzzing, they began to hear faint, yet powerful groans from the caves and tunnels themselves.

"I'm definitely glad you came. I don't think we'd find our way without you," Fluttershy said.

"You definitely wouldn't," Thorax agreed, pointing behind them. The group looked back, just to find that the hole they came in had shrunken down, and disappeared, leaving behind only the stone wall.

"W-Where's the exit?" asked Spike.

"It's a Changeling Hive. It morphs and changes like we do, and we're the only ones who can navigate it," Thorax answered, just as another path opened up as he trotted through it. The others were gonna have a long time looking through this place, no doubt about that.

"Well, you do know where the prisoners are, right? Or do they change and alter from place to place?" Connie asked.

"I know where it is. There's a few spots in the hive that don't alter at all, which includes the throne room and the prisonhold. But be careful; Chrysalis may have left with much of the Hive, but she's sure to have guards and patrols still somewhere in here. And they're ordered to take Steven and Ruby away the second they see you," Thorax explained.

"No trouble, we just need to stay silent. And there's a lot of corners for me to use," Sniper said, seeing at least several "doorways" he could use to go around the entire hive if he wanted to.

"Sniper, you can't use magic in here, remember?" Fluttershy reminded.

"Mine's more of a natural ability. Here, I'll prove it," Sniper said, finding the nearest corner, and making a run at it. However, all that happened was Sniper ramming into it, and falling backwards. A bit dazed, but alright, yet still proved what Thorax had said.

"Ok … all magical abilities. Alright."

"I know you're not used to it, but don't worry. The sooner we find Steven and Ruby, the sooner we all can leave, and the sooner you can have your magic back," Thorax promised.

"Hang in there Steven, Ruby. We're on our way," Connie sighed, as they ventured further into the place.

The secondary group off inside the Hive were having a bit more trouble than it was worth. Sure, they weren't going to give up on Steven and Ruby, but as time ticked by with them inside the Changeling Hive, there really wasn't too much luck for any of them. Oddly, outside of just Thorax, there wasn't too many Changelings going about. Good thing, but it didn't help on where the prisonhold actually was, and it wasn't like any of them could actually navigate it properly like Thorax could.

"Does anyone know where we're going?" Sniper asked.

"Thorax does," Fluttershy said, "We should find it soon."

"We better soon. I'm not used to not cut corners in anything. … No, that's not a joke," Sniper griped.

"Give it a break, Sniper. None of us knew we weren't gonna use any magic," AJ advised.

"I did," Thorax said sheepishly. Not exactly helping, but the point was still there. Up ahead, Pinkie Pie was doing her own brand of covert exploration: popping around corners, peeking under rocks and opening/closing holes, all sorts of things. She wasn't finding anything more than the others were.

"Thorax! There you are!" said a nearby Changeling. Everyone else quickly bolted off out of sight as some of the patrol reached him.

"Oh, hi. Just heading to check on the prisoners," Thorax said.

"Eh … maybe, uh, don't," the Changeling replied, not sounding as enthused as something like it would be. Thorax felt a bit confused about this, but so long as the others weren't found out he would just roll with it.

"Why?"

"Thorax, didn't you know? Steven and Ruby are dead - eaten by uh … something."

"WHAT?!" the others thought, terrified.

"E-Eaten?! How?!"

"Hey, there was this "thing" inside their cell, and she said herself that she ate them, and threatened to eat us if she didn't get released. … Don't even know how she got in there, and she had their gemstones on too for some sick reason. Anyway, I gotta go - got to meet with Chrysalis on Earth."
And with that said, they all began to calm down a little bit. Thorax got his information on some of this Gem stuff, and if there was a being with two gemstones in replace of two Gems, the only plausible reason would be a fusion of sorts. The changeling flew off away from Thorax, and once he was gone, everyone else then came out from their hiding place.

"S-Steven … Ruby …" Fluttershy murmured.

"So, we now have NO REASON to be in here?" Applejack asked.

"I-I … guess so," Thorax said, feeling horrible for this.

"Those bugs, I'll crush them!" Rainbow growled, her wings fluttering, and her ready to fly right for the horde. Typically Applejack would grab her by the tail, but this time Sniper's sharp teeth pulled Rainbow Dash back.

"Rainbow, you can't start a fight in here, we'll be swarmed for sure," Sniper advised.

"But Steven and Ruby are still somewhere here!" Connie said.

"Didn't you hear that Changeling? He just stated they've been eaten by some other thing in here."

"Don't think that's what happened," Applejack said, after some thinking about the Changeling's exact words. The changeling describe someone wearing the twos' gemstones of said Gems. With how many times she and the ponies had seen this happen, this could only amount to one thing. And if this one thing did actually happen, then this whole attempt to bring them here was completely pointless now. Fluttershy actually got to that answer first.

"Fusion?" gasped Fluttershy.

"Might be. C'mon, we gotta get back," Applejack replied.

"Wait, go back? We just got here?" Thorax asked.

"Just get us out of here now, and we'll explain on the way. Hop to it, everypony!"

"THORAX!"

And suddenly someone slammed down onto the ground right in front of the group, hissing good and loud. This got the group on full attack mode, as the dust cleared to reveal one of the Changelings had found them out. But this wasn't just ANY Changeling, but one of high guard. Pharynx. And the purple red Changeling was NOT pleased to see all this, but his anger was more directed towards Thorax

"Thorax, what're you doing?!" Pharynx hissed, as Thorax made a instinctual, yet critical error of hiding behind the ponies. He could never truly stand up to anyone in the hive. Pharynx looked to them and gave a loud hissing roar, fangs drawn, but Rainbow Dash wasn't so easily intimidated and was the first to stepped forward to the Changeling, Applejack too.

"Time to go!" Pinkie called. But there was hardly much time for it as that same roar alerted other nearby Changelings, quickly coming in from all directions, and soon circling them. There was no way for them to just exit out now. Soon as they had no other routes to take, Thorax was pulled out of the bunch by Pharynx himself.

"I can't believe you! The changelings were talking about you doubting Chrysalis, and suddenly here you are bringing them into our hive! I should've known better than to leave you alone with them," Pharynx growled, making Thorax huddle up on the ground underneath him. Pharynx gave another loud hiss at him, his tongue scraping his face.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Pinkie snapped.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!"

"I-I didn't mean to, I -"

"WHAT Thorax? What? That you just HAPPEN to miss them coming this far. I saw you hiding behind them, you traitorous grub!" Pharynx snapped, his holed hoof pushing down on Thorax's face. His mouth was wide open, and his fangs were ready to sink into Thorax's buggy skin. A gasp escaped some of the others as this happened, and it was more than what one Tindalos could take.

*CHOMP* Right onto Pharynx's face! Pharynx shouted and stumbled back, but Sniper's bite was just a warning one to get him off of Thorax. The bite was deep on Pharynx's face, dangerously close to his eye. Not a move many of them would do first, but Sniper was no pony.

"UUGH. Never liked the taste of bugs," Sniper commented, spitting out some of the taste in his mouth. The other changelings hissed at him on the attack, the Tindalos snarling at them all, though while he tried to look fierce, he still had his tails tucked between his legs - the scared symbol for any canine of any world.

"RUN FOR IT!" Sniper yelled.

"We're not leaving!" Rainbow said, ready herself to kick some Changeling butt, but Applejack knew that this was their only chance to leave, and she had to hold Rainbow back from fighting. Their mission is to find Ruby and Steven, fusion or alive, and they won't accomplish anything trapped inside a hive. The Changelings were focused on Sniper, too much to actually get them as they galloped through the only exit they had.

No army was perfect. And they all had Sniper to deal with now. but so long as they get out of there, it'll all be okay.

~~~~~~

"I can't believe I'm going to meet Starswirl the Bearded! You know, outside of my dreams."

As one group was venturing into the grand heart of the Changeling Hive, everyone else followed the instructions read off from the book, and found themselves exactly where they wanted: at the base of Foul Mountain, at the temple of Ponhenge. Much of the work first was clearing out Ponhenge for a bit, namely clearing vines, stray stones, that sort of thing. It was all finally in place, and everyone was waiting for the final step to come through. In the midst of this excitement, there was some slight doubt coming from Starlight Glimmer, as she was pulling off some of the branches alongside some of the others.

"I can't believe you're actually going through with this."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I'm all for pushing boundaries, but this is a bit out there. Even for you."

"We're rescuing what could be the most powerful ponies of all of Equestria's history from a prison of Limbo! How is that "out there"?" Lapis asked.

"I guess it's not when you put it like that, but maybe the most powerful of ponies knew what they were doing, and we shouldn't mess with it," suggested Starlight, as she was still checking the other parts of Ponhenge.

"Not to be that Gem, but she's got a point," said Pearl noted.

"Have you seen what kind of magic has been done in Equestria? I've already explored much of Equus thousands of years ago, and comparing that, to now, it's come a VERY LONG way since," Bismuth said.

"Hmm. That, and you did get your wings by completing one of Starswirl's spells," Starlight pondered "... But I messed with one, and nearly destroyed the space-time continuum in Equestria, so …"

"Starlight. These ponies had done so much for Equestria while they were around, and they've been trapped for so many moons! Bringing them back is worth the risk," Twilight made clear.

"Good! Because if not, we would've won Netitus for nothing," Fulgurite said, as she placed their winning shield in the right place for Flash Magnus. Sapphire and Fulgurite shared a fist-bump after the statement.

"To right. And we've made quite our own impact getting these too, like bringing old friends together in Klugetown on our search for Rockhoof's shovel," Rarity said, placing the shovel in the right spot for Rockhoof.

"Or Mistmane's flower with that Punga," added Pink Diamond, placing the flower down in its right place for Mistmane, "Wonder if they would like to work with the other Diamonds? With the authority and Pillars together, the universe's just scratching the limits on where we all can go."

"Let's try baby steps, Pink," Trixie suggested.

"Heh, well hope you don't think you're the only ones with the artifacts, because Meadowbrook's mask says otherwise," said Jasper, placing the mask in place for Meadowbrook.

"Not everything has to be a competition," Rarity chuckled. "... Though I do believe the flower's the most attractive of the artifacts."

"You're just saying that cause you didn't have to dive into some green goo to get yours," said Tiger's Eye, placing the glowpaz (which still had some said goop on it), right in its proper place for Somnambula.

"Good work, everyone. Let's do this," Twilight declared.

Rockhoof. Flash Magnus. Mistmane. Somnambula. and now Starswirl the Bearded. All the pieces were now properly in place, and they got everything they need to get this all going. Without hesitation, Twilight aimed her horn right to the book, and a magical beam was launched right for it. Starlight tried, but it apparently wasn't going to work, so she too joined in and aimed her horn right to the book. Everyone else was quick to move out of the way, just to be safe.

"Uh, Sapphire? Just to be safe, this is going to be okay, right?" Trixie asked, scared a little bit.

"Everything will be fine," Sapphire reassured. she looked ahead, and she saw the good to come from this.
It took some moments, but eventually something finally began to happen as the book itself started to glow a bright white. This was a good sign to see from much of the group. The book was the first to light up, and then the light stretched out in a line to one artifact after another, until it all ended in a perfect pentagon. Each one of the artifacts began to float up into the air, circling faster and faster, until they were only a blur in their place. It was an exciting moment, though some were still a little worried.

"You'd better catch them," Sapphire suggested.

And soon, in a flash, they saw six other ponies all in mid air, falling down to the ground. But each of the pillars too had the debris right above them, so taking Sapphire's advice, they quickly rushed in: Bismuth saving Rockhoof, Jade pulling Meadowbrook, Rarity grabbing Mistmane, Amethyst pulling Flash out of the sky, Pink diamond rescuing Somnambula, and Twilight getting Starswirl. ALL the pillars were now back in present day, and it took less time for them all to begin coming back around.

"Ooohhh … what … what happened?" Starswirl asked, tired, and barely comprehending anything.

"It worked! You're back!" Twilight said in joy.

"To where?"

"A pleasure to meet you, Starswirl," Sapphire said, also happy, "You and the others had been imprisoned for a millennium within the Realm of Limbo. But thanks to Twilight studies, we managed to -"

"WHAT?! No, no, no, YOU MUST UNDO WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Starswirl exclaimed, suddenly in almost as big of worry as Rhodonite and Trixie were. Sapphire had all the playing cards, the future vision saying this was good, but why would he say that?

"What? Why?"

"You can not bring us back!" Starswirl said, walking to them. This made both Twilight and Sapphire back up towards the center of Ponehenge.

"B-But I did, along with the rest of the pillars," insisted Twilight.

"You can not bring only the pillars back!"

But it was too late.
Before any of them could do anything else, they began to see a force start to grow at the center of Ponhenge. A black mass of shadows began to quickly grow, the wind kicking up, and the dark clouds starting to gather. The world grown colder as the black orb grew, turning from air to mass as it seeped onto the ground like slime. The shadows twisted, turned, and morphed in front of all there, witnessing a transformation as dark as it was fast. They all tried keeping as far away from the shadowy being as much as possible, as the figure began to take shape.
Four large hooves planted themselves to the ground, shaking the earth underneath. A set of long, skeletal-like wings sprouted from its back, as a large, curved horn grew and sharpened from the beast's head. Its body was coated in smoke and ash, and his fur as black as the shadows it manifested from. Streams of black fire made up its chest plate, and long lion-like tail, and teeth like daggers jutted from his equine jaws.

The Pony of Shadows.

"You're foolish plans to imprison me had FAILED, Starswirl," the pony bellowed, his voice echoing in ominous tone. Starswirl instinctively tried to use his magic, but found he was too weak for it.

"You must returns up to Limbo, it's the only way to stop him," Starswirl instructed.

"Trying to figure it out, no table of contents!" Peridot said, frantically rushing through the book as fast as she could. The Pony of Shadows smiled.

"Allow me to assist."
And his assistance came up very quickly: out of his back, he sprouted numerous amount of dark magic tentacles, each one aimed directly at a pillar of Ponhenge! One of these shot right into Starswirl's book, and the others were almost caught in the crossfire. Each tentacle skewered each stone with ease, and with some extra energy, the Pony of shadows shattered each and every single one, including the book. All that remained of Ponhenge by the time he finished was a few scattered stones, and the book was completely gone. The pony of shadows laughed in victory.

"Nice try, Twilight. Bringing back every single members of the Pillars in one attempt. But you should've known that when they brought me here, I can return with them."

"H-How'd you know my name?"

"HA! You and the rest of your pathetic friends had been traveling through Limbo for years! You didn't really think I wasn't able to listen and learn, did you?"
and them the Pony of shadows launched a shadowy web of magical energy directly at them! Fulgurite was quick to respond, and got much of them out of the way, just in time to avoid getting blasted. given the chance to fight back, Twilight and Starlight both shot right at him, directly at his horn! The Pony of shadows roared on feeling the hit, but no scratch was left on him.

"Those ponies *grunt* are almost as powerful as you, Starswirl. … No matter. Once I'm done with this realm, you won't remember any of this."

"Not if we can help it!" Amethyst said, and the fighters charged directly at him The Pony of Shadows was not a creature to be trifled with, and it only took one hit of one of his hooves, to send them all flying back! That was Bismuth, Amethyst, Jasper, Pearl, Lapis, AND Fulgurite all at once, and he knocked them all back with no trouble at all. He growled menacingly at them before Starswirl spoke again.

"Know this, fiend! We will not rest, until we find a way to return you to Limbo!"

"NEVER! Your reign is over, Starswirl. Now the darkness will rule supreme … and you all WILL BOW TO ME!"
They all tried reaching him again, but this time the Pony of Shadows wasn't going to stay around. In one quick jump skyward, his body completely disappeared in a "sonic boom" of dark magic, powerful enough to clear the skies of clouds, and erase all traces of his presence from Ponhenge. Well, the good news; they got the Pillars back to help with the tindalos. The bad news; they just added yet ANOTHER problem to their list. And this time it was them to be blamed.

"WHY is there always a catch?" Tiger's Eye sighed.

~~~~~~

Steven and Ruby were let off easy. After finally getting themselves as far away from the confines of the hive as possible, the fusion finally took a moment to stop and catch her breath. She never stopped the whole night through, because not only to be sure the Changelings were out of range, but also they had to make up for lost time in warning the others. But with them being stuck in their for days, it was a bit hard to say how much had happened outside of the Warp Pad being built.

"Ok *pant* ok *pant* out of range *pant* at last," she panted. Ruby and Steven's determination was what kept her going this long, and her mission to reach the others wasn't gonna be halted anytime soon … if she could help it. Her main place of shelter was by what dead tree remained in the Badlands, offering little comfort from the cold. Not that the fusion minded much, as Ruby's fiery abilities passed onto her as well, and that kept her well warm even in the bitter cold. The fusion may be quiet, but ruby and Steven had a lot to go over.

Okay, so now they're not following us. We can relax a bit now.

But they're gonna make it to Earth at this rate! I can't believe we left our keys with our friends the ONE time we needed them! We're stuck out here!

The fusion felt herself grit her teeth, and her hand pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. that was either good planning on the Changelings' part, or bad planning on their part. Either way, it was gonna take a longer time to get back home, and even longer to tell this news to whoever was there. The Badlands were a far distance away from, well, anybody. Ruby personally blamed herself for that.

Eh, maybe not. We're still in Equestria, just in a bad part of it. There has to be somepony who can give us a lift … maybe.

Like who?

"Okay, let's see," the fusion tried to work her own memory. "Hmm … Braeburn? No, that's Appleloosa, that's nowhere near here. … Weather team? Ugh, but they don't fly over here. I have two brains, think of something!"
The fusion tried to think, but as far as she was aware, the only powerful magical creatures around were the changelings. and of course, they were a bit off limits. Then, one idea did come to mind, as she recalled the keys.

"Discord! … Oh, wait, he hasn't appeared in so long. Is he even around anymore?"

"Somebody call my name?"

that answered their question. The fusion jumped back and looked up, and found that Discord had now suddenly appeared with them, hanging out right above them in the same tree, laying in it as if it were a hammock.

"Well, isn't this quite a surprise, another fusion! You know, you really sure get around Steven; first Connnie, then Amethyst, and now Ruby. … Where're Twilight and the girls?"

"First off. How do we know you're really you?" The fusion questioned. Out in such a place, and with the Changelings out and about still, they had to be sure this wasn't some trick.
Discord didn't have to do very much: a few snaps of his fingers got all the proof he needed. bushes started to do the hokey-pokey nearby, rocks swirled into the air, and the tree turned into a brand of chocolate.

"Shall I continue?" Discord asked with a smug grin.

"No. And can I have some of that?" the fusion asked. Discord snapped his talon, turning everything back to normal, and conjured up a good sized meal for the fusion: a plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, a typical thanksgiving plate. not chocolate, but heck, it was better than the grub they've been given in the prison. The fusion's eyes sparkled before she sat down and ate up the best meal she had in days. It was enough to make her cry even.

"By the way, have you thought of a name for yourself? Because I've been wanting to give you some names, and you always beat me to the punch," Discord said, rolling out a lift of potential OC names for this fusion, which rolled over her.

"Oh? Well, I don't actually know. It kind of just happened," the fusion replied, eating up her meal. "Where have you been, anyway? Fluttershy said she hadn't heard from you in weeks."

Discord was about ready to answer, but his own tail actually slapped him in the back of the head, waving its finger at him. Discord was annoyed, but he had to comply.

"Well, that's not important. See you got away from that horde of yours?"

"Yeah, we - … wait, OH YEAH, what am I doing? Discord, we need to get back! The Changelings are planning on invading Earth and using our danger on Equestria! We have to warn the others!" The fusion said, remembering the problem at hand. Discord didn't seem too fazed, stretching in his tree.

"Another problem? you know, if I were you, I'd try to remotely cool down on the danger alarm. Your friends have quite a bit over their heads right now, with the Tindalos attack coming up and a Pony of shadows running around the place," Discord advised.

"... WHAAAAAT?" the fusion asked. So now all of a sudden they had THREE problems to worry about?! And all of them sound like life-threatening problems. Discord just nodded his head, as he hang upside down in the same tree.

"What? Too much?"

"Oh stars, what do we do?! gottothinkfast, GOT! TO! THINK! FAST!" the fusion said in a panic, running back and forth trying to think on what to do. Bad enough the Changelings were going to Earth, but with the Pony of Shadows AND Tindalos, the Crystal Gems don't have a chance at this state. Far as they knew, they didn't know any of this!

"Since when were you two so panicky? I remember when angry ruby and carefree Steven were the main tropes for you two."

"DISCORD, our friends are in danger! We're trapped out here in the Badlands, we got Changeling copies disguised as us, probably getting information from them like some living tape recorders! Equestria's in danger, and so is Earth!" the fusion explained. Not much off the nose of this Draconequus, him even yawning. The fusion got even more upset.

"Are you even listening?"

"I heard you, but that's not much for the spirit of chaos Ruby. Yes, Ruby, because you're temper's flaring again," Discord said, even roasting some marshmallows off of the fusion's head. The fusion groaned. The only one that was actually her friend (heavily quoted) and he didn't really care. Steven wasn't normally this upset with someone like Discord, but Ruby was simply fuming.

"Why are you so distant? All our friends are out there: the Crystal Gems, Beach City, Twilight and her friends, they're all -" the fusion stopped cold when discord leaned down from his tree, now right in her face with a cold glare.

"They're after Fluttershy?"

"Um … yeah."

"WHERE?" Discord asked, his eyes giving a glowing hue of red, even turning into slits like a lizard. Well, at least Ruby and Steven knew how to get Discord into action.

I didn't think Discord cared that much for Fluttershy.

Of course he does, they're pen pals for life.

"Well Chrysalis used a Warp Pad, so wherever the closest Warp Pad would be to the Crystal Temple would work -"

*SNAP*

...

