Code Nexus

Location: Earth, North American continent, United States, Canterbury, Twilight’s house.

Three weeks passed since the magical event and after various preparations the Rainbooms were ready to investigate.

Twilight, with the help of Pinkie Pie, made a list of the hotels. They decided which one they were going to reside in, judging each one by its value for money mostly and suitability.

The hotel they chose was the Surfer Paradise Deluxe. A quite luxurious resort, considered one of the best of the island, thanks to it’s very efficient service, high quality entertainment, various sporting facilities and above all the pristine private beaches it owed. However it was the very fast direct-to-satellite internet connection offered by the hotel that convinced Twilight, as she needed it to run the magic scanners.

By only booking three of the most basic rooms, Twilight estimated that with the money they saved up they’d be able to stay there for three weeks at most. Judging by her calculations, that would give them just enough time.

On the day they were finally going to depart, and after packing her things, Twilight prepared to say goodbye to her family.

Twilight hugged her parents, as well as her brother Shining Armor, as she was about to depart.

“Bye Mom, bye Dad,” she said as the hug ended.

“Goodbye Twily, have a good vacation.” Twilight’s mother, Twilight Velvet, tried to sound cheerful, but a touch of sadness crept into her voice all the same.

“Remember to not get in trouble, and to call us every night,” Twilight’s dad, Night Light told her.

“You don’t have to worry, I have calculated the exact windows of times when the time zone won’t be a problem, and I set my PDA to remind me,” Twilight reassured them, holding her tablet so that they could see her daily program.

“That’s my girl,” Night Light congratulated her for the organization skills she showed.

“Enjoy the sun Twily, and have fun. Can’t wait to hear you on skype, I’ll miss you not being around here,” Shining Armor said.

“Don’t worry, it’s just three weeks, it’s not like i’m not coming back.” Twilight winked to him.

As an answer her Sister in Law just hugged her, with a warm smile on his face, which she returned.

“Hey Twilight!” Pinkie yelled from the driveway, where she was waiting in the minivan “Come on, we need to go now or we won’t catch the flight!”

“Oh she’s right, I gotta go” Twilight said running towards the Pie's minivan.

She climbed in, waving at her family one last time as she took her seat.

“Alright girls! next stop: The Pegasus Airport!” Rainbow Dash raised her arms in the air.

“Agreed!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed cheerfully. She started up the engine, engaged reverse gear and drove on to the road.

After a little time Twilight’s house was out of sight and the girls started to head for the city’s highway.

“Remember Pinkie, we need to exit at the second ramp and then ride all the way straight to the airport,” Twilight Sparkle instructed.

“All noted.” Pinkie Pie pressed on the gas pedal.

“We’re right on schedule,” Sunset Shimmer said, looking at her watch.

“I can confirm, even if there is a little delay of a couple minutes, but it's in the margin I predicted.” Twilight checked her PDA.

“Alright, then we can take it easy.” Applejack folded her arms behind her head.

“I hope that Angel will be alright, I never had to leave him for such a long time at the shelter.” Fluttershy thought about her little bunny.

“I know how you feel Fluttershy, I couldn’t take Spike with me either. But I’m sure he will be fine, after all you left him with professionals like you right?” Twilight tried to reassure her.

“Well, I made sure to leave precise instructions about him, though I’m not sure if the others back at the shelter will be able to handle him,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh don’t you worry darling, I’m sure everything is fine,” Rarity told her while checking her nails.

“Hey girls, care for some music?” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Yah got my approval partner,” Applejack added, as the others expressed their agreement too.

Pinkie Pie reached her hand to the radio’s tuner and pressed it to turn it on, then browsed the stations.

“Yesterday in Lenin’s bay a new kind of submersible was...”

“Scientists express their relief as the seismic activity has been diminishing around the area of California…”

“The war for petroleum in middle east...”

“Mr. Fryman, please tell us about your theory,” the voice of an old man said, while Pinkie paused on the all-conspiracy channel.

“Thank you, as I explained numerous times in my blog, I have consistent proof that our planet has been exploited and partially terraformed by...”

“Boooring.” Pinkie Pie quickly skipped ahead.

“You are now listening to, gone but not forgotten. Today we have a real gem for you lovers of the retired, feast your ears on: Let Me Drive My Van into Your Heart, by Mr. Universe.”