And off they went. In one quick snap of the fingers, the fusion and Discord were both teleported from the Badlands, and off to basically the Crystal Temple. Though the exact location Discord popped them into one of the inner rooms of the Crystal Temple. Specifically, the Crystal Heart. It'd been ages since they've last seen the Crystal Heart, and nowadays the heart was left dormant. Too weak to keep the power of the temple running.

"... Not exactly where I want it, but, WOO!" the fusion said, a bit mixed, but glad to be home.

"Funny, I didn't plan for us to be brought here. I intended for the nearest warp pad, but there is no Warp Pad," Discord said, slithering over the walls, ceiling, and floor, only to find nothing present anywhere that would even vaguely resemble a warp pad. The fusion looked around too for a method to leave, but all she found was the heart itself.

The Crystal Heart. ...

Steven wasn't wrong. The heart looked almost infected at the current state, too weak to even keep itself lit up, let alone power up anything. It was thin, a bit dry, and not a single pump could be heard from it.

We don't have time for this! Everyone's in trouble!

But, Ruby, look at it. It's looks so sick now. So sad. So lifeless. … I don't think we can ever get here again after this.

W-Well, I guess so … b-but we still have Chrysalis, Tindalos, and Shadow Pony remember?

I know, I'm not leaving unfinished world saving behind. But ...

"Conflicted?" Discord then asked the fusion. Indeed she looked it. On one hand, there was her friends, but on the other hand, there was the Crystal Heart. Eventually though, when all was said and done, the fusion nodded her head, both sides agreeing.

"Discord, can you lift me up to the heart? I want to try something," the fusion replied. Discord was wanting to save Fluttershy from this impending doom, but he took a look to the heart. His teleportation wouldn't go against him if it wasn't for something outside even him. So, in cartoon fashion, he made his body into a set of stairs, leading up just high enough to reach the heart. The fusion walked right up him, and soon found herself standing right in front of the heart. The fusion brought out her tongue, and readied to lick her hand, but then a thought struck her, looking to the gem palm of her other hand.

"This might feel a little weird," the fusion said, before giving a good lick onto the gemstone. Ruby shivered a ton, which extended to the fusion herself, but it was plenty enough spit to try and fix this. The fusion then proceeded to place it onto the surface, feeling how cold and rough it felt to the touch, as if it too was freezing.

Nothing. Again.

"No, come on, work with us," the fusion said, trying again. Steven had only tried once before, and that barely did anything. Now with the determination from Ruby and care from Steven, this fusion was not willing to give up on the Crystal Heart so easily. She gave it spittake after spittake, trying to heal it, and it still didn't seem to show much of anything.

"You two done standing on my head yet? It's getting cold underneath you," Discord asked.

"Cold … cold … THAT'S IT! We have to warm it up!" the fusion concluded. It was hard to spring back to life from being so cold. If there was a chance, she was gonna take it. The fusion gave her hands one more hearty healing spit, but this time, instead of just slapping it onto the heart, she gave her spit some extra stimulant, and rubbed her hands together.

"Clear!" she shouted. Ruby's natural heat mixed with Steven's healing spit, and heated it up before she placed the now steaming hot saliva onto the heart in a slam. The hit actually made the heart thump, but didn't keep it up. The fusion repeated the process a few more times, warming up the healing saliva before slamming it onto the heart to make it reflow and repump again. Discord watched the determination edging the Gem's face with each attempt she made, no sign of surrender. It honestly was a bit impressive.

"CLEAR!" the fusion shouted again, slamming the spit onto the heart, making it pump again. How much healing power was it going to take to actually revive the heart? Her mouth was getting a bit dry, but she had a feeling this one was going to be the one, and she added friction once again. This one she was extra forceful with, and she didn't notice the slight sparks coming from her.

"CLEAR!"

*ZAAAAPPP* And then came the sparks. The fusion didn't realize what even happened right away, and the sparks flashed out. Not close to some electrical attempts like Garnet, or Fulgurite, but it was still enough to match a defibrillator. And just as effective, as the hit that time was extra powerful on the heart.

……. *ba-bump* ……. *ba-bump* ……

… *ba-bump* … *ba-bump* … *ba-bump*

*ba-bump**ba-bump**ba-bump**ba-bump*

"YES!" the fusion cheered, jumping off of Discord, as the Crystal Heart began to slowly return to life. It took every ouch of spit she had, but it all paid off at long last, the heart slowly beginning to brighten up the room once again. Discord returned to normal, as they watched the heart revive itself, flowing the once-stagnant energy once again. But as they watched, the heart suddenly just … stopped. And glowed.

… *BA-BUMP*!

"WHOA! what was that?" the fusion asked, spooked by the sudden noise. one of the veins was glowing as well with something inside of it.

"I don't know. Now, you were going on your world-saving mission?" Discord reminded.

"Oh yeah! first the Crystal Heart, now everyone else!"

The fusion, thanks to the power now starting to come back to the temple, the fusion began to go off on her way. Ruby and Steven remembered the path going to Amethyst's room from the temple, and as the doors were finally working, they didn't hesitate as they raced right through the door, over the front Warp Pad, and right through the Beach House doors …

… BEACH HOUSE?! The fusion skidded to a stop and turned back to the Temple.

"WHOA, WHAT?! MY ROOM'S BACK!" the fusion gasped. So caught up in one thing she didn't notice the blatant object right in front of her. How the heck did that happen? Well, she didn't have time to work that out for now.

"No, no, you can solve the mystery of spontaneously appearing houses later. I'M COMING, GUYS!" the fusion shouted, rushing right up the beach.

As for what happened? There was only one clue, engraved on one of the support beams of the Beach House. Just two words that were never there before.

Thank You.

To Change the Future PT2

View Online

"AAAHHH!"

Winter was a cruel enough time for many a pony, but this day grew even more colder as the skies grew dark with the arrival of the Pony of Shadows. He found a pretty secluded spot, a small village where all the houses were lined up in a row. The ponies all had to only run and hide away in their homes as the gigantic Alicorn moved into the village, seeing the many fearful expressions on the ponies around him. The clouds above him darkened a bit, but while it did block some of the sun, the Pony of Shadows began to feel a bit uneasy. Weak. He looked up to the sun, feeling its warmth and heat, and like a vampire had to go and find some shade away from the sun. The Pony of shadows left behind a town of bitter coldness, enough so that ice was left on many of the buildings. But for the Pony of Shadows, it still was a settlement, and that was not enough for him.

"This realm is too bright," he snarled, "Even in such a cold time, the darkness is in such small amounts. … Curse you, Starswirl." the Pony of Shadows gritted his teeth, his hooves digging into the snow. "There has to be someplace to draw power."

The Alicorn-like Umbra tried to think hard on where to go. He had tried numerous spots all over the place already: the Griffonstone Abysmal abyss, the scorching deserts near Klugetown, even the thicket of Everfree Forest. But even if the areas he'd gone to were dark in their own right, they still weren't enough. He needed somewhere where there's a LOT of darkness, somewhere he can gain power quickly, and easily. But now, Eqiestria couldn't provide that to him as well as it used to be. Then again, most of Equestria back then was torches and farmland. Nowadays, over half of the items the Pony of Shadows couldn't truly recognize all that much, and it didn't help him too well at all.
In frustration, the Pony of Shadows moved on, leaping up into the air and disappearing in the blink of an eye. If he could say one thing, he did make life a little bit harder for the ponies of the village. There HAD to be somewhere where he could harness a lot more energy, but where? Clearly the "dark realms" in Equus weren't as dark anymore.

"His influence has spread everywhere. How am I going to harness what I need if there's barely a spot left in this realm? …"

Then he stopped. Of course! The realm he returned to was a very dull and comforting one comparatively speaking, so if he can't get what he needed in this realm, there was only one main thing to do. With a grin stretching along his face, the alicorn of darkness brought out his wings, and flew skyward, disappearing in seconds, as his own sonic boom moved away the hazy clouds.

If you can't do well in one world, you'll just have to go somewhere else.

The Pony of Shadows had found his location.

It was a bit of a new spot in the memory of this Umbra, but the moment his own planetary teleportation finished was just the moment he needed. He looked around for a minute soon as he landed, checking what kind of place he teleported himself to. A canyon of sorts, completely barren, empty, not a sign of any plant anywhere. The snow couldn't even land on the ground without dissolving, as if the ground itself won't accept any natural entity in its presence. All that did remain were holes. Lots. And lots. Of holes. Holes, and odd machines scattered around everywhere. A sinister smile extended from cheek to cheek on his muzzle, feeling the energy amongst the place. Or lack there of.

"LOVELY. All this darkness. Not an inch of light or Starswirl's influence. I'll be at full power in no time …"

~~~~~~

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!" Trixie bellowed in Sapphire's face, on the verge of a complete panic overload. "Now we got a Changeling horde, a Tindalos invasion, AND some crazed mad shadow pony trying to destroy the world. WE'RE DOOMED!"

No one ever did say there wasn't going to be a catch to bringing the pillars back from the dead. Now with the Pony of Shadows now released onto the world, their previous two worldly issues now grew into three, and even with the Pillars of Equestria, including Starswirl the Bearded himself now out and alive again, this was a bit of a tall order to fill. And with them all still at Ponhenge, they needed to get everyone caught up.

"How long have we've been gone?" asked Meadowbrook.

"Over a thousand years," replied Fluttershy. As probably expected, this news did surprise much of the pillars. Well, except for Starswirl, who actually felt pretty good.

"So my spell did work," Starswirl said. "and the realms had been at peace, for a millennium."

"Well … I wouldn't say "completely" at peace," Lapis Lazuli said, humbly. To say that nothing bad had happened since they've been away would, well, be lying. They all would know, after all.

"How so?" Rockhoof questioned.

"Well, let's see … the Elements of Harmony had faced Nightmare Moon from turning the world into darkness, Discord who wanted complete chaos, King Sombra who tried taking over the crystal empire -"

"Lapis, summarize," Amethyst cut in. They had little time to explain everything in detail.

"Ok, sorry. Anyway, they've faced Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, King Sombra, and when our worlds eventually met, we faced Sombra again, alongside Tirek and Jasper, then … well, I guess not much happened here over Earth, except for Starlight changing time, and an invasion on White Diamond's part. And now there's a threat from Chrysalis again, Tindalos, … and I guess now the Pony of Shadows." She did feel uneasy for the Pony of Shadow bit, but that was quite an impressive record.

"In short, we saved the world LOTS of times," confirmed Bismuth.

"Well if that's the case, defeating the Pony of Shadows will be a synch as soon as we find him," Flash Magnus said, ready for anything like any soldier. Starswirl the Bearded though wasn't convinced.

"We'll see. It is easy to say you've saved both Earth and Equus. It's quite another to do it," Starswirl said.

"Oh, we saved the world, Beardo, and we can do it again," Fulgurite said, even flipping Starswirl's beard. Starswirl himself was not too convinced, and stepped away from the Gem, looking around at the now destroyed Ponhenge.

"Be that as it may, the question still remains on the whereabouts of the Pony of Shadows."

"Hey, don't forget about the Changelings and Tindalos, they're an issue too," reminded Emerald. Starswirl wasn't really that troubled though.

"A minor issue, clearly."

"Minor issue? If we leave them alone, they'll take over everything!" said Rhodonite.

"Starswirl, is it? I-I know you don't believe us … but, these threats, they are real," Jade added.

"I'm not denying they are, but we have far more important, actual threats to worry about," Starswirl retorted, firmly, and … strangely familiar to Jade. She knew how to handle behavior like this, and she went in Starswirl's way, actually grabbing his cloak so he could stand still.

"Starswirl, please. I know you're worried about the Pony of Shadows, but … you'll have to handle Chrysalis and the Tindalos too, if you truly want this realm safe. If you leave it alone, it will just grow stronger."

"If the Pony of Shadows has his way, this realm will not exist! These dangers are nothing in comparison," Starswirl retorted.

"H-How so?" Rhodonite shivered.

"The Pony of Shadows is an Umbra: a being of pure hatred, cold, and darkness, seeking those with equally ill minds to use in its plans, and making the worlds we all live in, into nothing but a wasteland."

Starswirl paused to look around him, seeing much of the snow remaining, as he picked some up with his hooves.

"And what a time for my spell to be meddled with." He said as he glared as Twilight for a brief moment, making her shy away. "Winter is the prime time for the Pony of Shadows to regain his strength."

"So what does this mean?" Star Quartz asked.

"It means that, if we don't relocate the Pony of Shadows and return him to Limbo, then all of Equus will be nothing more than a barren, Windigo-infested plain. All life will be wiped away in time, the dreaded Umbra being the only thing remaining."

"AND suddenly being attacked by Tindalos doesn't sound too bad," Tiger's Eye commented, feeling a lot of shivers run through her on the description. Even if most of them are Gems, and this wouldn't really bother them, at the expense of seeing Equestria fall was NOT going to suite any of them well at all. Jade tried to think of something to say, but the authority of this unicorn was enough to keep her quiet, as much as she didn't want to be silenced.

"What're we waiting for then?" Bismuth asked, "He'll be begging to go back to Limbo when we find him."

"THAT is the spirit I like to see," Flash Magnus said.

"As enthusiastic as you are, we're still unaware of his location. And this land is vast, even more so, now with Earth involved in the range," Starswirl noted.

"Sounds like you need a map. And we got just the thing," Sapphire said, feeling a bit more confident now. All this was fine and good, but some of them had to interject.

"Wait, wait, wait, we're not just gonna ignore Chrysalis and the Tindalos, are we?" Rhodonite asked.

"No, of course not," said Jade. "But …"

"Remember, you two, we already sent our group to the Hive already. Let's focus on the problem we have now, and work our way to the rest," Jasper reassured them.

It's not like any of them would do well inside the hive anyway.

…….

"GUYS! Guys, are you around here?!"

As for the fusion in question, she was still trying her own best to locate where the Crystal Gems and Elements of Harmony even were. It was a bit hard for them to say though, and even the barn was a bit vacant of Gems and Ponies. and that area usually had at least the Off-Colors present there.

"Aww, not here either. And I REALLY wanna show them me too," the fusion said. Just imagining the faces they would have for not only seeing them alright, but seeing them as a new fusion, it would just make them all flip out! Too bad he couldn't find them. Sitting just outside the barn on a hay bale, the fusion sat down and tried to figure out the main game plan.

"Okay. If I were them, where would I be? … All my friends are gone somewhere, probably finding either a Changeling Queen, the Pony of Shadows, or a large dog pack. either that, or they're all caught by Chrysalis and everyone else is in a life-changing fight that I'm not apart of, which really sucks. … Or maybe they've already won, and are just hiding, waiting to surprise ol' Steven and Ruby with a big get-together Pinkie-style party to celebrate. …"

That last one was clearly hopeful thinking, though in the end it was very rare to think that. Regardless, they had nowhere to really go on.

"Discord, can't you help me find them?" the fusion then asked, looking up to the top of the barn, where Discord was trying to keep himself busy by reading a recent newspaper, not seemingly caring all too much. He was just there to observe, and the fusion really didn't have much to get him to change his mind now. The fusion just sighed, and with a telescope she picked up from the barnhouse, the fusion went away from the barnhouse and to the nearby barn silo. It was taller than the barn, so spotting anything from up there would be easier to do.

"Hmm … there's a tree … some cows … Wait, is that Pinkie?! No, that's just a bumpy snowpile. must've been working on that one. … The garden's looking good for winter, though."

"Any luck finding your friends yet?" Discord suddenly asked, suddenly in the lens on the telescope, standing inside of it as if it were a tunnel. The fusion shook the Draconequus out, him re-growing back to his normal size.

"Nothing yet. They can't have gone that far away, I just got back! Sure, I've been gone for a few days, but you'd think Amethyst would get a bite to eat, or Lapis practicing with Jamie, or at least Sapphire at the Temple. … Poor Sapphire. She's all torn up in all of this too …" the fusion brushed off a tear from one of her eyes, before looking back into the telescope. "Well, that's the most important thing now: find my friends and save the worlds! … Soon as I know where they are."
As the fusion was busy with her telescope, Discord had that look on his face of some form of guilt. He REALLY wanted to try a little bit here, he REALLY wanted to get Fluttershy at least. If anything were to happen to her, he would never -

*slap* another hit from his own tail, as if it was reminding him of something.

"Oh, be quiet you," Discord grumbled. the tail turned into a head of Discord, shaking side to side in disapproval.

"Fluttershy is stuck out there somewhere, can't I just zap at least ONE of them away? To make it easier?"

The head shook again. Discord was getting annoyed with this. Whatever his tail was thinking, it wasn't gonna cooperate with the rest of his body.

"Well you're not the boss of me, I'M the boss of me, and if I say I wanna - MMMPH!" His tail, seemingly insulted, wrapped itself around Discord's mouth. Discord pulled and yanked to get it to let go, accidentally falling right off of the silo as he did so. Only the loud thud from below re-caught the attention of the fusion. And see was quick to get down from the silo, seeing the Draconequus on the ground in a daze.

"You alright?!"

"OH, nothing that a spirit of chaos like me couldn't handle," he joked. He chuckled a little bit, brushing it off, but Ruby and Steven were around the block long enough to understand something was off with Discord. So far, except that one moment to get them here, discord had been more distant and uncaring than usual. The Draconequus caught the silence, and re-summoned that newspaper, turning his back to them.

"Oh, look at that, hehhehe - please don't come over, please don't come over."

They came over. And Steven took the controls to see what was up with the draconequus.

"You okay? You've been acting a bit funny. but, more suspicious than usual, even for you."

"WHAT? Me? Oh, come on you two, that's just my shtick that's all."

"But you were just fighting your own tail," the fusion said. "And it sounds like you're being held back by something, so, what is it?"

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm the spirit of chaos, and disharmony, I don't get "Held back"!" Discord said, and as a visual point, he showed himself in a restrainers jacket, just to pop out of it with ease before it disappeared. However, his tail began to act up again, looking at him and making sure he didn't go on, which made Discord stomp on it with his tail to keep it down.

"OH NO, Discord! Please, we all went through this already with Pearl and that was very hard on everyone. I don't want to go through that again with you," the fusion said, sincerity in tone. Discord made sure his tail to firmly on the ground, even summoning a ball and chain to weigh it down, the other head straining and angry.

"And added note: is you're tail in with whatever this is?" the fusion added, pointing to the angry tail. Discord huffed, and cleared his throat.

"Honestly, kids, there's a reason why I couldn't just pop back whenever I wanted to. I know EXACTLY what's going to happen, as I would always do."

"Well if you knew, why didn't you try to do something?!" the fusion asked. The tail thrashed to try and reach his head, but Discord kept talking.

"I would obviously, especially for my pen pal Fluttershy, but it seems some spirits outside of your world and mine don't take kindly to my help," Discord revealed, hearing a grumbling screaming from the tail, the face in the dirt.

"Other spirits?"

"Yes, of course. You know, Quetzalcoatl, Time Jumper - Amethyst told you that one -, and there's this "spirit of the world yet to come" that's especially bitter."
The tail was crying now in defeat, until discord picked up his tail end, looking it right in the face. "now will you let go of my tail?"

The face then disappeared, but not before glaring daggers at the Draconequus. At least now Discord had a LOT more magic at his disposal, feeling a lot more free as he stretched, and cracked his fingers.

"Now we're talking. Alright, you two, ready to save the world with your friends?"

"You know we are ... oh, but where do we go first? UGH, there's so many!"

"Pick a card then," Discord suggested, summoning up three cards in his lion paw. Each one was one of the villains out there in the field, and since the fusion was more interested in getting the task done, she just went on and snatched one.

"Come on baby, be a good one," she told herself, just before she took a look at what she snatched up.

Chrysalis.

"Oooo, the irony hurts me so," the fusion sighed. She just got away from Chrysalis, and suddenly it was going back there again? Discord didn't see the problem with it.

"Oh, well, life always loves giving you a wild card sometimes. FOR FLUTTERSHY!" Discord announced. He was just ready to snap his fingers and get them going, but before they could do that, Discord and the fusion both heard a door begin to open up back at the barn. The doors showed a bright white glow, and then they both began to hear faint screams coming from it.
And then they all tumbled out: Fluttershy, Connie Maheswaran, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Thorax. Wherever the portal was made to escape, it was in a bit of a hurry, more so evident when Pinkie and Rainbow bolted up and slammed the doors behind them before anything else could follow them. They brushed themselves off, and it took little time for them to actually see them off nearby.

"HUH? Steven? Ruby?" Rainbow asked.

"Ta-da," the fusion said, presenting herself with a smile. Naturally, the first reaction came from Pinkie, super psyched not only to see them okay, but seeing their fusion together. She tackled the fusion with her signature hugs, and the fusion was knocked onto her rear from the force, joined by Connie who was equally happy to see them. Discord was the next to react, seeing Fluttershy. He too went in for a hug, lifting the mare off the ground, and hugging her but also checking her.

"Fluttershy, thank heavens, did those nasty Changelings hurt you?" Discord asked.

"No. I'm alright," Fluttershy replied, much to Discord's relief. Meanwhile, much of the others were with the fusion.

"I can't believe this, you're both a fusion! Oh, we've got a lot to catch you up on, there's so much going on, I -"

"Don't worry, Connie, Discord filled me in," the fusion said, laughing a little bit from the overwhelming amount of love. The ONLY one hesitant on going over was Thorax, who simply stood off nearby the barn door. He may be friends with some of them, but Steven and Ruby didn't meet him yet. And as he probably expected, the moment the fusion saw him standing there, she took on the offensive.

"CHANGELING!" the fusion gasped, jumping up, and standing between Thorax and the ponies, arms spread.

"Whoa, hold on there sugarcube. He's a reformed Changeling, he's on our side ain't you Thorax," Applejack filled in. Guess Discord didn't give her all the details. Thorax needed a bit to actually speak, trying to comprehend this fusion aspect. He was still shaken when told about them being eaten, and the hive turning on him.

"Yes," Thorax replied. "It's nice to meet you. So, are you Steven and Ruby? … Uh, together?"
The fusion was quicker to listen to Thorax though, seeing that he was by far the friendlier Changeling compared to what she had just been hit with. However, while Steven was quick to forgive, Ruby was still suspicious.

"Ok, I believe them … but how do I know you're not some other Changeling pretending to be Thorax?" the fusion asked. Thorax honestly can't blame them, considering it was them both who got locked up and him being the one to replace one of them alongside Pharynx. But how was he going to convince them of that if he barely knew them, nor had much proof on him? The only difference he had now over before was his shining wings, but that was hardly much.

"I … I guess these? I'm the only Changeling to have them … but then again, any Changeling can look like anybody I suppose, so …" At least he was honest.

"Don't worry, we know he's not another Changeling. We probably wouldn't be able to get out of the hive if it weren't for his help," Fluttershy reassured.

"Y-You went into the hive?!" the fusion asked.

"We went looking for you silly, soon as Pharynx spilt the beans HARD on us. Well not literally spilt beans, but more metaphorically as in -"

"Ok, we get it, Pinkie," Rainbow cut in, stopping the mare from pointless exposition. Hard to believe it was Pharynx who seemingly spilt these beans, but that did put some load off of Thorax. He could say it wasn't just him at least.

"Okay then, where're the others? Are they with you?"

"They're trying to handle the other things right now; planning for the Tindalos attack, and finding a way to banish a Pony of Shadows back into Limbo with the Pillars of Equestria," Connie explained. The ONE detail Discord didn't tell her about.

"And knowing we all just left, those Changelings are gonna be all over us! … Eh, Thorax? How often do you all get hungry?" Rainbow asked. Thorax took a minute to think on it.

"Um … actually, I haven't been ever since I met Sapphire and Spike. And Changelings are always hungry," Thorax answered. Now this was interesting.

"But you're not hungry at all now?" the fusion asked.

"Guess after I made friends with you guys, I just forgotten about the whole feeding thing. … Now that I think about it, it's the same time my wings changed," Thorax realized, fluttering his wings as they shined in the light. This conversation was cut short when Discord yawned.

"This is all very fascinating, but speaking of Changelings, weren't we just going off to stop them before they come back with army tanks to Canterlot?" Discord reminded.

"Oh yeah! What's with me?" the fusion groaned. She needed to keep her focus on the task, and these side-stops weren't making it any easier. But luckily this time, she had a bit of backup with her.

"Well if you're going to do that, then we're gonna be right there with you," Rainbow Dash said, a bit more determined than normal. She already abandoned Sniper in the hive, and she wasn't gonna ditch this again. Many of the others were in the same boat, some more eager than others, and the fusion was more than glad for it.

"Let's go."

~~~~~~

"Hmm … Something about this magic seems familiar."

A well thing that much of the Elements of Harmony and Crystal Gems did have a map to offer the Pillars of Equestria not long after their "revival", otherwise they'd be going nowhere as well as team B. It took little time for them to get there thanks to the portal keys, and the map itself seemed to be a bit more dormant than last time they checked it (and Twilight had been on the ball with seeing the map for days since the teams split). Starswirl the Bearded took mental notes on the structure of the map, showing not only Equestria, but Earth as well, with only one side him being very familiar with, and the other … well, it got his memory going a bit.
There was still a sort of new concept, but the magic it was using was what Starswirl wanted to figure out, as his horn began to glow a bit. Focusing on the magic, one simple zap, and the entire map's surface turned into an all white light, and a hologram of the Tree of Harmony now stood up in the place of the map, surprising everyone else there.

"Did you know he could do that?" Rarity whispered.

"It's Starswirl, he can do anything!" replied Twilight.

"Just as I thought. So this map, indeed, grew from the same seed we've planted over a thousand years ago!" Starswirl concluded.

"The Tree of Harmony did come from you?!" Lapis gasped. "That's incredible!"

"Each one of us sealed our magic within the seed, so that it would grow into a force for good," Somnambula explained, "So that in the absence of us, the realm will still be in the protection of the noble virtues."

"Which are … what exactly?" Pearl asked.

"The representations each one of our own elements: Hope, Strength, Beauty, Bravery, Healing, and Sorcery," Somnambula replied, pointing out each pillar of Equestria as she did so. Not exactly the names of the Elements of Harmony, but the representations were still there all the same, even with different names.

"Well, you all did a good job, Equestria's looking very bright nowadays," Amethyst pointed out.

"Far better than compared to Earth," added Tiger's Eye, "Maybe you can spread your magic back to our world. Maybe brighten up the place? We could use it."

"A magical problem in your world, lass?" Rockhoof asked.

"Well I wouldn't say "magical problem", but more like magic popping up out of nowhere and we have no clue what to do with it."

"Problems for later," Starswirl said, getting their attention back to the map, "The more important matter is that we don't need Ponhenge to send our foe off back to Limbo. We can use the stored magic within this "Tree of Harmony". It would be just enough as the magic held within Ponhenge to duplicate our spell."

"Thank the stars," Rhodonite sighed.

"Eeehhh not to ruin the mood, Mr. beard, but the tree's not here," Bismuth said.

"I can see that," Starswirl said, looking around the cave. Twilight spoke up again.

"No, what she means is … well, the Tree of Harmony was actually right in this same cave. But now …" Twilight didn't need to finish for the pillars to see the point. He stroke his beard in thought again, but shook his head.

"I see. … Well, in that case, we'll need another powerful source of magic to replicate its power. The question that remains being what? …"
There was some silence amongst the crowd for a while, trying to think over what was the answer to this riddle. There was a lot of magic, sure, but what would be good enough to match the Tree of Harmony? …

"...…. I predict we'd be stumped over the Elements' replication," said Padparadscha out of nowhere.

"You mean the Tree of Harmony," corrected Flash Magnus. Padparadscha was quiet for a moment, but her mentioning Elements instead of the tree, did suddenly strike Rarity's mind.

"Of course, the Elements of Harmony! We can use that!" Rarity concluded.

"I predict we'd find our answer," Padparadscha added. The only ones confused on this was the Pillars themselves, trying to think of a time this was ever mentioned.

"Eh … mind explaining?" asked Flash.

"It's the elements that came from your tree! They go by different names of course: Generosity, Magic, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, and Honesty!"

"Ay, that sounds about right," Rockhoof concluded. It did sound like a close match, if not an exact match. Again, different names for the same element. Starswirl took a moment to think.

"Hmm … a copy of our elements passed to the modern generation. As a caution in case the source would fail … yes, good conclusion," Starswirl confirmed. He went back to the map, and Twilight … well, she didn't want to say anything, but she kept her bit of temper to herself. Too bad Padparadscha was right there.

"I predict someone would be jelly. Hard."

"W-what? Jealous, who's jealous?! … okay, a little bit," Twilight admitted blushing. At least she was quick to being honest about it.

"All good, but where do we even find the Pony of Shadows? Or the Tindalos, or Chrysalis for that matter? They could be anywhere by now," Jasper asked, looking to a number of spots on the map. At least the Pony of shadows, in his conquest to seek darkness, had some ideas. The other two? not so much.

"See you're all still troubled over those other threats?"

"They captured Ruby and Steven, and plan on attacking us, so yeah we're gonna wonder and prepare for that," said Pink Diamond. Starswirl dismissed it again.

"As I've stated, the Pony of Shadows is far bigger of a monster than either one of those things. We can't afford to lose focus on what's really important here."

"You mean the threat involving only you?"

Everyone stopped on that voice, and Starswirl turned over to Star Quartz, who'd been quietly standing by up to this point.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Starswirl questioned.

"I've heard this before. You're only after the Pony of shadows because it's your involvement. … Everything else means nothing to you."

THAT part made Starswirl angry, and Twilight very nervous.

"I've worked for years, I'll have you know, to do the better for all of Equestria! If it really meant nothing to me, I wouldn't have even involved myself to begin with! Don't try and think otherwise."

"But why're you so sure to not help with Chrysalis and Tindalos then?" she asked, head tilted like a confused dog. Starswirl had little time for this conversation, and went back to the map.

"Because the Pony of Shadows will use that time to draw more power, while we mess around with this wolf and "Changeling" as you call it. Any time we waste will give him an advantage."

"But that'd be the same thing for Chrysalis and Tindalos too, won't it? If we focus too much on the Pony of shadows, it will give them time to -"

"MADAM!" Starswirl cut in. "You got your modern threats, I know, but we've seen the power he has at full strength. Even in his weakened state he's powerful enough to take down an Alicorn easily. If he reaches full strength again, we won't stand a chance. At the least, we must find the Elements of Harmony and have the power ready before he reaches his full potential."
Star Quartz did go quiet about it, but what she said did give the others a little bit to think about, according to what kind of logic they had in mind. Star moved on to the back, where Diopside, Trixie, Starlight, and Jade both were waiting this out just outside the cave.

"Didn't work, huh?" Starlight asked.

"I don't think so. Sorry."

"It's alright. You did what you could," Jade replied. Jade had explained some doubt on this "hero" of theirs to them already, and this attempt just wasn't going to work as easily as they thought if the direct approach failed.

"Well that was all good," Trixie grumbled, "The greatest pony in existence has a Flint-sized case of a one-track mind. What now?"

"I-I don't know," Starlight answered, "Chrysalis and Sniper's pack are on their way, and we brought them back for that problem. Not saying it's not important that the Pony of shadows is a problem too - remind me to say "I told you so" to them later - but we can't ignore the others either."

"Well, we might as well serve ourselves on a silver platter, because he's not gonna do anything," Trixie concluded, laying down on the cold rocky ground.

"There must be someway get him to take this more seriously," Jade said. "Either side is going to take advantage of this, and he won't focus on anything other than the Pony of Shadows."

"Well why don't you two talk to him? Starlight said you have someone named Flint who did the exact same thing?" Trixie questioned.

"It's … not the same. Flint and I knew eachother for thousands of years, and I only knew Starswirl for a few hours," Jade answered.

"So? He acts EXACTLY the same as Flint. Isn't there some method you use to get Flint to listen that can help him listen?" Starlight asked. Jade really wasn't sure how to answer that question. Flint and Starswirl may have their same problems, but there still was a keen difference between a Gem hybrid from a science-focused Diamond, and a history-engraved Unicorn with all magic at his disposal. The dangers for ticking off Starswirl the Bearded were a bit greater than with Flint, and she was thankful Star quartz got out of it without any trouble.
On the subject though, Diopside suddenly got a flash of inspiration, her normal eye starry, and soon she got a more serious expression on her face as she turned to Jade.

"We've exhausted all other options. Jade, it's time to use -"

"NO," Jade simply said.

"Come on, please? I haven't seen you do it in so long!" Diopside said, now pleading. Jade turned away.

"NO."

"Uh, do what?" Starlight asked.

"It's Jade's … "secret weapon"," said Diopside. Jade got flustered on hearing THAT out of Diopside, but the options were kind of limited here.

"I don't think fighting him will help anything," Star said.

"Not that kind of weapon. Jade, can't you try it please?" Diopside asked once more.

"NO. I don't like doing it."

"Just once? Pleeeease? It worked so well on Flint." Diopside was very determined for this to happen, but Jade just wasn't feeling for using that method on Starswirl the Bearded.

"For the first few days," Jade murmured.

"Guys, come here, the map's acting up again!" called Rhodonite.

And indeed it was. As everyone went back inside to see the situation, the Pillars, Elements, and Crystal Gems present looked and saw the map starting to become active. When they took a look, the map began to show, not cutie Marks, but a sort of black void opening up on some particular areas of the map. Where exactly the area was did humble some of the Gems, the void being right above what appeared to be one of Earth's Kindergartens. How fitting. Some other potential spots were scattered amongst Earth's surface, along with a few on Equestria, though most were shown on the Earth side.

"Our foe's seeking dark places in which to draw power," Starswirl concluded.

"Most of them on Earth, huh? No surprise there," Tiger's Eye shrugged.

"How so?"

"There's that "Magic no control" thingy I mentioned, but also our world's just more, well, "dark" than this storybook planet," Tiger's Eye replied. Starswirl the Bearded pondered for the moment. But then, as the sources of darkness swirled, something else also came up: a mark. But no ordinary mark, but this one looked more like a flower. Not Mistmane's flower, but still a flower with three petals on it. And it floated right above the Prime Kindergarten of all places.

"You think the map's trying to show us where the Pony of Shadows is?" Twilight asked.

"Hmm … the Tree of Harmony acting to protect the light realms … yes, a good thought Twilight."

Twilight was no longer jealous, eyes sparkling as she gasped. Her idol giving her a compliment?! A memory she'll cherish forever. But this wasn't just for the one spot, as two notable petals broke away. One turned green and dry, the other, gray and burnt, bring placed over in areas nearby. As for the remaining flower, it turned into the same smoke, only in a single petal. It showed the Tindalos and the Changelings in similar spots, and the Pony of Shadows right in the prime Kindergarten. And all three were dangerously close to eachother.

"They're all on Earth now?" wondered Bismuth.

"Sure, why not? It's not like our world hasn't been pelted enough by magic in the last years," Peridot remarked.

"More importantly, we know the whereabouts of our foe. I will revive my spell, while the rest of you gather the Elements of Harmony so that we may strike as soon as we find him!"

"And Chrysalis and Tindalos, or you still gonna be stubborn about it? I mean, THEY'RE RIGHT THERE," Amethyst pointed out. Starswirl groaned again.

"How many times must I say it? The Pony of Shadows is the top priority. Nothing you say is going to change that!"

… And then, they all began to hear someone actually cry a little bit. It was faint, but sorrowful and soft, just enough to get the attention of the unicorn. The tears belonged to Jade.

"What's wrong now?"

"M-My friends are out there. They're captured by those creatures. We thought that you would be brave and strong enough to face them, but *sniff* what hope is there now? The Pony of Shadows? Tindalos? Chrysalis … it's too much. And now our only hope is too busy to help." Jade wiped away some tears from her face.

"Your friends will be fine when the Pony of Shadows is dealt with."

"But what the point now? Chrysalis probably drained all of their love by now … or those Tindalos might've eaten them out in the cold. … What a long way to go for the world to torture us all like this …" Jade fell to her knees in defeat. The odds just were so stacked against them, and the Pony of shadows didn't help either. She looked so heart-broken, and while Starswirl was knowing his priorities, it … well, was just much. He sighed, and went over to Jade.

"All three are near the same place. If Chrysalis and the Tindalos do come to us, we will handle them as well. I promise, the world will not fall to the cold. Alright?" Starswirl asked sincerely. Jade looked up to him, and with a small smile, she nodded her head. FINALLY he listened to them, and was taking some initiative.

"But doesn't a banishing spell take a lot of power? We'd have to sacrifice the elements for that," Twilight said. Starswirl just nodded, as if the question was a casual one (which to him it felt like).

"Eh, no big deal Twilight, we never used them anyway," Tiger's Eye blurted out.

"You mad? The elements of Harmony are the strongest objects in Equestria!" Rarity retorted.

"Then again Rarity, we haven't used any of them at all. Actually, the last time you used them for anything was to release Discord," Lapis said humbly. And no, using a spell on them as a test just before Twilight became her grand alicorn self didn't exactly count much. It had been a very long time since those elements were used, or heck, even brought up.

"She does have a point. We didn't need them to fight before, I don't think it would be much trouble for them to be gone now," agreed Jasper.

"So it's settled then. The one question to ask left: the location of these Elements of Harmony? Surely you'd at least know their location from the studies I left, or did you jump on that as well?" Starswirl questioned, his glance over to Twilight again. The one moment of joy was swiftly dashed, but they had the answer right away.

"Oh, that's easy: Celestia has them. At Canterlot Castle. That's where we last saw them before we first left for Homeworld," Lapis answered.

"Then what're we waiting for? Pop that key in, and let's go!" Emerald said. Twilight went off to do just that, though as much of the group were getting ready to go off, Jade wiped her tears clean off … and then Mage Meadowbrook went over to them, and placed a hoof on Jade's shoulder.

"Throwing Starswirl for a guilt-trip? Clever of you," Meadowbrook said, finding it pretty funny herself. Jade was left simply red-faced. Was it that obvious over what happened. And worse yet, this comment was overheard by a few of the others (Emerald and Pearl namely), Emerald wide-eyed, looking back and forth between her and Starswirl.

"Wha? Did you - … did she just - …"

"L-Let's just go," Jade humbly stated, before going off towards the portal.

So embarrassing.

…….

"I just can't believe how tall you've all gotten," remarked Starswirl.
Their arrival in Canterlot was swift, and it honestly didn't take more than two minutes before they were in the castle itself. Celestia and Luna, who were hoping to see their old teacher after so long, were very glad to see him again.

"It has been over a thousand years," said Celestia, "It's wonderful to see you again, Starswirl. Will you stay and teach magic once again? My sister and I have such fond memories of your lessons."

"As long as you don't ask for those essays we owed you before you disappeared," Luna said, Celestia giggling a little. While it was a bit of a nicer moment, they've hardly much time for that, even if Starswirl did smile to his own students.

"As nice as that may be, Celestia, Luna, we've hardly much time. One of the Gems told me you still have something known as the Elements of Harmony in your possession. Is that true?" Starswirl asked. Guess some memory lane was out of the question now. Celestia and Luna looked to one another, before Celestia walked over towards the throne, which she moved out of the way. The spell she used next was on the floor to re-open a small compartment just underneath the seat, one only she could open, and bringing out the chest of the Elements of Harmony inside.

"I wondered where she hid them," Rarity quietly noted.

"The Elements of Harmony each represent the values and virtues, the same ones you and the pillars represented."

"That's all I need to hear," Starswirl said, levitating the Elements of Harmony to check each of them. They all appeared similar to the other Mane Six's cutie marks, the magic one looking to be that of Twilight. Celestia and Luna were taken aback as how quickly he was just taking them like this.

"Um. Excuse me, but, what're you doing?" Celestia asked.

"Well, one particularly eager Alicorn had brought me and the pillars back, but in doing so also brought back the Pony of Shadows. Equestria and Earth are in threat, and we need the powers from the elements to put him and us all back into Limbo," Starswirl the Bearded said, hardly considering the surprise Celestia and Luna had from hearing this. Luna particularly noticed Twilight's guilt on the subject, and actually the Alicorn began to move off away a bit. She was hoping that wouldn't be told to her teacher, but Starswirl was a matter-of-fact pony, and from what they were seeing, he didn't care how bad the facts effected them emotionally. Luna flew on over to Twilight.

"You alright?"

"I released a ultimate evil and doomed Equestria because I tried to free my idol! Why wouldn't I be okay?!" Twilight said, before collapsing down onto the ground.

"Calm now, Twilight, you never knew that. You mustn't blame yourself," Luna said. Twilight felt slightly better, but then Starswirl came in again.

"It means little if she knew it or not, it doesn't change the fact that -"

"Will you shut up?!" Fulgurite said, clamping Starswirl's mouth shut before he could wreck the moment again. A bit bold of her, but at least no harsh words were left to sting again (for now, anyway).

"Luna's Right twilight, you never knew that was gonna happen," Starlight said.

"But I should've listened to you. And now the elements will be lost forever to fix my mistake," Twilight replied in defeat. As this point, Starswirl forced Fulgurite to release his muzzle so he could talk again.

"They'd be gone? Forever?" Celestia asked.

"A necessary sacrifice," Starswirl said, "It will be just enough to send the foe back to Limbo for good."
Even to Celestia and Luna he was stubborn about banishing the Pony of Shadows? There had to be something more to this than they were letting on about. Starlight have had just about enough of this "banishment" nonsense.

"Hey, you all knew about the Pony of Shadows before he became what he is now. You must've been friends, so, what happened?" Starlight asked. Namely, since no one else would. The pillars took a moment before beginning.

"The tale of our rift is a sad one," began Rockhoof, "Stygian was a pony like the rest of us, though more scholar than hero. He recognized our emerging world would need champions to defend it."

"He may have gathered us together, but he himself was just an ordinary unicorn who soon grew jealous of our abilities," added Flash Magnus.

"He stole objects from each of us. Artifacts to use in a spell. And we cast him out for it," Mistmane put in.

"We always thought he'd return and seek forgiveness. But when we saw him again, his heart was bent on revenge. He dashed even my hope of saving him," finished Somnambula.

"... We're talking about the Pony of Shadows, are we?" Trixie asked.

"Stygian was the name the Pony of Shadows gave up when he turned to darkness," Starswirl answered. Starlight felt convinced, but it was at this point when one Gem, seeing the perfect moment to keep the future in tact of hers, stepped in with the big question.

"And why did he take the objects, might I ask?" Sapphire questioned.

"No doubt, it was an enchantment to take all of our powers for himself," said Meadowbrook.

"He wanted more power than he had, and that lead him down a dark path, from with there is no return," added Starswirl. This didn't suite well for A LOT of them, considering their own history and plenty of shortcomings. The implied idea is that when you decide to do the wrong thing, there's no going back or recovering from it. Sapphire was silent for a minute.

"I'll have you know that from my own experience, that's not always true," Starlight said, feeling almost insulted. Yeah, she did wrong before, but she was good now.

"Stygian wants to destroy all that's good in this world! There's no way to befriend a creature like that," Starswirl spat.

"We could try!"

"Impossible. Stygian was not interested in reconciliation - once a villain, always a villain," Starswirl said, before actually walking by Starlight, pushing her aside. THAT was the breaking point. And Starswirl suddenly found ice covering his hooves, forcing him to a stop. Starswirl just used a fire spell to melt the ice, but this was just a distraction for Jasper to come in, and pick him up by the collar of his cloak. Again, a bold move.

"You'd better apologize."

"For what?" Starswirl asked, angry.

"Over half of our team has made bad mistakes in the past, and they've made bad decisions too. Are you telling me that it's impossible to learn from any of that? Or are we ALL villains because we make ONE bad choice?" Jasper asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're not the threat here! The Pony of Shadows is!" Starswirl retorted.

"Then apologize."

Pride reared its ugly head again, and the unicorn didn't flinch, let alone answered. All of his rough behavior all day long, and he will not owe up to any of it. Jasper walked back towards the throne, and dropped Starswirl onto the ground.

"Fine. Alright everyone, we're going. We have the Elements, we know where they are, and if we hurry up we'll get done by tomorrow morning. Celestia, Luna, mind keeping an eye on him for us?" Jasper instructed. An odd request, but Celestia knew what was going on in this, and actually nodded much to Starswirl's surprise. It was a bit of an odd moment, but little by little they did begin to go. The pillars were free to go, but when Starswirl tried, Jasper halted, forming a wall by the door.

"Oh no you don't. You're staying here."

"You're fighting without me? Without my magic, you'd be powerless against -"
Jasper suddenly made the entire room silent with one stomp of her foot, enough to shake the entire foundation of Canterlot castle. The crowd left outside (Twilight, Meadowbrook, Sapphire, Pearl, and Jade), looked on in surprise, but none of them wanted to go anywhere near her.

"YOU'RE STAYING HERE!" Jasper bellowed. Starswirl, for just a brief moment, felt humbled by the Gem. A warrior at heart, and she was not afraid to put his pride in place if it meant anything. Starswirl saw the expression, and truth, behind those eyes of hers as she glared daggers at Starswirl's soul, and he could only stand still as Jasper walked on out. Starswirl was NOT apart of this mission anymore.

"Y-You sure this is the best idea? I'm sure Starswirl did try to talk to -"

"Twilight," Pearl cut in, "All day he just pushed us aside and refused to accept our true input unless it matches his own. It's probably best for him to stay here until he's ready to apologize."

"Did you predict this will happen, Sapphire?" Jade asked quietly.

"Yes. He'll return a changed pony." Sapphire replied.

Starswir himself was left to ponder what they said there.

~~~~~~

With the snap of his fingers, the group went off from the barn house, and off to the location of the Changelings. As they used a Warp Pad to arrive, it only stood to reason that the area they'd be in would be a Gem location. They soon found themselves in the Strawberry Battlefield, now the area covered in snow in numerous places with frozen strawberry bushes. And the Changelings were in the middle of a big excavation of the many weapons still present in the area.

"Guess this is where they would go," the fusion figured. She saw Changeling after Changeling scattered all over the place, getting all sorts of weapons for the hive to use against the ponies: axes, hammers, shields, whatever else they could gather. They all ducked behind the only actual hiding place (behind the Warp Pad), and lucky for then, the Changelings were too pre-occupied to actually notice them here just yet. Discord just chilled out at first, but the fusion made sure to grab him and pull him out of sight too.

"Yes, these will do nicely," Chrysalis said, as she watched the many options go on by her. She was especially pleased when she saw a huge, spiked mallet amongst the bunch. That could assuredly crush some skulls.

"She's arming up her entire army!" the fusion realized, "She can't take all that, it's Gem property!"

All of a sudden, the team saw the Warp Pad go off. The fusion was hoping for some of the Crystal Gems, or even Elements of Harmony to come in and confront them alongside, but it was just another Changeling. … And someone else. Someone she didn't recognize, but still was stuck on a leash as he was brought out to the Changeling horde. And looking at his state, he'd been beaten badly.

"Pharynx, what is this?" Chrysalis asked.

"An intruder working for the Elements of Harmony," Pharynx said, "Found him inside out hive, looking for those other Gems we captured."

"Excuse me? How'd he even get in there? The guards better not be slacking, Pharynx!" Chrysalis warned. While that would humble a normal Changeling, the confident Pharynx huffed.

"Oh, they were on guard. But Thorax let him in. Chrysalis, he's in league with the Elements of Harmony - he was leading them inside the hive before we found them out."
Chrysalis snarled like a mad dog on the revelation. but it wasn't that news alone that upset her, but more that she KNEW Thorax would eventually and she didn't do jack about him.

"That grub, of course it had to be him of all Changelings. Where's he now?"

Pharynx kicked the captive hound towards Chrysalis before talking again.

"This pathetic mutt distracted those foot soldiers. I'm imagining they need some "discipline" when you get back," Pharynx answered. Chrysalis looked down to the Tindalos at her hooves, seeing a faint blue glow in his eyes as he stared up at her.

"Believe me, I'll take care of them later. … And you. I'm getting hungry," Chrysalis hissed, her fangs drawn. That was more than enough for the fusion to take, and before they knew it.

"STOP!"

Just before Chrysalis could bite down and finish him off, the fusion rushed in, and knocked Chrysalis back with a punch to the head. Forget keeping out of sight, she wasn't gonna watch him die in front of her. Chrysalis hissed loud, but then got a good look at the adversary.

"Don't you hurt him!" the fusion said.

"You again?! Bad enough you destroyed my main sources of power for my Warp Pad, you have to interrupt my excavation as well?! Get her!" Chrysalis snapped.

The Changelings immediately rushed right for her, and that made everyone else charge out to fight the horde head on. Pinkie, AJ, and Rainbow Dash forced back numerous amounts of Changelings, as Fluttershy, Thorax, Connie, and the fusion went to the Tindalos.

"Sniper! Sniper, you alright?" Thorax asked. Sniper groaned a little bit.

"I've dealt with worse scuffles," Sniper said. The fusion went to lick her hand.

"Hang on, I got you," the fusion said. Unfortunately for him, Chrysalis was just observant enough to catch the fusion tending to the Tindalos, and she wasn't gonna let her slip by this time. The changeling Queen tackled the fusion away from them, sending her flying off away a good half a yard.

"Steven! Ruby!" gasped Connie, just before being tackled herself by other Changelings.

Embarrassing to say, while they were brave, they just weren't strong enough to deal with the ENTIRE hive at one time. These Changelings remembered their tricks, and after half an hour of abuse, the Changelings finally overpowered much of the group, pinning them and keeping them down. Rainbow Dash was held down most of all, at least five Changelings on top of her just to keep her wings still. The changelings were battered, but they were victorious regardless, and Chrysalis felt pretty good again, the only one standing still being the fusion herself. … Oh, and Discord, who was still hidden.

"Well, well, well. And for just a second there, I thought you'd be an actual threat to me. Looks like I was wrong."

"I won't let you do this! I'll fight you!" the fusion snapped, being held back by the Changeling drones. Chrysalis just laughed.

"Didn't help you just now," she mocked, "Your little squad was it. And no one else knows you're here."

"You're wrong! We all know your plan, Chrysalis! You're taking all this to fight Equestria with!" Applejack said, still trying to get the Changelings off of her.

"Well, seems we do have a smart one."

"None of this is yours to take, Chrysalis!" the fusion snapped.

"I don't care what belongs to who. Once I take over Equestria, all of this will belong to me! And all of you will bow at my hooves!" Chrysalis insisted, the other Changelings cheering. The fusion wouldn't leave the Tindalos to get killed, and even with the Changelings surrounding them she didn't move. One eager changeling came forward, making her summon her bubble shield, making it impossible for many to get to them.

"Why're you doing this? Why take over Equestria?! You know, aside from the Canterlot Wedding thing," the fusion asked. Chrysalis went straight up to the bubble, front hooves on the shield as she stared right in the fusion's eyes.

"So I can feed, of course!" Chrysalis hissed, fangs drawn again.

"Say what you want, I won't let you eat my friends!" the fusion declared. Chrysalis quickly realized that this was a literal term to the Gem, some others looking perplexed.

"Wait? Wha - NO! Not Them them, that's sick!"

"Oh … then, what did you mean?"

"THEIR LOVE, YOU GNAT! Equestria has more love than anywhere else in existence. And especially more than what I can sense here. Once you're all out of the way, my subjects will take all the love meant for them, and bring it to the hive - to me! Everypony will do as I command, and me and my subjects will feed on their love for generations!" the other Changelings, with the exception of Thorax of course, all cheered and celebrated. This was all a dangerous concept for any of them, and they knew she'll expand her kingdom over to Earth if she wanted to, especially with the Warp Pad in her palace. But then they remembered something very vital from Thorax earlier.

"What if you don't have to?" asked Connie.

"REDICULOUS! A changeling's hunger for love is NEVER satisfied!" Chrysalis roared, before grabbing the girl, and throwing her into the crowd.

"Chrysalis, listen!" the fusion said, "Thorax had found a way that he doesn't have to live his life starving all the time. He didn't have to take love, he shared it, and now he doesn't have to feed. You don't have to live your lives starving all the time!"

Some of the Changelings actually paused to consider this, looking to one another. They were always starving for love, and now there was actually a way to not feel hungry so much? Chrysalis noticed this too, and wasn't having any of it.

"You don't know anything about the Changelings, nor what it takes to be their queen!" she bellowed.

"Yes I do!" the fusion insisted, "A leader doesn't lead by intimidation and threat. A real leader celebrates what makes everyone different, and listens when someone finds a better way!"

"ENOUGH, YOU UGLY CREATURE!" and Chrysalis sank her fangs right into the fusion's neck, before flying off the ground, and swinging the fusion down to earth below. This move wouldn't be too bad to a normal Gem, but the fusion being half human made the attack more lethal. Chrysalis rushed right for her, but the fusion managed to get a shield up just before she could kill her.

"I am the leader of the Changelings, I decide what's best, and no one is going to tell me otherwise, especially a creature as low as you!!"

"Then why did Thorax leave if you're so good?" the fusion growled.

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ANYTHING I HAVE TO HIM! He was a fool to leave, and even more a fool to return! Which reminds me."
And suddenly, a spell was zapped right onto Thorax, making him cringe as he was levitated into the air. The fusion tried to get him, but was held back again by her drones. Thorax tried to get out of her grip, but it was no good.

"And to think you could've been a hero of the changelings, Thorax. But you foolishly decides to throw that away for some pathetic ponies like them!"

"C-Chrysalis, don't do this! You want what's best for the Changelings, right? Maybe this can -"

"QUIET! I don't care for what a puny grub like you has to think! The only thing you found is what happens when you turn your back on the hive. Soon as I suck all the love you have, I'll show EVERYONE what a real leader is!"

In all of this chaos, only Sniper began to sense that there was something else coming amongst this group.

"She won't have any time," Sniper sighed.

"I HEARD THAT! You keep doubting me, you worthless mutt!" Chrysalis snapped, tossing Thorax aside to address the weaker Tindalos.

"No! Stop!" Connie called.

"Leave him alone!" added the fusion. But of course, Chrysalis didn't listen to any of them, her fangs opening wide to bite into Sniper. …

"Am I interrupting something?"

A new voice, and one only Sniper knew precisely for. The Changelings grew in alarm as a newcomer marched through the swarm, tossing and tearing those unlucky enough to stay in the way, until it was revealed the culprit in this assault on Chrysalis's army. Sniper addressed him first, Chrysalis bewildered, but still up to fight.

Sniper's father. Followed by much of his own pack.

"Oh boy," gulped Thorax. But while Sniper's father did remember Thorax from before, he was focused on Chrysalis, who was right over Sniper. Chrysalis was bewildered by the predator's sheer size and glowing eyes more than anything.

"D-Dad," said Sniper.

"Hello, Sniper," said the Tindalos, before turning and snarling to the queen and asking "... What business do you have with my son?"

"Mind your own business, you da -" and without hesitation, the Tindalos leader grabbed Chrysalis by the throat and threw her to the middle of the pack. Just like that. As a instinctive response, Chrysalis quickly changed her body to look like a Tindalos. A female Tindalos specifically.

"Why'd she do that?" Connie asked.

"It's a Changeling tactic to humble an attacker. Would you attack someone you care about?" Thorax explained.

… Too bad it barely worked, and it only made the pack leader tear into her again!

"AAHH! How can you attack your own wife?!" she cried.

"I'm not an idiot, that's why. So I'll ask again. What business do you have with my son, sending your "Changelings" after him?" the pack leader demanded. Chrysalis hissed loudly at the father like an angry cat, arching her back even. No point in hiding, as she turned back to normal, revealing the bite mark in her back. Other Changelings tried getting close, but the Tindalos pack kept them well away from her, even getting off of the group to better aid the queen.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Applejack suggested.

"But Sniper," the fusion said.

"He's with his family, he'll be fine. Come on, let's go and find the others before they come around again," AJ insisted. If there was a time to go, it would be now, and unlike before at the actual hive, there wasn't going to be any bad towards Sniper. This time, no regrets. And good thing for them the Warp Pad was right next to them. The fusion honestly had a bit of mixed emotions as she watched Chrysalis in such a state. On one hand, Chrysalis wanted them as a permanent source of power, and replaced them to further her own plan. On the other hand, leaving her to be eaten by Tindalos just didn't sit too well. It was like leaving a angry badger to a pride of lions. She can't leave her like this, could she? ...

"Ruby, Steven, come on while the getting's good," said Rainbow Dash.

"I … I …"

"Your son ventured right into my Hive," said Chrysalis, "I have my right!"

"The only right you have is my dinner if you keep trying that," the father warned.

"Get away from her!" Pharynx demanded, rushing in like the general he was, just to be grabbed mid-air and slammed to the ground by another Tindalos. Chrysalis's horn glowed again, but this hound knew better than to stand still, and grabbed her horn before she could attack, snapping it like a branch. Chrysalis screeched in pain, seeing her horn crumble like a twig in the jaws of this animal. The instinctual fear of any animal now crept into Chrysalis's mind.

"And here I thought finding you would be hard."

"YOU WILL PAY FOR RUINING MY HORN! I am the top predator here, you are nothing compared to -" she was cut short by all the Tindalos just laughing at her. "... Me."

"Compared to you?" Sniper's father chuckled.

"Yes?" Chrysalis said. The Tindalos leader gave a snarl right in the bug's face, making her winch a bit. It could be the fact her magic can't work without her horn, it would be that the Tindalos's glowing eyes were effecting her, it could be both. Either way, she was not as confident as earlier.

"Look at you. Your legs could barely hold you up with all those holes, your wings are see-through, you barely have any teeth in those jaws. what makes you a predator of anything besides some scrawny rats?"

Chrysalis would have some response for the Tindalos if she could think of anything. All of the qualities of a natural predator were not on her, and it didn't help that the Tindalos towered over her.

"O-Oh yeah? … W-Why don't you come a little closer and say that?!"

"THIS close enough?" he asked, now inches away from her, making her crumble down a bit again. Her usual tactics were not going to with on these Tindalos. All of a sudden she realized something.

I mean to say that we, uh, don't exactly understand this other world either. W-what if something comes in we Changelings can't - I-I mean … didn't intend?

THIS was what he meant. That unintended action for going to this world. And now she paid the price in her horn, and maybe even more as the leader knocked her off her own hooves with a flick of his paw. And it took even less time for the giant hound to pin her to the ground. she tried her best, but it wasn't gonna be of any use.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" Chrysalis pleaded.

"Give me one good reason why not," questioned the Tindalos. The changelings couldn't believe what they were seeing, their strong leader pleading for her life so quickly after losing her magic. What happened to the powerful and prideful queen just a few minutes earlier?

"A Changelings far below the notice of something like you!" Chrysalis felt bitter for saying that herself. And worse, it didn't seem to work.

"True, but I don't coincide with Crystal Gem menageries … and in cold weather, we all have to take what we can get."

"N-No don't I can help you!" Chrysalis said. This just made the creature laugh again.

"You can indeed. You can help me please my mate. She's hungry."
Oh did the irony in that hurt Chrysalis. Only these creatures fed on a bit more than emotion, and she would barely be in tact by the time they were done! Chrysalis tried to think of something to say to him to make him reconsider. In desperation though, Chrysalis began to come up with one final way to get this Tindalos off of her at the very least.

"You said you wouldn't work with Crystal Gems right? I don't work for them either! In fact … I'm trying to get rid of them. wouldn't it please you more still to have some help in killing them?"

"That rather depends … tell me more."

"Oh no," thought the fusion. She took a glance back towards who remained.

She made her choice.

~~~~~~

Cold.

That was the main word to describe the plains nearby the Kindergarten. The changelings and Tindalos together had been traveling along their own from the Strawberry Battlefield for quite sometime, though in honesty it was the Tindalos in charge of this lot. Chrysalis really had no choice on the matter thanks to her horn being torn away, leaving her and the rest of her Changelings at the mercy of these giant wolves. It was ironic really - the same danger she was trying to cooperate back to Equestria, was now using her in his own plans. At least it was towards the same goal more or less, but still the price for it was high. Didn't help either that they couldn't use the Warp Pads to get to the location, the Tindalos barely even keeping them covered from the winter winds.

"When did it come to this?" Chrysalis thought, "Not even two hours, and already my squad's at the mercy of these beasts. This is so embarrassing."

"Deal with this embarrassment, Chrysalis, you'll live longer."

"I-I didn't say anything!"

"But you were thinking it."

"H-He reads minds?!" Chrysalis thought, gulping. He really couldn't, but he knew the looks when he saw them. Eventually, the leader stopped himself briefly.

"Where's my son? Where's Sniper?" he asked. He began to suspect the Changelings might've gotten themselves a quick snack while they were going, but he soon saw Sniper trailing behind them, trying to bare the cold wind himself like everyone else.

"Why so far behind, Sniper?"

"Oh, me? I just don't like to push myself forward, that's all," Sniper replied.

"Mustn't be too modest my boy. Come to the front, you'll walk beside me," his father firmly stated. So, Sniper did, moving to the front of the pack alongside his father. Sniper was still on mixed minds on this. His family was going to kill his new friends, but on the other paw, how was he supposed to hurt his family? They may be wrong to hunt for revenge, but they were still his family all the same.
These thoughts were cut short with a strong gust of wind hitting much of the group. The Changelings with their buggy, and bare skin felt the sting especially hard, as the giant wolves with their fur coats just found it a nuisance on their vision if anything.

"Blasted wind, it's freezing out here. Onwards!" the leader shouted, moving on ever more so. Sniper just quietly followed him.

With both armies going along their way, they were unaware that they too had their own watch: the fusion, and Connie both staying behind. The ponies had been and gone along with Discord, and the two (or three rather), kept an eye on where they were going.

"Okay, so, what's the plan?" Connie asked.

"I … I'm not sure yet. I know she captured us, but, I can't leave her like this, it's just … not right," the fusion replied. Connie knew this was more Steven talking over Ruby, and since they were a fusion, the confliction was understandable.

"So, just watch them," Connie figured.

"I guess. … Oh boy, I'm in a weird place right now," the fusion admitted, both sides slightly conflicted with one another. Ruby would just leave her, but Steven didn't feel right for it. What was the right choice here? Well, they both could agree Sniper's father was a bigger threat here.

"Well Steven, Ruby, I'm here to support you. And we're prepared, just in case," Connie said, showing the sword she was armed with. Good to know she was willing to stick around with them in this.

"Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one here right now … I missed you guys," the fusion said. Connie missed them too.

… then the group suddenly stopped. Tindalos and Changelings all stopped altogether, the wolves suddenly feeling on edge about something. Were the two half-Gems caught? Not quite.

"Wait. What's that over there?" Connie noted.

The two Crystal Gems then saw what brought them on edge. The winds grew even colder, the fusion keeping the wind off of Connie and keeping her warm too, and they saw a group of … well, something, begin to gallop over the hill. It was very hard to tell who, or what they were with all the snow, as their bodies looked as white and cold as the snow they were rushing over. Some were galloping hard through the snow, while others were actually almost floating. There was only about four of them present, but they weren't afraid to see the large group of Changelings and Tindalos. This was either a patrol, or they were on their own hunt.

The Windigo had arrived.

"Ambush!" called one of the Changelings, before the four creatures barreled right into them! In just a few seconds, the groups were suddenly scattered, Tindalos and Changelings being taken down quick by these animals.

"W-Windigo?! what're they doing here?" gasped Connie.

Then came galloping right behind them.

"LOOK OUT!" the fusion yelled. The fusion was quick to make a shield to block the oncoming Windigo, but the icy horse was quick to counter this attempt, and fazed through the shield, and splitting the fusion in two! Ruby and Steven were split up, and all three were knocked right into the open of the other two creatures caught in the attack. A group of five Windigo, and by the time the three got back to their feet, the pack of Tindalos and horde of Changelings were quickly toppled! the group of Changelings, which at the start was at least fifty total, were reduced to about thirty in one strike. The Tindalos pack of thirty was reduced to about fifteen. So many knocked out in just one hit, and the Windigo were far from over.

"Connie!" gasped Sniper, rushing over towards the three. "You three alright?"
Ruby, caught in the open, readied to attack, but Steven quickly helped her understand.

"Ruby, no, he's a friend remember?" Steven replied.

"I'm not targeting him, DUCK!" Ruby corrected, just as a Windigo charged directly for them! Ruby punched the Windigo right in the snout, the heat making the cold animal screech and rush back away. The Windigo's assault was swift as the wind itself, but they still were picking targets in this fight. The leading Tindalos, and Chrysalis specifically. The other Changelings and Tindalos fought, sure, but they were just in the way. In the tussle in the snowstorm, Sniper's father was keeping the Windigo at more bay than Chrysalis ever could, biting and tearing at any that came close.
And Chrysalis abandoned everyone to save her own skin. Like the true scum she was. She couldn't fly in this weather, so she was only forced to run on her own hooves as fast as she could possibly do.

And one Windigo was quick to see her. Predator rule 101: always target the easiest kill. And a runaway Changeling in a snowstorm was as good as it can get, as two of the Windigo went off after her.

"They're after Chrysalis!" said Steven. And Steven, Ruby, and Connie rushed off after her.

"Where're you going?!" Sniper called.

"To save someone for reasons I don't quite understand. Gotta go!" Ruby replied. Sniper was amazed, to say the least, but he had little time to ponder on it as the remaining Windigo were attacking the pack still. We'll see how they fared later on, he was sure of that.

Further ahead, Chrysalis was especially struggling. With no magic to fight, and no wings to fly, she was at the mercy of whatever else was out in this cold waste of a world. She could hear the Windigo coming her way from behind, the snow horses not remotely fazed at all by the wind, ice, or snow. Chrysalis's holed hooves proved an even bigger problem when they began to get filled with snow themselves, like torn boots, and they were getting heavy. This was what truly feels like to be the receiving end of a hunter's chase. Chrysalis could barely even see where she was going, and she skidded to a stop just inches from what looked to be a bottomless cliff!

"W-What in Tartarus? where'd this come from?" Chrysalis panted, terrified to hear the Windigo now right by her. The only thing down the cliff she could see was a remote Gem injector, and with the storm, nothing else. She looked off back where she came, able to see the galloping Windigo, but also Steven, Ruby, and Connie trying to catch up. Clearly the Windigo were much faster.
Chrysalis made a desperate attempt to gallop away, but the Windigo soon were right on top of her, the first one actually too fast and trampling her, and the second one biting down into her leg, sinking its sharp teeth into what leg was there. Chrysalis tried to fight, biting into the Windigo, but biting into the horse was like biting right into an ice cube and just as painful on the teeth!

"NO, STOP! DON'T!" Steven called. But the Windigo were well into tearing her up by the time they caught up with her. In the blurred skies of the snow, they could see something being tossed into the air, Chrysalis screeching like a barn owl in pain with each one. A Windigo was targeted, and Chrysalis was just strong enough to grab it and throw it away to the side, her fangs tearing a good chunk into the horse's chest. One Windigo was standing with Chrysalis, and it was not giving her the chance to attack. Steven, almost blindly even, summoned his shield and swung it right at the Windigo, knocking it right off Chrysalis.

Or what was left of her.

Chrysalis was still alive, sure, but she was by far too weak to be as much of a threat, or be any ruler. All of her legs were torn off of her, leaving only stubs. Her wings were nothing but shreds. When she looked up to Steven, she hissed like an aggressive snake.

"Yooouuuu."

"Chrysalis, wait. Please. I just want to heal you," Steven said, licking his hand, and bringing it towards her.

Only for Chrysalis to sink her teeth into his arm!

"Steven!" Ruby and Connie gasped, as Steven was forced to jump back. The bite was not too deadly, the fangs narrowly missing his flesh, but the bite mark was still there from the pull. As for Chrysalis herself, she hissed and snarled, desperately trying to move properly to either fight them or run away. both were very hard, trying to move with stubs. Ruby rushed towards her, but Steven made sure she didn't try to fight her. Chrysalis was too weak to put up much of a fight anyway, comparatively speaking.
And then the Windigo came back, biting the back of her head and swinging back. both figures were dangerously close to the edge, and the windigo just needed one step, to feel the ground slip underneath them both.

And it was too late to do much. All Steven, Connie, and Ruby could do was watch, as the Windigo and Chrysalis fell down the cliffside. The falling Windigo slammed into the injector, making it collapse and fall as well, as Chrysalis screeched and yelled. And then … silence …
It was a somber, bittersweet moment, as they just looked down the cliffside, replaying what they just saw in their head. Steven knew she was going to cause trouble, but … was this how they had to handle it? Connie kept by his side, Steven leaning against her for a moment.

But there was still one more thing left. The last Windigo, still on the ground and hurting. Chrysalis's fangs were very painful on the animal, and while it might not be as bad off in the cold like this … well, Steven went over to it. Steven couldn't save Chrysalis. The least he could do was save this one. Connie and Ruby didn't bother to stop him as he went over towards the animal, more cautiously this time in case the Windigo would jump him. But unlike Chrysalis, the Windigo wasn't blindly ignoring the offer, and didn't move. It did feel cringed when Steven placed his healing saliva onto it, but that was about it.

The effects were not immediate unfortunately, the wound still there, and the Windigo laying down in the snow. Ruby went over to the animal's head, sitting on her knees. The warmth on Ruby, which would've driven other Windigo away, brought the Windigo over to her, resting its head on her lap.

"You think you can stay with her?" Steven asked.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up later," Ruby replied. Steven and Connie nodded in agreement, and with the agreement made, they both began to go, leaving only Ruby to watch over the fallen Windigo.

There was only one fight left.

~~~~~~

Who'd of guessed then, that everyone else was not that far away.

It was some time until they had met up with the others again, but with the sound of the opening portal, the Crystal Gems, ALL of the Elements of Harmony, and most of the Pillars of Equestria, had now made it to the cold barren area of the Prime kindergarten. for some, it was just another area of memory lane, but for most, it was dead land. The snowstorm of the Windigos wiped the area clean, making it pure white with snow all over the place, and even more coming down. It wasn't as windy as it would be above, but the cold still was effective, as in Amethyst's experience it was a lot colder than usual, giving the Gems chills.

"He's here alright," Flash Magnus concluded. "Haven't heard any storms this bad since my grandfather's stories of the frozen north."

"The Pony of Shadows must've twisted it to his purposes," Mistmane said. That was a slight stinger.

"Um … actually. No. It's always like this," Amethyst admitted.

"This land's always like this? But how can that be?" Rockhoof asked. Amethyst kept her gaze lowered, but still went on with it.

"It's uh … a birth ground for Gems like me. They kind of suck life from the ground to "come out", and leaving … this," Amethyst said. She might as well get this over with, no matter how it felt. With their behavior towards Stygian, she only wondered how they'll feel towards her. Mistmane and Meadowbrook went over towards her.

"This your home, Amethyst?" Meadowbrook asked.

"... Yeah … pretty much. No surprise he'd pick this place," Amethyst sighed. A land completely dead would be the best spot for actual darkness to be raised in. Heck, the Kindergartens would be the biggest sources of dark auras far as she was concerned.

"It's not your fault, dearest. You never knew what would happen when you'd be born," Mistmane said, gentle in her tone.

"Alright, everypony," Rockhoof said, "There's lot of ground to cover, be ready to strike with the elements! … Uh, how do we use them?"

"Well … actually, I don't know. They just work for us," Rarity replied.

"As long as they work, we don't have anything to worry. Soon as he rears his head, we'll be ready!" Flash Magnus said. The group began to move out a bit into the prime Kindergarten, though some were still a little bit worried.

"Uh, Sapphire? Do you mind telling us a heads up?" asked Fluttershy.

"Hmm … I'm not sure yet. The Tindalos and Changelings might be coming soon though. Be on your guard."

And then they heard the ominous laughter.

"He's here," said Bismuth. "SHOW YOURSELF, STYGIAN!"

At first there wasn't a response outside of the laughter from the beast itself, but as they were there, the wind began to change, and strong gusts of bitter cold blasted down from the whirlwinds far above. They all looked skyward, and they began to see something began to come down from the skies above in the form of several Windigo! Starlight saved from an immediate kill when she brought out her shield to cover them all, the Windigo bouncing off, and swirling around them for a bit. The Windigo surrounded them all, leaving no room for any of them to exit out of, as dark clouds began to emit from nowhere.

Stygian had arrived.

"He summoned Windigo," muttered Twilight.

"He's gotten much stronger," Mistmane said.

"Welcome to the Prime Kindergarten!" The Pony of Shadows bellowed, forming completely in front of them all. It was quite a crowd, but he did pinpoint out one pony missing: Starswirl. That just made him all the more confident in himself seeing them like this. Most of them armed up just in case, as he moved closer to the forcefield.

"When you turned our backs on me, I discovered a place beyond anywhere else back in Equestria. The darkness spoke to me of a power beyond anything I could imagine. And I listened," he explained, leaning right to the edge of the orb. Starlight wasn't ready to drop the shield for an instant. He straightened up and began to circle them.

"The shadow and I became one. Soon, all the realms will be the same, and everypony will soon know of the despair I did. WHEN YOU CASTED ME OUT!!"

"We did what we have to! You wanted to steal our powers for yourself!" said Flash Magnus.

"Is that what that foolish Starswirl told all of you?"

"You are not fit to speak his name," warned Rockhoof.

"Oh? I'm no longer fit anymore? I brought you all together, and then you all betrayed me. It was YOU who were selfish. And now I will destroy EVERYTHING HE HAS CREATED!!!" The Pony of Shadows charged up his horn, and blasted one beam of darkness, to shatter the forcefield into pieces! The Pony of Shadows brought out multiple tentacles from the ground around him, all aimed directly at them. In accordance to the fortune, this would be their end, but these tendrils were after something a bit more valuable than that. In a flash, the Elemental bearers were targeted, grabbed, and their Elements of Harmony had been taken away in mere seconds. Stygian knew better than to let them have any advantage over him, and he sensed the elements of harmony were of Starswirl's creation.

*BAM* "AAHHH!"

Another quick surprise from above, and in the form of a pink, spiked forcefield landing directly on top of the Pony of Shadows. This forced him into a daze, and the tendrils to release the Elements of Harmony, each one getting caught by each Element bearer. And who was there, landing by the others?

"STEVEN! CONNIE! You're both alright!" gasped Pearl.

"Didn't I tell ya they'd be alright?" AJ said, nudging Pearl. They didn't have much time to really say much, as the Pony of shadows came back around. And he was NOT happy by this sudden attack.

"UGH. How pathetic, coming in like that! YOU'VE ALREADY LOST!" Stygian roared.

As Sapphire had predicted though, this would be the time for the two other armies to arrive. The distant sound of buzzing, and the thundering of wolf paws, got them all on alarm and more on edge. The Pony of Shadows was already armed with his Windigo.

"With all our strength together, we can take them down," said Sapphire.

"That's right! This is our home, our planet, our friends and family! We are the Elements! We ... are the Harmony Gems!" Steven announced.

"Grrr PATHETIC. I, Stygian, am stronger than all of you combine. You are NOTHING!"

And then came the lightning fast charge from one of the Windigo horses, snatching Steven immediately. They recognize Steven. And Stygian wanted them gone, so the Windigo brought Steven immediately to the Pony of shadows, as the giant Umbra lifted his massive front hooves.

"STEVEN!" called Pearl.

*BAM*

…….

….... Steven felt a bit weak at first, unsure where he had ended up. But as he continued to look around, the only thing he could actually make out in any of this was pure shadow darkness. No amount of light could truly penetrate any of it. It seemed there was just nothing there. Not a floor, wall, or any form of light to actually see what was actually around. With the fall he took, Steven wondered if he was either sleeping, or just knocked out cold. He tried to find something around to help him, some sort of landmark, but there didn't seem to be much of anything … well, at first he didn't see anything.

"Oh boy, another one of these cases again. HELLO?! ANYONE HERE NOT WANTING TO KILL ME?!" Steven called, worried. Now in a typical scenario, nobody would answer him when he would be in such a place. but this time a voice was quick to respond to him, and lucky for him, it wasn't a dangerous one, but a terrified one.

"Steven! Get up, please!" a voice shouted. Steven turned around and actually started to see something off close by, only a foot away from him. Or so it appeared. She looked oddly transparent, like that of a ghost, down on her knees.

"Connie, I'm up, I'm up!" Steven said …

"WHAT THE HAY HAY?!"
Just to find his body laying on the ground! Steven was freaking out of course. He saw himself laying there, looking more unconscious than usual, and with his gemstone cracked in several places from Stygian's attack on him. For any Gem, this was death, but somehow Steven was still there in spirit. He didn't look all transparent, but that was probably because he was still in his own head. He could only see her at first, but she was seemingly messing with his body, trying to pull something off of Steven's face. He wasn't sure what exactly, but once she finally tore it away, a blinding light emitted from out of nowhere, making Steven blinded for a short moment.

Then came the sounds of war. The Tindalos pack, the Changeling horde, the Crystal Gems, the Elements of Harmony, the Pillars of Equestria, Stygian's Windigo forces, it was all complete chaos. So many different beings all rushing at one another, trying to tear eachother to pieces. Is this what war truly is? Steven stood there at first, but he quickly snapped out of it when one of the Tindalos slammed down in front of him, being attacked by numerous Changelings. Clearly their "alliance" fell when Chrysalis did.

"AAHH, I gotta help them!" Steven yelped, trying to rush back to his body. He can't just stand there and watch his whole world collapse. The Spirit was right about the windigo returning, but dang it, he will not stop and let it happen! The first thing he had to do was wake himself up, and with Connie standing right there, he didn't hesitate.

"Wakey-wakey Steven, please? Everyone's in danger, you have to get up!" Steven said to himself, but his attempts were in complete vain because not only was his body seemingly lifeless on the ground, but his hands just went right through himself. It was no use trying to work with his body for the time being, but as he got up, he felt himself trip back, and fell right through Connie. This might be a mistake, but Connie suddenly stopped.

"Steven?" she wondered. Steven barely had time to put two and two together, as he heard one of the windigo begin to rush towards Connie, the girl now distracted. Steven had a theory, and now was the time to test it, as he placed his hand on Connie's shoulder.

"Connie, incoming Windigo!" Steven said. Just as he hoped, Connie turned around, just in time to see the Windigo rushing directly to her. Thinking fast, Connie got out her sword, and sliced the Windigo in two, making it into nothing but cold dust. It was a good save.

"Steven? W-where are you, how -" Connie then felt his presence again when Steven held her hand.

"Connie, it's me Steven. I don't know what's going on, but I think it's one of those classic paranormal psychic situations."

"Of course! So, what's next?" Connie asked, now a little more determined again. However, Steven wasn't sure what to do now. He never knew he could do this before, and there was simply a free-for-all battle going on all over the place. He had to think of something, but there was a slight detail in this state that he didn't see moments ago: looking to Stygian, he began to see a faint glow coming from his center. The huge Pony of Shadows had something else going on inside of him that nobody else was seeing, and that was when something began to nag at him.

"Connie, listen, I'm going to try and talk to Stygian, maybe bring him back around. It might be enough to turn this fight around! … Please protect my body while I'm gone. And remember, you're life is important too, so, don't throw it away for me please," Steven said, not wanting to give her the wrong idea. Connie understood perfectly.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget. Good luck out there Steven," Connie replied. Steven the released her, his connection severed, and Connie no longer able to hear him. Connie drew out her sword for any that would come her way, and Steven started to go towards Stygian. However, he had to get through an entire field of war first, and that was easier said than done. Even if he can't get hurt in this state, he didn't want to be exposed beforehand.
Steven began his mad dash through the horde of fighters, and while he kept his distance from any Changeling, Tindalos, and Windigo, he did begin to see all of his friends start to get into trouble. The first one being Sapphire, who was getting honed in by a set of Tindalos, making her back up to the wall. In this state as well, it wasn't just him being a ghost Steven found out.

"Keep it together. Don't break down again, Sapphire. Even if Ruby's not here, remember, they're all relying on you … But what's the outcome even going to be now?!" Sapphire thought. And Steven actually heard each of those thought loud and clear. Steven needed to give her some encouragement, and went right over to her.

"Don't get scared of what could happen! Remember, pick what you wanna happen and do that! We all got it together!" Steven said, before jumping through her. Sapphire heard the words loud and clear, and while it did leave her a shiver, Sapphire smiled.

"Heh. Another surprise," Sapphire thought. She wanted this to end good for all, and she wasn't gearing to give up. She actually went in and brought her own type of weaponry to the fight, and used the ice to make up what resembled Garnet's gauntlets. The Tindalos had to bolt back to avoid the gauntlets hits, and Steven went off to continue, Sapphire in full battle mode.

The next one he saw next was Peridot, who by the time he got to her, was slammed to the ground by a Changeling. she knocked it off of her, but she was feeling very torn up inside.

"You gotta be kidding me! I just got everyone back, and now I'm gonna lose them again?!" she thought, tears starting to come up.

"Don't give up, Peridot, we're all in this together!" Steven yelled, before jumping through her, his words reaching her. It did feel scary at first, but Steven's reassurance gave Peridot the courage she needed, her fists clenched tightly.

"What am I thinking? It's not over yet!" Peridot thought. and just in time as a Tindalos and changeling mix rushed towards her. Steven went off, but not before seeing Peridot slam the Tindalos head to the ground, jump off of it, and side-kicked the changeling in the face to send it flying into four more Changelings behind. All that training was definitely paying off today. The next one he saw was Twilight, who was flying with Rainbow Dash as Tindalos were homing in on them. Rainbow turned and kicked one as Twilight shot at another, but a Windigo jumped the alicorn and slammed her into the ground. The bitter cold stung her.

"These Windigo. If I would've just left Starswirl alone, the eternal winter would've never gotten started. This is all my fault!" Twilight thought.

"You never could've known Twilight, it's not your fault! The best thing a leader can do is find their mistake and fix it!" Steven said, jumping through her. Twilight felt a shiver again, but this one warm instead of bitter cold.

"Yes. Yes, I can fix this! I'll make this right!" Twilight thought, her horn lighting up and sending the windigo flying off of her.

His next one in sight was Amethyst, desperately trying to keep numerous Windigo back, but her whip was barely working even with the attachments by Bismuth.

"I'm gonna get shattered, I'm gonna get shattered, I'm gonna get shattered! I can't fight them like this!" Amethyst thought in a panic. Ironic to hear this from her, but this Gem was trying to put up such a good front for Steven and Peridot already, but now who was helping her? One of the Windigo grabbed her whip, its sharp teeth tearing into it. If she loses that whip, it would be all over for her.

"You're your own ultimate quartz! We all believe in you!" Steven said, jumping through her.

"Steven? … I can do this! I can do this!" Amethyst then thought, getting as much strength as she could muster. The group of windigo suddenly found themselves being pulled forward, and Amethyst saw Fluttershy and a weaker Jasper being cornered by numerous Changelings. Determination at its peak, the ultimate Quartz swung all the Windigo at the end of her whip, crashing them right into the Changeling group.

"Thanks, Amethyst," called Fluttershy.
Steven moved forward, but there was one critical error this time. Steven was looking back to the others, and it was this very brief, and short moment, that he didn't see where he was going, as a windigo suddenly rushed passed him, the back hoof clipping Steven. Steven wasn't stopped, but the new presence immediately made the windigo skid to a stop. This was a new kind of presence. Looking around, the windigo didn't see anyone anywhere at first, though lucky for Steven, a Tindalos grabbed it. This gave Steven a running start towards Stygian again, but now he had to be on some more guard. No doubt one of these fighters would try for him.

"Almost there," Steven thought. There was still other fighters Steven saw that were having trouble, eventually seeing Pearl alongside Rarity, surrounded by the Changelings.

"I can't fall now! Everything I do, I do it for her - I do it for him!"

"Don't forget about yourself, Pearl!" Steven shouted, lunging through her.

"I do it for ME!" Pearl thought, her spear getting a good cut on one of the Changelings flying in. Rarity and Pearl looked to one another, and got to work on the group. As the changelings rushed in, Rarity ducked, as Pearl spun her spear to act as a shield, knocking numerous attackers back, Rarity using her own brand of moves to attack any sneaking in from below. Good teamwork. Steven continued running, but then he looked back and saw that one Windigo starting to gallop in his direction. Seeing Sniper's father in between them though, Steven thought it was the tindalos it was after.

"Bring it on!" he bellowed, ready for the windigo to attack him. Then came the truth: instead of tackling Sniper's dad, the windigo actually leaped over him, and charged directly for Steven! The Windigo knew where Steven was, and knew what was going on. Steven booked it, picking up speed as fast as a spirit could go, but two legs were no matched for four hooves, and the horse was gaining fast. The pounding of the windigo's icy hooves felt stronger and stronger, Steven feeling the cold air coming right for him. Steven made one mighty jump away from the animal just before it could get him, but the strong winds became a curse on his much lighter body, and the windigo grabbed him by the foot and slammed him down. It could ACTUALLY grab him!
The Windigo may seem like it was biting into nothing, but it had a strong grip on Steven's spirit, and proceeded to thrash him around, slamming him into the ground numerous times. It wasn't making a true impact, but the damage was still being dealt, and Steven was weakening with each hit.

"The heck is that thing doing?" the pack leader wondered, again not seeing Steven in its teeth. With everyone else fighting and doing their best, it seemed that only Chrysalis was actually noticing something wrong with this picture. It almost was like an AI in a game had glitched out; the windigo doing all this as it was supposed to have something in its mouth. The Changeling though didn't care, and rushed at the windigo, her horn digging into its back, and forcing it to release Steven. Ironically, Chrysalis saved Steven from yet another kill. Steven looked back to the fight, and the windigo forced Chrysalis off of it, the spirit animal changing targets, and sinking its own bitter cold teeth into the Changeling queen's neck, frostbite spreading on the angry creature. Steven normally wouldn't leave something like this, but in the chaos, he had no choice.
Stygian was not that far away, and if he were to get through to him, he had to reach him somehow. Taking the chance, Steven made a mad dash. The Pony of Shadows, much like many of the others, did not see Steven's spirit running towards him, and as such he was unprepared as Steven jumped right to him, and actually right in him. Stygian's reaction was immediate with his mighty roar.

And then. Darkness. just the same as when Steven "woke" up. He couldn't see anything anywhere, and this time Connie wasn't there to clear his eyesight for him. He didn't have any power or method to see, but that didn't exactly mean there was nothing there. In fact, just moments after going in, he began to see there was something just a foot away. A small, scrawny, grey unicorn, his mane and short tail a dull blue, wearing nothing but a brown cloak. He just sat there, either unaware of the war outside, or just ignoring it. Just sitting there in misery.

"Stygian?"

"Yes … I was Stygian once. Until my friends betrayed me," the unicorn said.

"Huh? Who?"

"Starswirl," Stygian said, his voice coming out in a hiss, vaguely sounding like the Pony of shadows.

"But they said you betrayed them, right? You wanted their magic!" Steven said, going off of what he heard from the Pillars just before the assault. Stygian looked to the child.

"No, I wanted their respect," Stygian replied, "I brought them together, and studied everything I could about what threats lied ahead of us, and the beasts we faced. I planned strategy after strategy, but I didn't have magic or strength. So nopony noticed me …"

"Really? … Stygian …"

"... I went to Ponhenge to create my own copies of the artifacts, so maybe I could be a pillar too! And stand by their side in battle. I never wanted to steal their powers," Stygian explained. Steven felt beside himself, but then Stygian turned back to him, the shadows slowly starting to overcome him again.

"... But instead of sharing, and letting me help. The others threw me out. So I became stronger than all of them, the darkness accepted me when nopony would. and I'll do what I must to protect it. They'll all pay for what they've done to me."

Now it was all clear. Stygian was banished away to Limbo NOT from the threat he did, but from the pride of the other pillars, and their quickness to judge him. They never gave Stygian a chance. But Steven was willing.

"No, this isn't what you want. You want friendship, not revenge! Let's get out of this place, and go talk to him. If they knew how you felt, they wouldn't of turned their backs on you! Please, Stygian, let me help you be who you are again. We'll explain everything to Starswirl and everything will be alright again," Steven promised, his hand extended to help the unicorn. Stygian was silent at first, not he didn't take Steven's hand in friendship yet.

"... I … I want to believe you …"

…

"But the darkness WILL NOT BE STOPPED!!!"

And with the power of the shadows, Stygian launched Steven's spirit right out of him, him landing right down onto the ground. Outside, the fight was escalating, and the weather now turned into a horrid blizzard. The mighty roars from Stygian's his wings spread, had brought more attention towards him as much of the fighting actually stopped for a bit as they observed. The Pony of Shadows was now in overdrive, looking around for the spirit hidden amongst the battlefield.

"RAAHH! I know you're here, Steven! I can sense your spirit, WHERE'RE YOU?!" Stygian bellowed, his voice shaking the ground as he tried to relocate him.

"What happened to him? He just killed Steven didn't he?" Lapis asked.

"Not exactly," Twilight replied. The Pony of shadows looked around frantically, but that didn't mean the fight was over. His tentacles were summoned, and went right into battle mode.

"TAKE COVER!" the leading Tindalos yelled, and everyone quickly scattered. The tentacles though were extremely quick, and the targets as it ended up being were the Gems: each tentacle skewering one after the other. Other tentacles went after the ponies, and try as they might, Stygian had the Elements of Harmony wrapped in his grip. THIS was the full power of Stygian. And they could only either retreat, or get caught in the crossfire. The Changelings were forced to retreat, and many of the Tindalos took what they could and left too. They all had a feeling this world will not suite them before long.

Just like how the spirit said. And Steven was forced to watch it all.

Soon, they were done: the Crystal Gems were reduced to stones in the snow, and many of the ponies, both Pillars, and Elements of Harmony were now trapped, encased in dark shadow and ice, some of the Windigo around them to keep them from interfering. Just one more target left to attack, and it will all be over.
Connie. She was cold, worn out, and the only one standing and still a threat far as Stygian was concerned.

"THERE! All done. There's none of you left now."

"STYGIAN!"

Starswirl the Bearded. Despite Jasper's warning, he came back anyway, and what a time to come back just after the slaughter. Stygian of course was NOT happy to see him again. Steven at least had to make this clear to Starswirl before this could go any further, and he went over to him, hand on him.

"Stygian isn't trying to steal your magic, he never had, he just wanted your respect!"

"Hmm. A spirit of this realm?"

"It's a paranormal thing, now listen. He wanted to make copies of your artifacts so he could join you to fight! He wants to stop now, but the shadows won't let him," Steven warned. Starswirl froze on this revelation, looking to Stygian again, the giant alicorn-like umbra beginning to move closer towards Connie, each step leaving a small tremor. Connie promised to stand as much as she could for Steven, she knew he was alive somehow. She can't leave him, she won't leave him, even with the giant Pony of Shadows looming over her. One stomp of his hoof would finish her off.

"Only you left."

"NO! I won't left you hurt Steven!" Connie said.

"You don't have a choice. THE DARKNESS WON!"

*BAM*

Stygian readied to kill them both, but before his hooves could crush either of them, something suddenly clocked Stygian hard in the side of the face, powerful enough to send the Pony of shadows off his own hooves, crashing into the hard snow and rock. It would take a lot of strength to knock Stygian off of his hooves, and he found the source of the hit landing off not too far away, skidding in the snow. Stygian got himself back up, and found his newest adversaries. Ruby had returned, and riding a Windigo as her mighty steed.
But there was something different about this Windigo. It's colors weren't completely white, but warmer magical coloration, a mix of purples, pinks, and blues, giving off a warm vibe instead of cold.

"You missed one," Ruby said, as the reformed windigo snorted. Stygian though wasn't so easily intimidated.

"You can't defeat me, Ruby. I've just toppled every other Gem and pony here, what makes you think you could do anything?" Stygian scoffed. Ruby though had a secret weapon with her, and brought it out for them all to take a look at. Stygian's own "fire" may bring cold around him, but Ruby's fire she had with her looked different from typical red, yellow, and orange. The Windigo's magic was effecting the flames, and now it had a more purple, violet flame. The windigo around them actually began to back away from the warmth of the fire, the Reformed Windigo not fazed by the flames. As it no longer fed off of hatred and the cold, the fire of friendship had little effect, if any. In fact, feeling the warmth of the Fire of Friendship gave it more bravery than the other fellow Windigo, and it reared back, giving a power-filled neigh. Connie found the only chance to get away, and moved Steven's body aside before they could get crushed. Ruby felt her heart sink when she saw Steven, and quickly figured out the true culprit standing in front of her.

"S-Steven?" Ruby gasped. She felt a tear come down her face, but she felt her rage build up all over again. But then she began to hear something.

"RUBY! Ruby, it's me, Steven!"

"Where're you?" Ruby asked.

"I don't have time to explain! Ruby, Stygian's not as evil as he looks - he wants to stop but the shadows won't let him go! We have to get him out of there," Steven instructed. Ruby nodded.

"Got it, And Steven … thanks for not leaving me," Ruby said. Stygian moved forward, spurring into action again. The Windigo underneath bolted aside from the lunge, skidding in the snow, giving Ruby time to see them getting cornered by multiple Windigo.

"CONNIE, HEADS UP!" Ruby called, using her own natural ability to light up through the snow as the Windigo galloped directly towards them. Connie ducked, and multiple Windigo got hit, forcing them all to scatter away from the remaining group, while other Windigo were forced to run from the fire. The fires scattered on the bindings on the elements of harmony and pillars, burning them all away but not hurting any of them. In the hit, some fire actually landed dangerously close to Steven, and scattered amongst the gemstones. Normally the fire would be lethal, but this magic flame did not hurt Steven's body nor the gemstones at all. In fact, it did the exact opposite.

*GASP*

Steven was back from the brink, bolting upright again.

"Steven! you're back!" Twilight gasped. The windigos scattered everywhere, the winter actually calming down much to Stygian's dismay, as Starswirl moved towards him.

"Stygian. Years ago, you needed our help. But instead of giving you our aid, we turned our backs on you. My pride clouded my own judgement, and I owe you an apology," Starswirl said. The Pony of Shadows actually stopped, as if it understood what Starswirl was saying. Stygian within heard what Starswirl said, but the Pony of Shadows actually forced itself to fight.

"I don't want your apology. I WANT YOUR DEATH!!!" The pony bellowed, his horn glowing dark again. With the Windigo no longer coming close to them, the Pony of Shadows only had himself to fight them all. Before a shot could be fired though, Rainbow, Somnambula, and Flash Magnus slammed into the horn, knocking the blast away from them all for a moment as it shot off into the sky.

"We need to get Stygian out!" Steven said.

"Already on it," Starlight replied, using her own magic, not on Stygian, but on Twilight, making a rope of magical energy around Twilight. The flyers kept the Pony of Shadows distracted, and it was just enough for Twilight to fly directly into the chest of the umbra, the pain immediate as she did so. Inside, Twilight could only see through the horn glow off her own head, and she was soon to spot Stygian inside, though still under some influence of the Shadows.

"Stygian!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Twilight?" Stygian said. Twilight used a similar rope spell around Stygian, and with a tug on her own line, Starlight pulled back hard to pull Twilight out of the Pony of Shadows, but the Umbra was not going to give up so easily, and Twilight felt a huge pull on her own rope. Starlight switched her ropes off of Twilight and onto Stygian. The pressure was excruciating for the Pony of Shadows, it roaring and screeching in pain as Stygian was just barely visible. Steven and Connie grabbed hold of Starlight, helping her pull back against the force as much as they could manage.

"It's too strong, it won't let him go!" Steven said in a strain.

"We must help him," Starswirl said. "OPEN THE PORTAL! NOW!"

Starswirl got his own magical rope grabbing hold of Stygian. The elements, one at a time, added their own power to the pull, the Pony of Shadows hardly able to do much better. Stygian was pulled out more and more, but a powerful strain of the Pony of Shadows was still holding onto him by a strong shadowy strain. The umbra then heard another loud neigh, and a set of pounding hooves, seeing Ruby and the reformed steed just too late to do much. The Windigo galloped right into the strain and, like a checked finish line to a race, the strength was enough to finally severe the strand.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The final roar of the Umbra echoed miles wide, and on separation, the body began to grow completely deformed, no longer having a base to work with. The magic from the Elements of Harmony, combine with the Fire of Friendship, began to encircle the mass of shadows, the remains of the Umbra roaring, yelling, and unable to escape, disappearing behind a seal of fire and rainbow.

Then came the following blast. With all this energy, there was a mighty explosion of all sorts of colors, launching into a cyclone up high in the sky, and spreading for miles in all directions. None of them got hurt in the blast, and the blast, which felt like an eternity, lasted for about half a minute before it died down, and it was silent all over again. The blast itself spread all over the place miles in the sky, and the clouds, which were just so abundant moments before, now cleared for the ray of sun to seep its way down to the snow-covered ground.
Stygian and Starswirl had a quiet moment here, the old wizard looking to the strategist of the pillars, wondering if Stygian did hear him while trapped inside such a monster. Stygian though no longer had the look of murder, or discontent in his eyes, but instead one of acceptance, and friendship. Starswirl was glad to rekindle their friendship again.

And that was not the only thing that the blast had brought back either. The magical energy had given the fallen gemstones just enough of an extra boost to get the Gems to come back to life. One by one, they all began to reform again, none of them cracked, or hurt, or anything. Steven almost got tears seeing they all were okay, and they even more so on seeing him.

"STEVEN!" Pearl was the first to come over.

"GUYS! YOU'RE ALIVE, YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Steven said in joy, hugging Pearl. It didn't take long until some of the more eager members rushed right for him, hugging him tight.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, please?" cried Pearl.

"I'm alright, and look, we stopped the Pony of Shadows! We did it together, and it was great," Steven replied, all the evidence in the area around them.

"Oh Steven … you … are Steven," Lapis said.

"Of course! I'd never forget my Beach Summer Fun Buddy," Steven replied. That proved it.

"OH STEVEN!" Lapis beamed, giving her best pal her own hug, flying up off the ground for a bit, she was so happy. It was a good moment for many of them. Starswirl though had some unfinished business with the Crystal Gems, going towards Jasper first.

"Jasper? I've taken time to think over what you and the others had said. My pride did cloud me from the knowledge you all held, and it was that pride that made me harsh towards you all. I'm deeply sorry," Starswirl said. Jasper was quiet at first, but she nodded.

"It's happens to the best of us," Jasper replied.

"So. Looks like a conversation can save Equestria?" Starlight said to Starswirl. Starswirl sighed and smiled himself.

"Looks like I'll be making a lot of apologies today."

Within this moment though, Sapphire had one more bit of business to take care of, especially when she saw her on her windigo steed not too far away.

"Ruby!" Sapphire gasped, rushing up towards the lone rider. With so much of the world left so frozen, it was amazing to see Ruby looking quite a bit better when compared to everyone else not too long ago. Sapphire wasted no time in rushing on towards her. Sapphire knew this was the real Ruby, and she wasn't leaving it alone any longer.

"Ruby, thank the stars you're alright! Listen, I'm so sorry about what I said, I don't think everything's based on a lie. I was wrong," Sapphire made clear. Ruby didn't answer at first, keeping her gaze down to her snow-covered feet. Riding in on a Windigo of all things was enough of a shocker, but how cold hearted did Ruby end up after it all? Did Ruby forgive her or not? It was hard to tell when it came to this supposed cowgirl, and with the bitter cold winds still biting at their beings, Ruby spat onto the ground.

"Nah. … You were right," Ruby concluded, before getting off the warmly-colored Windigo. A simple pat of the animal, and the Windigo galloped off on its way, leaving Ruby and Sapphire alone. This cowgirl had something to say to her beloved, and she wasn't going to wait around any longer. This had lingered in her mind since the inter-species race, and now she had a few words on her mind.

"Once upon a time, someone told us we were the answer. And to not question anythin'... but I dun believe it anymore. Least, not til' I hear it from you."

Sapphire remained a little bit quiet, unsure of what this could mean for her as Ruby extended her hand. The blue Gem placed her hand onto hers, feeling the warmth that was too long gone from her mind and being. It felt very good after all of the bitter cold the Windigo Queen had swarmed onto them. Ruby was the fire of friendship they've been missing, and what now was bringing Sapphire back around. A breeze of smooth air over bitter air blew off Ruby's cowgirl hat. The clouds slowly began to clear from the sky for the first time since the storm had started, the winds finally calming down. … Ruby finally looked up to Sapphire, looking her right to the face, as she got down on one knees.

One question that'll change everything.

"Sapphire? … Will you marry me?"

Dearly Beloved

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Well, it's good to be back. And back in his own home too for Steven - finally getting his proper leggings all better with the Beach house now in it's full glory again. It still took at least a week for the storm to finally calm down completely, leaving a good sky, and with all the problems handled, there was only one thing left to do.

And Steven had gotten the perfect book for it. The cover: a few flowers and the words "Dream Wedding" on it. Absolutely perfect for Ruby and Sapphire. There's no way he was going to miss this for the world, and he and everyone else were all on board.

"This is to give you come ideas. Ruby said she wanted your reunion as Garnet to be special." Steven took a moment as tears of joy came from him, a smile on his face, "and there's nothing more special and romantic, than a beautiful wedding! Here's some printing styles to get your ideas."

Steven started to go through the various options on many of the pages available to the two, but really the exact style itself was a pretty good concept already. Can't hurt to bring over some originality though.

"Would it be cool if we got flames on it?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, and maybe some … dolphins."
And you're probably expecting something ice, didn't you? Admittedly Sapphire had plenty of winter themes already with the snow outside.

"Yeah! Dolphins and Flames!"

"I think I got exactly what you're looking for on page 135."

"How long did it take you to put this together?" Sapphire asked.

"My entire life," replied Steven. Him and probably every fan of the couple by now. Who could blame him though: Garnet was his favorite couple ever, and if he was to bring forth the perfect wedding, then gosh darn it he was gonna get perfect and then some! No mistakes, and no overlords this time.

"Well don't worry. The wedding will go without a hitch."

"Aww man, I didn't want you to see the wedding yet!" cried Steven in disappointment. Sapphire giggled.

"I didn't see ahead. But I can make a darn good guess."

"PHEW. don't scare me like that, babe," Ruby said, smiling. Sapphire and Ruby simply laughed, as they began to hear the front doors open up. The o so familiar glow revealed it from Equestria, and a very excited and happy Pinkie Pie coming right back with Fluttershy, Bismuth, and some folding chairs. Not even time for the wedding, and Fluttershy was already in tears.

"Cool, you got the chairs!" Steven said.

"Of course Steven. No matter what, we're not going to miss this for the world. Oh, this is so beautiful," Fluttershy squeaked, hoof rubbing some of the tears away. Pinkie Pie couldn't agree more, and after opening the regular door, she began to take off to get the chairs off into place.

"But why bring the chairs here? The alter's by the boardwalk," Ruby asked. Pinkie pie appeared above them by Steven's bed, presenting a gift for them in a Christmas box, blue and red wrapping paper naturally.

"BECAUSE somebody's got you two lovebirds a little something special. OPEN IT!" Pinkie insisted excitedly. So ruby did, and soon she pulled out what looked like a set of rings. one copper, one silver, both for them. Both Ruby and Sapphire's eyes sparkled, as Bismuth chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's not exactly weapons, but they said these would come in handy," Bismuth said.

…….

Soon, things got busy, and every creature was off by the boardwalk, making preparations in their own way. Some were working on the setting, some decorations, while others prepared for invitations and how this all will go. The invitations for the moment were being handled in a sort of assembly line: Twilight and Pearl folding, Spike stamping the picture, Ruby and Sapphire signing it in their own way, Peridot putting them in envelopes, and Applejack and Blue licking it so it would seal. It was a basic, yet enjoyable process, and Ruby and Sapphire had their own signature designs: Sapphire in cursive with a blue pen, and Ruby bold basic with a red marker.

"We've been doing this ALL DAY. How many does that make?" Peridot asked, getting bored of this task. she was excited for this same as anyone else, but if she knew she would be stuck doing this, she would have plenty of objections to it. Applejack gave Blue the envelope, which he proceeded to give a good lick. not the most tasteful, but still helpful.

"And that makes … 32! Hooey, we're gonna get ourselves a packed house," Applejack said, Blue barking in agreement as he wagged his tail.

"Think we should've picked somewhere bigger?" Spike pointed out, looking over to the chairs all set up. They were mainly just beach chairs (ironic considering the snow), and they saw Emerald toss a chair into place, with Rarity correcting it as he kept doing so. Tedious and buggy to the unicorn.

"I think the beach is appropriate," Twilight replied. Sapphire though was a little bit perplexed by the numbers after working them out in her head. But still, that wasn't the only thing really going on in her mind for the time being. This sort of thinking still kept with her as Steven started to come over. But, he wasn't alone either, and he had another guest, Pink Diamond, coming to the wedding in question right behind him. Or rather, she was carrying him over to the others, but all the same, she was a bit excited for this sort of event.

"Oh, Pink, you're here early," Twilight said.

"Yep. Guess what else decided to come?" Pink Diamond said with a cheeky grin. But the answer came up a bit sooner than they could really say, mainly in the form of two beings walking up from behind the temple, and going up to them.
Blue Diamond, and Yellow Diamond were here for the wedding! To say that it was a surprise would be spot-on. Both diamonds were formally dressed for the occasion, going along with what this was all about thanks to you-know-who: Blue Diamond in a one-piece, starry gown as Yellow Diamond a aristocratic, cosmic tuxedo.

"Surprise!" Steven announced.

"My Diamond!" Sapphire gasped.

"Oh my stars!" Peridot gasped, tumbling off her feet on sight of the two. "What're you doing here?!"

"Pink told us about your wedding, Sapphire," said Blue Diamond, "We wouldn't miss something so … wonderful." Blue Diamond actually started to shed a few tears with a smile on her face, the idea alone bringing forth a flurry of emptions. Yellow Diamond glanced over to Blue Diamond, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Blue, let's not go into tears before the event even starts," Yellow advised, though the idea sure sounded pretty beautiful to Blue Diamond.

"Yes. Of course," Blue replied, her finger gently rubbing away some of her tears.

"This is gonna be the best wedding ever!" beamed Ruby.
The true connection between one Gem to another, something only known for a good while as simple fusion, but this was stronger than any simple rule or regulation. And you know what, that was okay to Blue Diamond. And possibly, to Yellow Diamond too. Still, the mention of Pink Diamond though did get a bit … well, conflicting. Should now be a good time to tell them, or not?

"Oh … Uh, My Diamond? A-About that. She -"

"We know," Yellow Diamond stated, raising her hand.

"Oh. … How're you feeling?"

"It … took some time to accept the fact," Yellow admitted, "All those years of the Gem War, only to find we were fighting eachother, rather than a renegade Rose Quartz … but, if I am to be honest, it was only a matter of time. Considering how White treated her prior to the war. … Though, I still have some questions regarding you," Yellow explained, looking down to Steven and Pink Diamond.

"Oh geez, I knew it wasn't gonna be that easy," Steven murmured, as Pink placed Steven down. Yellow got down to her knees to get a better level with the small Gem.

"Pink Diamond, I hope you realized how much we've gone through. Why didn't you say any of this? Why this form, why the voice, why didn't you say anything at the trial?!"

Clearly this was fairly new information, as Blue and Yellow Diamond only arrived recently.

"S-Sorry," Steven said humbly, "My mom kept it secret from everyone … almost everyone."

"What're you talking about?" Yellow asked.

"Well, apparently mom - … oh wait, you don't know what a mom is. OK, Pink Diamond permanently altered her form into Rose Quartz after faking her shattering, but later on she gave up that form in order to create a new lifeform with my dad. Me. Pink Diamond passed some of her powers onto me … but that's all. I don't have Pink or Rose's memories. Sorry."
Steven then presented his gemstone again, Yellow giving it a better look for a bit. Strange how she and Blue Diamond thought it was Rose Quartz for so long, now that Yellow got a good look of said stone. Then she straightened up.

"That's not entirely true. You may not have Rose's memories, but your past self is technically standing right next to you," Yellow pointed out, referring to the other Pink Diamond standing right next to Steven. Pink Diamond shrugged.

"And anyway, I'm sure your memories are hidden in there somewhere, Pink."

"I still go by Steven," Steven corrected.

"... Fare enough. It would be confusing calling you both Pink Diamond. Speaking of which, it'll be complicated to explain all of this back to Homeworld - their own Diamond fighting against them."

"And White Diamond. Boy, wonder how she's gonna react to this?" Pink Diamond realized.

"Hey hey, we'll cross that galaxy when we get to it. We still got a wedding to attend," Steven said.

With some silence, Sapphire looked over to the invitations in the stack, which at this point were pretty high in count. Plenty of Beach City residents, Ponyville equines, Gems old and new, and a few extra were invited to this wedding, sure, but as Sapphire recalled much of the invitations to who they were supposed to be for. They had the names on the envelopes, the latest one being for Fluorite. So many coming … but, still missing something.

…….

"Okay, my dad will finish playing the music," Steven explained, as he was going over the roles with Ruby and Sapphire by the alter, "And then you'll do the I-Do's, and then I'll say "I now pronounce you Garnet". and then you fuse! Every creature will cheer!"

"That sounds nice," Sapphire said, getting some idea of it in her head. She took a moment to look back to many of the empty seats amongst the wedding chairs, a name tag on each of them for the many guests coming up. Some of the name tags were placed on the ground for those such as Lion, the other Diamonds, Fluorite, and so on who weren't going to find seats big enough for them. Lion and Nora already found their spots in the area, though as she read over the names placed, she noticed that there was one still missing.

"This is so exciting. All the preparations, the beauty, who knew planning a wedding could be so fun?" Pearl said, walking over with a few of the others Gems and Ponies.

"I did!" Steven beamed. Sapphire walked off for a brief moment towards the seats, thinking back, much to the confusion of the others. She read off all the names, one side of the seating to the others, but all of them lacked one name.

"Yep, there's gonna be A LOT of creatures," Steven said, "Everyone's gonna be here for the big day!"

Sapphire went out to the center of the wedding ceremony, and for a moment just stayed quiet. Eventually though, she went and allowed her actions to speak for her: she bolted off for a moment and returned with another folding chair, getting it over in the second row.

"Sapphire, the row's not consistent now," Pearl said, but Sapphire didn't care, and got out another nametag. The name said it all.

"Flint," said Jade.

"If this is to happen: The first ever Gem wedding in all of history. Our wedding." She said this while holding Ruby's hand. "I want everyone to be here to attend. That means I want him to be here too. It just wouldn't feel right without him," Sapphire explained.

"Really? I mean, after what he said to you," Bismuth pointed out. How could Sapphire forget the cruel comment Flint had left about her leader's lack of matter for being dead? It still stung her, but Sapphire looked to her friends with her true eye, moving her hair bangs away.

"The past is past. Besides, it was my fault he left the team, and if he won't come, the least I could do is apologize."

"Yeah, you're right: It's a wedding between friends, and we all should be here together," Steven agreed. It took little to convince everyone else about that. Even if flint had taken off, the least they could do was figure out of he was still alright.

"But where do we even look? We're talking about a Gem that can turn invisible at will with his camouflage cloak, and I doubt he would be the kind to leave any trail for -" Pearl's questioning was interrupted when the group heard some barking off nearby, Blue the dog meeting Blue Diamond herself. It was his first time seeing any of the Diamonds personally, and seeing Blue Diamond surely got him interested, much to Blue Diamond (and by extension Pink Diamond) and their own bit of curiosity. Seeing Blue suddenly got a lightbulb lit in Steven's head.

"Blue!" Steven called. blue looked his way, along with Blue Diamond.

"You spoke, Steven?"

"Oh. Uh, I meant -" Blue the dog trotted over to him on hearing his name, barking happily before jumping onto him. Steven chuckled as Blue licked his face. Blue Diamond felt puzzled.

"You named a Earth canine after me?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Cool!" Pink Diamond said. Something for later, but for now, Blue hopped off of Steven, who got up to his feet.

"Good to see you, boy. Think you can help us with something?" Steven asked. Blue was more than ready for the task, and he stood at attention, ready to be given the orders. If they were going to find a Gem that had taken off to who knows where, Blue would be the right hound to do it. He had tracked Steven down from Beach City to Ocean Town from scent alone before, and he was the only dog to sniff out gems, so who better? Jade went over to him, and presented the only thing left from Flint. The item was a small piece of metal from Flint's armor.

"This is what Flint last had, and we want to find him. Think you can track him for us?" Jade asked kindly. Blue started to go to work and began sniffing Flint's calling card. The strange smell of mixing gemstones did leave Blue a little bit puzzled at first, but it was a very unique scent to leave behind, something blue could pinpoint. Like any dog, he then began to sniff around a little bit, focusing his sense into his snout, aiming it to the sky.

"An organic creature that can smell Gems? I don't know if you notice, but Gems don't have scents," Yellow Diamond reminded.

"Yes, but Blue can somehow track them, I've seen him track Gems before," insisted Sapphire.

"AND Gem artifacts," added Lapis Lazuli, "Remember those communicator pieces he found by the beach, and the ones found at the Prime Kindergarten?"

"Communicator parts?" Blue Diamond pondered.
It was then that Gem dog blue gave a deep inhale through his nose, and suddenly he began barking to the troop, before starting to head off. No matter how vague, there was nothing this dog can't track down.

"There he goes!" Steven called, before starting to run off after him. Much of the group started to go as well, and Sapphire glanced over to the diamonds.

"My apologies for postponing the event."

"Needn't you worry. You go and find him," Blue Diamond insisted. Blue Diamond knew determination when she heard it, and who was to stop a group of rebels anyway? Sapphire soon went off with her dearest Ruby to catch up with the others. Blue had never lost a scent yet. This left all three diamonds alone by the alter.

"There's always some surprise," Yellow sighed.

"That's what makes it so fun," said Pink. Well, depending on the surprise of course.

~~~~~~

Blue's scent tracking had lead them in a bit of an odd direction: leading them to use the Warp Pad to get them to a different location entirely. A scent somehow stuck, and Blue still kept at it as they began to check around where they've ended up. The area looked to be northern pine forest, much similar to where Steven did his first solo-mission in, and with the excessive snow it looked pretty well for winter. Blue started barking again after a short bit, and then went off ahead of them.

"You think he's here?" Ruby asked, holding Sapphire's hand.

"I hope so," Sapphire replied.

"Well, we shouldn't be too hasty. Let's try to keep together," Twilight insisted.

"I do hope he's okay," Fluttershy said, as they began to try and follow Blue. Admittedly though, with the soft sounds of winter breeze through the trees, they all suddenly began to hear some sort of yelping coming from Blue, before he rocketed out from the brush and straight back to them. And what exactly did Blue end up running off into?

"Steven, bubble!" Pearl yelled.

"Bubble power!" Steven replied, encasing both mane six and crystal gems inside a bubble. A set of two corrupted Gems, as it turned out! What a thing to find. Both of these were quadrupedal, corrupted Quartzes: one a mixture of turquoise-blue colors, with pink spots across her body, and the other a mixture of brown-orange colors. and both of these wolf-like Gems were charging straight towards them! Much of the group were caught off guard, and expecting at least one of them to slam into the bubble, but oddly the first one actually leaped over the bubble, and the second one running off passed them, both quartzes splitting up, down two paths into the forest. And just like that, they were gone. Whatever they had in mind, it wasn't here.

"Well. That happened," said Amethyst, as the bubble was dropped.

"What was that all about?" wondered Peridot.

"I don't know. But it's a bit odd. They seemed … afraid," Jade said. But Sapphire had a more one-track mind to this.

"We'll deal with them later. For now, Flint has to be somewhere. Go on, Blue, you're doing fine," Sapphire insisted, letting Blue go off ahead again. Blue kept a bit closer to the others this time in case of anymore surprises in the brush. They all kept their guard up as well, but seeing those two Gems completely ignore them as they tore passed was something to note. what would make them all just run away like that?
They would get their answer soon enough.

Blue kept sniffing along the snow for a bit more, before he then looked off ahead and they all began to see something move amongst the forest. A bit vague for normal eyes, but Peridot and her enhanced eyesight began to peek out exactly who it was going through, even with his camouflage cloak making visibility all but impossible for many.

"He's right there," Peridot said quietly, as to not disturbed him, and pointing him out amongst the trees. He moved along through the forest like a looming ghost, not noticing the group all on standby just yet. Or, if he did, he wasn't caring much for them. Sapphire readied to go out and confront him, but Blue began to freak out a little bit all of a sudden, and grabbed her by the dress as Flint moved on over to a clearing.

"Boy, let go, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"... You're such a bother. I hope you know that."

They got it. Flint stood there for a moment or two, just staring off into the forest. At first it seemed as if he was just talking to nothing but air, but eventually everyone hidden behind the trees started to feel … something. It started out small. But each step made it only stronger. Until a huge being of pure white stepped up, and pushed away two of the pine trees as she stepped out in the clearing.

White Diamond was back.

"W-White?" Pearl gasped.

"What's she doing here?" added in Twilight, shivering.

"And why does she look like that?" asked Lapis.
It seemed like some unnecessary statement, but they all can't deny that she looked different. A LOT. Sure they could look different from simple regeneration, but there was a bit more to it than that. For instance, her diamond-shaped pupils were grayish white instead of black like the other Diamonds had, and her body, which was already pure white before, now almost seemed to be radiating, or glowing. To the point when they can't make out her gemstone at all on her head, and the only main facial features were her eyes, nostrils, and mouth, which by the way now stood out with black lipstick and eyeliner on her prominent lashes.
Her outfit probably changed the most though, making her less like a veteran commander and more like a deity: a long white dress that reached the floor, splitting on the sides to expose her legs, shoulder pads, and a pair of intricately detailed dress sandals with high heels. She also had a cape with black and gray stripes that is lined with diamond and star designs within.

Something had to happen to her for THIS end result.

The chat over this wasn't heard by Flint nor White Diamond (not that it mattered). Bismuth drew her weapon, but Jasper made sure to keep her from charging on into the meeting. Or, whatever this was. Flint didn't look as surprised as he should be, but he still felt slightly intimidated.

"You know, you've taken me by surprise when I found you here, of all places. Come to get the Cluster yourself?" Flint asked.

"Oh Flint. Just because I said I'm gonna break you, doesn't make it literal," She said this while clenching her fist, making flint doubt it. Course he'd doubt it either way.

"Sure it doesn't."

"I trust the others aren't with you?" White asked. Flint felt a cringe coming on, but he did nod.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Sapphire wanted me dead after how I left her," Flint replied.

"GOOD. Hope she doesn't. I'd hate to see you go. You were one of my only true Gems with Flint components within it, I couldn't bring myself to shatter a Gem like you. Too valuable."

"Even more so than Yellow and Blue?" spat Flint. White thought back on how she tried that fusion experiment with the two, and she could see where he was coming from. She pondered, but giggled a little bit.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. It's hard to just stumble across another Diamond, you know. … If you may?"

Flint just huffed.

"... Just to let you know. I hate doing this."

"And you done it so well," White said with a smile. It was probably better for Flint's conscious and for the Crystal Gems' trust that he would leave first because of this. Flint's stone began to glow again, and it them started to present something over to White Diamond in its glow. White Diamond plucked it out of his aura before he could finish, just to make sure it was grabbed, and not pulled away first. Flint cringed when she did that, and what did she end up getting?

Starswirl the Bearded's diary.

"S-Starswirl's journal? how'd he get that?!" Twilight whispered.

"Very nice. Could be proven very useful," White said, as she began to work out the pages from within it, skimming through them with a move of her finger tips. For such a small book, there was some big information stored within its pages - something she was keen to look into.
Those watching nearby were a bit mixed, but Twilight felt the most appalled. This was her hero's own book Flint had stolen, for Celestia's sake! At least Stygian had better intentions for taking the personal book, but Flint -

"Whatever. Now, your end of the deal?" Flint reminded, waiting for White to hand over … well, they weren't sure what exactly. White Diamond got the book inside her Gemstone first so he wouldn't snatch it away, and doing it quick too. However, the aura to bring the book in was switched with another object coming out, this one looking more like a Gem artifact.
The item itself looked similar to Starswirl's book, but with a number of differences to make it stand alone: a thick, vintage leather-bound book with an orange cover, and a pinkish gemstone centered on the front cover with gold decals surrounding it. There also was a yellow bookmark peeking out of its pages, on one page in particular.

"It is quite special, isn't it -"

"NOT SO FAST," Flint cut in. He then opened the book and looked through what the pages had to say. White smiled, though not malicious as she probably would've done the same thing in his position. No creature ever enjoys being double-crossed. Flint looked through it page by page, the contents describing a number of aspects to quite a number of things: Gem creation, fusion dynamics, etc. But the one Flint wanted to check in particular was where the bookmark was placed, and he got there in little to no time. Much of the book was written down in Gem language, easy for Flint to read, though pictures showed what looked to be a humanoid figure, and a monstrous one alongside in a sort of transformation fashion. Flint looked this over very carefully before closing it.

"Alright, it's legit," Flint concluded.

"I've read through that a good two thousand times. I don't need it anymore."

"Good."
With this confirmed, Flint got the book back into his Gemstone for safe-keeping. The exchange complete though, both sides didn't really go off just yet, the soft snow landing around them for a brief moment.

"... So. Where will you go after you drop that off?" White asked. Flint sighed, kicking some of the snow as his feet.

"Oh, probably check out the Kindergartens, see you gawk before I die … you?" Flint honestly didn't have much planned for this part.

"Study the book, and head off home. Take this how you will, but I stopped by one of Blue Diamond's colonies, and they treated me little differently from before."

"You don't say," Flint groaned. He could just see it himself: a bunch of Gems bowing and groveling at White Diamond's feet. Heck, maybe see her as a hero for reviving Pink Diamond of all things. Oh, the irony of that was very hard to swallow, and it was probably because of how she even looked. White Diamond kneeled down to him, gently lifting his chin so his eyes met with hers. Her eyes just looked so … lost.

"Now, dear Flint, I know we've had our differences in the past, but now it's time to put all of that fuss behind us. It's only progress, after all, and it happens to the best of us. Gems, Ponies, Humans, even those … humanimals."

"It's called "Anthro" but I see the point, White. As cruel as some is, progress happens no matter what. But do us all a favor, and slow down a little bit will you? Not every creature's half as ready as you are with all of these "experiments" of yours. Besides, don't you think you're being a bit too, oh I don't know … overbearing?"
Those hidden away waited to hear what this Diamond had to say. Not that they didn't, but it was highly dangerous to stand up front of such a being and make those kinds of statements without any trouble. White Diamond paused, but then stood up.

"I might have. Maybe I've been stuck with a case of "god syndrome" after all," White admitted humbly. Flint and White shared a chuckle with eachother on that statement, as if they were a pair of old friends.

"Probably. … Well, anyway, I got what I need, and so did you. Now, I'd better get going before they get back," Flint said, turning around. He was just about to go, when White Diamond spoke again.

"So soon? But we only just got here. I'd love to know some more about the ingenious story behind my dear, dear Pink Diamond."

Flint stopped altogether, and turned around again. Did he hear her correctly?

"I'm gonna … stand here, for twenty seconds. To give you a chance to explain to me: HOW? How it is "ingenious"?"

"Pink Diamond: a off-colored cut, SOMEHOW managing to outsmart and even trick me. She even disguised her own DNA and aura to match that of a standard quartz. Not even I could do that."

"I did wonder how Blue Diamond didn't sense Pink the moment they got to Homeworld," Flint admitted, now knowing this sort of loophole nobody really was thinking about.

"Indeed. Suppose we both better get going. See you soon."

"Hopefully not too soon. But yeah, see ya."

And with that handled, both Diamond and Gem went off back the way they came, neither even noticing the group hidden off nearby, hearing every single word spoken. How long was this even going on?

And HOW DID SHE FIND OUT?!

~~~~~~

Well, for Flint, his walk back home took him most of the day, and getting dark by the time he got back, even with the Warp Pad providing a quick access back to the barn. He honestly wanted little hurry to get himself back, just in case someone would be there still. Just as well, he also kept on his camo cloak to be completely sure no one would see him pass through. Best no one would, given much of the humans in Beach City would tell any Crystal Gem anyway if they were to see him. It was a casual walk through town, him seeing many faces as he went, most of which he wouldn't care for personally if he'd not gotten to know them.
On his way, he began to notice something else along the beach: the set up for Ruby and Sapphire's upcoming wedding. Untouched, and unaffected by the snow drifting down in tiny snowflakes. Flint paused for a moment to see their handiwork, going up to the alter for a brief moment with his hands casually behind his back. All the chairs were set up, the alter itself was completely established, even the flowers looked good in their prime even with the cold weather. He wasn't sure if this would truly come to pass or not anymore, nor if this actually was anything involving them or not. But with the coloration of a red buttercup, and a pure blue violet, he could make a good guess.

Too bad he won't ever become apart of it.

Without another word, he walked on from the alter, and went along down the beach, with the only sound of gentle waves touching his feet, covering his tracks as he continued on. Eventually the Gem found the Crystal Temple. It sure looked quiet, with the snow gently gracing the temple Gem itself with a coating of pure white, much like the diamond he had the displeasure of having to make the trade with. Even with the Crystal Heart barely holding on, if at all, it still looked as majestic and authentic as ever. Flint went up to the front cave, making sure that no one was there to see him. He was barely even fazed by the fact the Beach House had returned. The cave looked completely empty. Not a soul of any sort inside.

"Well. Here's to you," Flint sighed, removing the cloak for a brief moment before walking inside. He saw that the Temple did have a Warp Pad again, but perhaps this would be a good spot anyway for the "goodbye package". One more check, and then he brought out the Gem book. He made sure the bookmark was on the correct page first, before nodding. This was all they could ever need. So, he gently placed the book down onto the Warp Pad, placing his hand on the gemstone for a bit.

"You can do a lot more for them than I could now. Do what you can, ok? …" Flint gently removed his hand from the book, only hoping that the Crystal Gems would come by soon and see the object inside. His memento was left, and his job was over. He gave them everything they could ever need thanks to this book. … He hoped so.
Flint began to walk out of the Beach House, only stopping to look back at the book. This whole time, with how much he'd done for them in some way, and all he had left now was a book that wasn't even his own. And for exchange of a book belonging to Starswirl. Of course, what would it even matter after the way he left? So, with a sigh, he got back on his cloak, and began to walk away.

"Flint, wait. Please?"

He didn't even get out of the cave before seeing them. It felt strange to Flint, being found all over again. Not by everyone, but still by someone he knew for a while now. And ironically, the one who he had verbally killed just before he left them all. Flint knew Sapphire wasn't alone, even seeing the others off nearby … and Jade. … The soldier took a deep breath.

"Flint, listen to me," Sapphire stated, "I've been feeling very lost in myself ever since we left White Diamond. Everything I've foresaw was very muffled, and Pink Diamond only made things worse for me. I acted too irrational for someone like me to ever be. If I am to be honest, I never found anyone that could rival Garnet as being the leader of the Crystal Gems. But then you came along, and all of a sudden we - or, I - suddenly found you were making the choices. It was you who made the first mission to White Diamond happen, you helped everyone focus in stopping the Cluster, and you did far more in solving the Pink Diamond case than any of us! Flint, if anyone should be able to understand all of us, it's you! You helped bring us all back together, and keep us focused on what's actually important. It shouldn't -"

"ARE YOU FINISHED?" Flint cut in. He tried a number of times to stop her, and only now did Sapphire finally did stop herself.

"Sapphire, listen. I … appreciate your attempts, but. It's not going to happen."

"Because you felt it's too much trouble to be around us?"

"... Ok, that's one of them," Flint admitted, hand to forehead. why would he try to question a Sapphire's guesses.

"Then what's the other one?" Sapphire asked. Flint felt that she should know that answer too, but he decided to humor her and the others anyway.

"It's like this: … I'm not exactly the … best person to be around. To tell you the truth, I only tried to get you all back together because you're the only ones that can actually keep White - … no. ANY galactic threat at bay from destroying somewhere I lived. Most of my reasons for doing what I do were for only my own benefit. Ruby even pointed it out to me, and that's how that mission to save you even happened at all. I suggested not to even bother because White Diamond was so dangerous, though you probably knew that."

Sapphire shivered on that thought: her hands in chains, her stone so close to shattering. It was not the best memories she ever had, as Flint turned away and continued.

"I'm the prime cut to White Diamond. That means … I'm like her."

"... So you're saying that you don't want to be with us because you're like White Diamond?"

"Didn't our last chat give you enough of a clue? WHY would I say that if I'm not anything like her - OF COURSE it matters what Pink Diamond says even if she's dead now! She lead you for a thousand years, it would've at least left an impression on you all!"

Sapphire moved so she was in front of Flint before talking, moving her hair away so he could see her eye.

"Flint, you're nothing like her. Not even close. Don't ever think you are."

"Come on, I know that's a lie: I nearly killed Pearl because she was influenced by some mask, I chewed you out for your care over Pink Diamond, and here I am looking for fake Pink so the other diamonds don't kill me over it -"

"But you recognize your problems!" Sapphire retorted. "White Diamond would've just left it all alone, and we saw what that lead to. But you? You make attempts to fix it, even if it's for personal gain. You got mad a Pearl, but that's because she was distracted us for the Cluster. And if bringing us together was going to be too much trouble for you, then why did you even do it at all? No, why did you even stay at all? You could've just left us right from the start and that would be that, but you decided to stay anyway."

"Sapphire. Look, all your answers that I could give you are in that book over there. There's no reason you would want me here anymore," Flint said, pointing to the book that would've been his final evidence of him being within the Crystal Gems. But before he could go, Sapphire grabbed his hand.

"But there is. Flint …" Sapphire then looked up to him, the purest look in her eye, and a smile on her face. "I want you to be at my wedding!"

"... Wait. That alter at the beach is for your wedding?" Flint asked, struck dumbfounded. Sapphire was more than excited for it herself, but she wanted everyone there.

"Yes. And I wouldn't want anything more than for all of the my friends to be there. That means you." Flint had to draw the line there, especially with what he just did, pulling his hand out of Sapphire's reach.

"Very funny. Even after I ran off like that, you really think everyone's forgiven me?"

"We all do."

And then out came the rest of the cavalry, Gems and Ponies alike coming up towards him. He knew the Mane six were there, but not all of the Crystal Gems too. Flint felt hit hard, but not too pleased.

"OKAY, how long were you spying?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Long enough to see your talk with White Diamond earlier," said Pearl, humbled, but trying not to show it. Flint shook his head.

"I appreciate the gestures and all, but you all go on ahead. I need to find -" before Flint could finish, Amethyst actually brought her hand up and placed it on his mouth. Amethyst gave him a wink, and then pointed her thumb back, just to show that Pink Diamond was already found! She stood back a bit, waving to him, and … looking pretty good surprisingly. Well, Flint was stumped.

"Eeyup, you got no excuse now. The only one missing here's you," Amethyst reassured. Flint groaned.

"Guys …"

"Flint," Jade then said, "You're scared of White Diamond, but … for just a moment. We could try and have some fun at this wedding. You remember Cranky and Matilda's wedding, don't you? You had fun there." and Jade actually smirked in that remark. Flint didn't answer, and looked away, shaking off a blush forming on his face.

"Look, you all heard me and White Diamond. I've basically double-crossed you: I stole Starswirl's book for the sake of leaving behind a Gem book so you didn't need me here, and before that I straight up said Pink diamond meant nothing now. Does that sound like the kind of person you'd want at your wedding?"

"DUH! Haven't you been listening?" Rainbow said, nudging him.

"Rainbow Dash, I can't be involved anymore than what I have. Just let me go."

"NOPE!" Steven said, literally hugging his leg so to not do that, "You're our friend Flint, we're not gonna give up on you no matter what. You're not gonna lose that Main Character tag, no matter what you do."

"HA HA HA, a fourth wall joke, let go of my leg!" Flint demanded, trying to shake Steven off. But the kid wasn't doing so, no matter how much Flint tried. This frustrated Flint, but this did end up getting some laughs out of the others, making him fluster up even more so, stopping with one leg up and Steven holding on. It took him a bit, but in the end, what was the point?

"You're all serious then?" Flint questioned, resting his leg back on the ground.

"Of course we are, Flint," Twilight said, "Even if you gave away Starswirl the Bearded's private journal, it's not going to completely change how we feel about you. You did that to better benefit us with that Gem book over there."

"And let's be honest here y'all," Applejack added, rubbing her front hoof with slight embarrassment, "When it comes to tricks, it wouldn't be the first time. It's just one of those things that happens."

"And look. Even through how much trouble we've gone through: White Diamond, the Cluster, heck even this Pink Diamond reveal! We're still here, and still good as gold, strong as ever," Bismuth said, arms wrapped around both Jasper and Pink Diamond with a smile on her face. The two smiled back to her in agreement.

"I-I guess … but what if something happens? What if White Diamond shows up and wrecks everything, what if something bad happens?!"

"Well, maybe, but we don't always have to focus on the bad things. We can just focus on the good things, at least for a little bit. And … well, as always, you've made a very good point. About Pink Diamond being, well, right here," Jasper said, fluffing Steven's hair.

"I was wrong about that, you guys, I'm not saying that everything she did no longer mattered, it's just -"

"We know, we heard you go over that from the rocks over there," Twilight said, wing pointing to where they were hidden away, "And you know, the bad things in the past shouldn't completely effect what happened now. We did so much together, and we're all still here, regardless if the one that began this was Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond. We're all here for eachother, and nothing's going to change that."

"And we've all made history together: we beat the Osicone on Homeworld, we stopped the quarrels between Earth and Homeworld, and look we even became the first Gems to have Cutie Marks!" Peridot said, pointing to Amethyst and Jasper. Not usually something that would be brought up, but still worth mentioning.

"What we're trying to say, Flint, is that we're more than just a team. We're family. And we'll always be there for eachother, no matter what. And … we're hoping you'd be apart of it," Steven said.

Flint was … speechless. So much had gone on over these few months, in some way, shape, or form. But thinking back on it: Sombra, Tirek, Nightmare Moon, Osicone, White Diamond, the Cluster, Grootslang, Chrysalis, Tindalos, the Pony of Shadows, The Windigo. Pink Diamond … everything that Flint was sure would force them away from eachother. But here they were, them and then some. All together. …

"Flint," Jade said with a giggle, "This too much for you?"
Flint felt his face, and realized he was actually crying. He really didn't realize how much this effected him up to that point … or how much they've done with him, and for him.

"... Well … I … supposed someone has to stay, and amp up security. Just in case something does happen, you know?"

That was all they needed to hear, everyone more than happy to hear. Of course Flint glanced down to Steven.

"You can let go now, Steven."

"Just a few more minutes," Steven said. It was then he felt someone else hug him, turning out to be Jade on his other. Flint could only smile.

The wedding will be extravagant.

~~~~~~

Isn't it remarkable?
This world is full of so many possibilities.
Each living thing has an entirely unique experience.
The sights they see, the sounds they hear.
The lives they live are so complicated...
And so simple.
Pink Diamond ~ September 25; 2015

Will you marry me?
Those four words that kickstarted what they all could say was the best idea ever. It was such a good time indeed for many of those on Earth, and even after so much hardship, they've all finally had come together on such a glorious day. And there sure was a lot to prepare for it, that was for sure.

No one in all the worlds would want to miss this.

Mom was a diamond who invaded Earth
Saw its beauty and its worth
Mom made an army and she fought herself
Did that even end up mattering when she faked her own shattering?

Mom lived in hiding by the name of Rose
With the friends she made and the form she chose
Now that all that's left of her exists in me and I think that we could all agree
That is a little bit upsetting...
I'd rather think about... a wedding!

Rushing out of the bathroom, Steven DeMayo Diamond Universe was all prepared in his fancy tuxedo, full of joy and happiness for what he could only guess to be the best time to come. Him, and for everyone else there. It felt wonderful for Steven to get his home back, and for those who lived in the Temple just as well thanks to all their effort. Took some time to get other items into place of course, but magic is what magic was, and the Beach House was looking spiffy!
And busy too: even with the main area set up, some essentials were still required to make this work. This case, Pinkie Pie and Lars got together to get going some delicious treats for the wedding (icing blue and red, naturally). One item in particular though Ruby and Sapphire were sharing already for the morning: a Together Breakfast courtesy of Sugarcube Corner with a dash of Universe style: a stack of waffles with delicious syrup, dashed with popcorn, a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry on top.
Could there be a breakfast more fitting?

As Lars finished up the wedding cake, Steven had the honor of putting the small bride and groom of Ruby and Sapphire right on the top.

Let's think about cake!

Steven hopped down and went over towards Fluttershy next, the mare happy as can ever be, with a box of flowers in hoof, all a lovely hue of purple lavender, Steven plucking some out to add to his tuxedo. A nice little detail if he were to say so himself.

Let's think about flowers! Let's think about dressing up and dancing around for hours!

Steven said this as he spun Fluttershy around in a spin, the mare keeping the box from spilling, but still happy for the event. It's hard to be upset when something so wonderful was about to happen. Steven strolled on over to Ruby and Sapphire next, who had just finished up their together breakfast.

There is an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of
But for just one day let's only think about Love!

With the meal all handled, and Steven getting a pose for the end of the first verse, Ruby felt ready to get herself ready for the wedding. They may be familiar with it themselves, but there's quite a different being apart of a wedding, and being part of the wedding. Sapphire closed her eye, and Ruby closed her eyes.

"Okay, Sapphire," Ruby said, "I'm gonna get ready for our big day, so, no peeking … and no Future Vision neither!"

Sapphire laughed, and simply said "Okay."

The two had been apart more than they would like, if one could say, but one could also say that the two's fire of friendship had rekindle and was burning stronger than ever. As with everyone else. Pearl sat over by them during all of this, though she had a bit on her mind about this whole thing.

"Oh Steven, I'm sorry about everything. I should've told you all sooner," Pearl sighed, as Steven sat down next to her.

We could think about lies, that we've told in the past.

"They took it so hard."

We could think about hurt feelings, and how long they could last.

"How on Earth could we move on?"

But we could think about hope!

"Hope?"

You know I've been hoping ...

"About what?"
Steven plucked the tophat off the table and got on Pearl's head.

That everything's better now everything's out in the open!

Well, many of them were getting a lot prepared, and Steven went off outside. Good nostalgia to finally open that screen door again, and head on out onto that front deck. White Diamond could try, but she could never fully remove the memory, and the land that was the Crystal Temple. Everything was strong, new, and ready for its next life for the years ahead. And it took little more than a second for Steven to find a few more pals waiting for him: Lapis, Bismuth, and Applejack, who actually had a cart waiting for said wedding cake. They weren't gonna leave that thing, no way no how. And while Lapis had on her formal wear for the wedding, and Applejack with a flower in her hat, Bismuth had on silver armory.

"Bismuth! That's what you're dressing for the wedding?"

"It's the nicest thing I own," Bismuth said, flexing her arm, as three spikes came out of her shoulder pad. Unique, but in a good, and perhaps something that wouldn't displease.

"Looking sharp!" Steven said with a wink, before galivanting off down the steps towards AJ, and just in time as Pinkie Pie, Pearl, Lars, and Fluttershy pitched in together to bring the wedding cake outside. A bit of difficulty getting it out the door, but they managed easily, and got it in the wagon with no problem. Soon the group was on their way, AJ wasting no time in doing just that.

Pinkie; We could think about flowers! We could think about cake!

Lapis Lazuli; We could think about wonderful promises we have the power to make!

On arriving, Steven went off ahead, full of joy, seeing the beautiful wedding grounds. To think that this day was almost ruined not too long ago, but now it looked as prestige and as amazing as it could ever be, even more so. Even in winter, the world looked so sweet: the bluest skies above the world, and a soft, inviting blanket of white covering the beach. The chairs had been cleared away, but the alter still had its lovely look with the snow, so it wasn't messed with. The only alterations was a few more flowers being placed for decorations. A mixture of blue and red, some bit of purple, and all for the love of the two they cared for the most and being set up by a very happy Jade, Amethyst, and Rainbow Dash. Lapis Lazuli flew over to the remaining flowers brought outside, plucking a lovely blue one from it.

There is an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of
But for just one day let's only think about Love!

"And that should do it!" called Jade, sliding down the ladder she was using, before checking in on the others. "so what do you think? Do they look good?"

"Darn tootin! That's the finest looking alter I've ever seen," AJ complimented.

"It looks so lovely," agreed Fluttershy. While it did look very nice, Amethyst paused and took a look over to the flowers in question.

"Eh, maybe I shouldn't of gotten roses. A little … controversial," Amethyst admitted. Another statement, another verse.
Steven took one of the red flowers before continuing on.

Steven; We could all rethink how we feel about Rose
When it comes to Pink and the things she did in the past I suppose..

"Yep," agreed Amethyst. Steven and Amethyst were then picked up by Bismuth, as Steven and Amethyst stood on her hands, dancing to the music.

Bismuth; Or we could all feel better
Cause we could think about how..!
We could think about us and we could think about now!

Steven and Amethyst hopped off of Bismuth's hands, feeling much better about things. But there was still matter on what to do for the spare flowers.

"Well, we still have quite a few left, anybody wanna guess what to do with em?" AJ asked.

"OH, I got it!" Pinkie beamed, immediately grabbed what flowers remained, and tossing them off into the air. There was plenty of seats, and plenty of flowers, and each one landed just well enough to remain on each one. Problem solved, and they looked so wonderful. Pinkie logic saved the day once again.

"WAY DA GO, Pinkie!" Rainbow complimented. Only this mare could make that good of a shot.

"But what about the flower girl? Looks like we're gonna need something else," said Jade.

"Way ahead of you: Peridot's out in Equestria getting some flowers now. Be back in a jiff," Lapis said, pulling the Portal Key from her gemstone in a magic trick, and ready to go.

Equestria looked very lovely itself. Even with snow abounding the place, where Lapis arrive, still humming the tune to their little song, there were patches where flowers were still growing good and healthy, ripe for the flower girl to take and bring through. Peridot looked pretty adorable too with her yellow dress, but while she did gather plenty of flowers, she was thinking about something else too, and had a few other items on her.

"Lazuli!"

"Hey, Peridot. You got the flowers?"

"Affirmative! And I got a little something else too," Peridot said with a wink, before showing Lapis another basket off nearby. There were two items placed in, surrounded by a nest of hay: an old flower, a new bow-tie, and a borrowed basket to hold them in.

"I got something old, something new, and something borrowed. I'm just missing one thing …"

Lapis knew where this was going, being the only blue item here, and happily took the basket.

"Oh you," Lapis laughed, fluffing Peridot's hair. The green Gem chuckled too, and picked up the lovely looking flower basket.

"See you back at the wedding," Peridot said, winking and smiling before going off on her way. With a moment to herself now, Lapis Lazuli sighed. All of this was very lovely, but of course there was always the part in the back of her mind, and with everyone else, of one other factor very common in their career as the Crystal Gems. Peridot did stop for a brief moment to see her start to lament.

We could think about war... we could think about fighting
We could think about long lost friends we wish we were inviting...
We could think about the broken gems in the cluster at the planet's core...

Peridot soon came back, singing herself as she grabbed Lapis's hand.

Or we could think about the bubble we made so they can't be hurt any
They can't be hurt anymore!

We can think about joy!
We can think about pain!

We can think about sunshine, we could think about rain!

Lapis and Peridot went back through their portal, and back over to their world soon after that, both the Good Luck Package and the flowers all gathered and ready for everything. And just in time too, there's plenty of people starting to gathered for the wedding to take place. The Off-Colors had arrived for the event, so as the rest of the Mane Six, but also joining them were the humans of Beach City, Alicorn princesses of Equestria, Hoppy and Hopper of their own world, Homeworld's three Diamond leaders (who sat off aside), along with their many other friends all gathered. In one place. All here, at last.

Lapis + Peridot; There's an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of …

Steven; But for just one day let's only think about ...

Crystal Gems + Mane Six; Just one day let's only think about …

Sapphire was there and ready, dressed up in the finest tuxedo there is, accompanied by a beautiful blue violet flower that almost glowed in its perfection.

Crystal Gems + Mane Six; Just one day let's only think about …

Steven; Love

Steven went down right by dearest Sapphire, and with a simple gesture of a pointed finger towards Greg, he had the honor of bringing forward the music for the bride to come out. A soft, gentle tune for love that set the mood perfectly, as he walked over along the path. Behind him was a number of others lined up in two: Connie and Amethyst, Twilight and Spike, Bismuth and Pearl, and behind them is Peridot tossing flowers … or rather, doing target practice.

"Flowers for you! flowers for you! flowers for you!"
Peridot even got a headshot out of it, hitting Aquamarine off her feet. Good aim, though not exactly how it worked. But, Peridot felt it was successful.

"Wedding planner. All flowers have been deployed!" Peridot stated firmly.

"Thanks Peridot," Steven replied. Not the most orthodox, but this was a pretty unorthodox wedding, so they might as well roll with it.
Everyone else was feeling pretty happy about things, some finding their seats amongst the chairs set while others sat off aside.Still, with all of this, there was still one more key figure that was to be coming down, though feeling a mixture of nervous and excited rolled into one. And everyone could tell that as she began heading on up the beach towards the awaiting alter.
Ruby. Joined in company by Rarity and Flint, both formally dressed, and allowing Ruby some friends to bring to the alter.

"Nervous?" Steven asked Sapphire.

"I'm fine," Sapphire insisted. Though, the ever so slight ice forming on her foot told them otherwise. Her own little clue to this whole thing. All the same, it was indeed something worth doing, and worth doing wonderfully. Ruby tried to calm herself down.

"O-Oh my. I, uh, t-this is so exciting. E-Everyone's okay. You're feeling good, right Flint?" Ruby squeaked.

"Not as good as you're gonna be. I'm sure everyone will love it," Flint reassured, even giving Ruby a blue flower in a magical flick of the wrist for her to place it on her person. It even had "love Sapphire" written in a small message along the stem. Rarity also levitated a red flower, though it goes without saying who it was truly for.

"Oh, you do look just marvelous. Now go on up there. Someone's waiting for you.~" Rarity chimed in, winking to her. All Ruby needed was to see Sapphire standing there, and that was enough motivation to last a lifetime. With a big smile on her face, Ruby went right on over fast as she could. Of course Greg had to speed up his song to keep up with her, but it wasn't too bad. Ruby wasted no more time in getting to the alter, though being a Ruby, she did leave some tiny patches of smoke and fire behind her, which Lapis quickly cleaned up with some small water squirts from her wings.

Everything felt so … perfect. Sapphire in her tux, Ruby in her dress, in site of the soft snow coming down around them. Even if it was cold, everyone felt this was a warm time, not even the most bitter could remove. All their friends. Gems. Humans. Ponies alike. All gathered up on this time. Ruby and Sapphire sure felt welcomed back, that was for sure, along with the others. It was all so wonderful, just as they hoped: a perfect setting.

"Dearly beloved," began Major Mare, "Gems. Ponies. Humans. All beings big and small. We're gathered here today to celebrate Ruby and Sapphire: two of my favorite people, who combine together to create one of my other favorite people! You all probably know her as Garnet."

Ruby and Sapphire exchanged flowers as it was Pearl's turn to speak. Pearl would feel nervous normally, but she felt pretty good about things, and for them.

"For some of you, we know, that their journey to get to where they are now has been a very long one, full of challenge and hardship. But these two had proven time and time again, that true flames of love cannot ever be put out, so long as they have eachother, both side by side and as Garnet. Garnet: someone who's admirable, respectable, and a true friend to all of us. They stood up to the fight ahead. They fought for more than just for Gems, more than just eachother. They fought for love. Love: such a simple word to say, but when true, cannot ever be denied no matter the reticule, or how much it has been pushed down."
No truer words had ever been said, and could be will agreed throughout many of the Mane Six and Crystal Gems, and many others.

"Ruby, Sapphire, now it's your turn to talk about it," Steven said. Ruby and Sapphire both needed a little bit, but ruby went first.

"I-I know this sounds silly. I mean … we've been together for thousands of years. … But I used to feel like I wasn't much good, just one of me on my own, but when we're together, it feels like it's okay to just be me. So I wanna be me, with you, and, and nothing bad will come between us! And if they try, we'll beat em up!" Ruby declared, even throwing in a few punches and kicks to make her point known. But then came Sapphire's turn.

"Ruby. My future used to look like one single, obvious stream, unbending 'til the end of time. In an instant, you pulled me from that destiny, and opened my eye to an explosion of infinite possible futures, streaking across space and time, altered and obliterated by the smallest force of will!"

There was some silence at the amazement of such a vow, but Sapphire continued on with hers, gently holding Ruby's hands.

"What I mean is, you changed my life. And then, I changed your life. And now, we changed our lives."
It was such a loving moment, and revolutionary one. It was such a rarity anywhere else for Gems to form like this, and now they're laying witness to the very first true Gem wedding. This brought some to tears, Blue Diamond's tears probably most prominent (Pink was feeling them hit her head), as Spike went over with the rings. One was made of copper for Ruby, and the other, silver for Sapphire, and both wives happily exchanged rings as they did with flowers. Now it was time to answer the big question.

"Ruby. do you take Sapphire to be your one and only, on this and all other planets in the universe?"

"I do!" Ruby beamed.

"And, Sapphire, do you take -"

"Yes!"

"You didn't let me finish," Major Mare whispered. Sapphire just smiled.

"I'm just excited," Sapphire replied. Though, they all knew she would say that either way, so no trouble there. Now there was only one thing left to say, and Steven was given the chance to say.

"By the power invested in me, and all the universes, I now pronounce you … Garnet!"
No other words needed to be said, and Ruby and Sapphire both kissed eachother. The seal to end all seals. As the two newly weds kissed, a bright light glowed between them both, Ruby lifting Sapphire off her feet as they both began to glow bright. They all knew what was coming next, and they knew what will become of Ruby and Sapphire now.

Garnet was back. Back and better than ever.

My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

A World All Its Own

The Fish and the Blacksmith

Entirely New

Message Recieved

first ever Election of Beach City - Dewey chickens out.

Play-by-Play

The Chronicles of Earth and Equus.
Pt1: Mirror's First Connection

Pt2: Welcome Back Home

Sweets of Snake Oil

Horse of a Different Color

Beholder's Beauty

Give Two Birds for One Stone

Tall Tales

Garnet's Universe

Dragon Lord

The Great and Powerful ...

All it's Worth

A Promise is a Promise

Team B

Cup of Sugar

Pale Rose

Unintended Triangle

Deep Cut

Army of One

Lone Wolves

Open your Eyes

Kluggin in Klugetown

Double-Sided Coin

A Change in Time

Rogue Ruby

Tale-Wind

We Deserve to Shine

Diamonds in the Rough

To Change the Future PT1

To Change the Future PT2

Dearly Beloved

first ever Election of Beach City - Dewey chickens out.

The Chronicles of Earth and Equus.Pt1: Mirror's First Connection

Pt2: Welcome Back Home

The Chronicles of Earth and Equus.
Pt1: Mirror's First Connection