“Woah, and we’re in a minivan!” She said stopping on that station and turning up the volume.

Location: Earth, North American continent, United States, Beach City, Crystal temple’s beach.

Peridot stood outside of the beachouse, holding her tablet and speaking into it.

“Log Date one zero one three five, Peridot recording. The preparations for our expedition are close to completion. All the luggage has been loaded in the vehicle except for Amethyst's, and all the items needed have been accounted for. Now before the departure...” Peridot was interrupted by the arrival of Amethyst.

“Come on Peri and Peeta, or we’ll have to leave you here.” The quartz ran by her, holding what looked like a garbage sack.

“...I’ll proceed to execute a status check of the house and a triple check to ensure that no item has been left behind, interrupting log.” She tapped the pause button, and proceeded to do what she just described.

The two exited the beach house and, while Peridot started to check the surroundings, Amethyst walked down to the shore, where Greg’s van was parked. Pearl, Garnet and Steven were nearby.

Pearl was proceeding to double check the luggage in order to make sure that nothing was missing, while Garnet was making sure that everything was stably positioned inside the van.

Greg was helping Steven prepare his burger backpack.

“Alright, flashlight: check, clean star shirts: check, telephone: check. This is good to go!” Greg closed it up and held it to Steven.

“Thanks Dad,” he said, putting it on his back and hugging his dad.

Greg hugged him back and smiled, while Amethyst arrived galloping, followed by Peridot.

“Here comes my stuff!” She exclaimed throwing the sack inside the van.

“Alright then, with Amethyst's luggage we should be good to go.” Pearl saw her friend arriving “What did you put in that sack by the way?”.

“Ah some random stuff I had in my room, so anywhere we go will feel like home,” Amethist said.

“I’m happy you made sure not to put stuff that could have become a problem once at the airport,” Garnet said, foreseeing the scenario at the airport with her future vision.

“Ah Peridot kinda lectured me about airport security yesterday,” Amethyst said “Did you really have to give her a whole book on it?.”

The latest addition to their group arrived shortly. “The house is safe, rooms and doors, including the door to your rooms, have been locked and the warp pad is secured. It appears also that no item has been left behind. I believe that we are ready to go,” She said, getting inside the van.

“Could you please remind me why you can’t just warp there?” Greg asked.

“As I previously explained, a mysterious energy pulse has destabilized the entire warp space, so in order to find out what happened we need to get there using alternative ways.”
Pearl frowned. She'd already explained it to him several times.

“Also it knocked out Lion’s teleporting capacity as well. Poor thing, he was so upset when it happened.” Steven looked at his friend Lion napping on the beach.

“Oh right...” Greg remembered.

“Don’t worry, it’s probably just some more homeworld junk going off, right Garnet?” Amethyst said.

“It’s probable,” the fusion answered.

“There will be time for conjectures on the archaic flight machine. If we want to arrive at Empire City in time we need to depart now,” Peridot interrupted them.

“She's right. Greg?” Garnet invited him on board.

“Oh, of course.” Greg got in the van and sat in the driver’s seat.

He then turned the keys inside the ignition lock, causing the engine to start up generating an eruption of black smoke from the van’s rear exhaust.

They drove to the road shortly and headed for city’s exit. On their way out they could see some of their friends and acquaintances, either going about their normal business or preparing for their own vacations. The cool kids were probably preparing for a beach trip, as Lars was tying surfboards to their car, Mayor Dewey was preparing his speech for the opening of the tourist season, while the Fryman family, with the exception of Ronaldo, was preparing to go to a fastfood convention in Charm City.

Later on Steven noticed Connie and her parents departing too, and waved at her, who upon noticing him waved back.

I hope your vacation will be great Steven thought as she got out of sight.

After passing the highway the girls arrived at the airport.

The Pegasus Airport was a small national air transport hub. It had three terminals overall and a few hangars, the airplanes moving around it were mostly turboprop national jets, only one lone radar tower spinning in one of this corners. In front of the main building there was a large parking lot and a small garden between it and the building itself, the sculpture of a pegasus was in the center of the garden itself with a writing engraved in it’s base saying: ‘Welcome to Canterbury’.

“Okay girls! Eyes peered for a parking spot!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“No need, we can use that one,” Rainbow Dash pointed at a spot with a yellow rectangle around it, with a plate stating it was reserved for a pilot.

“But we can’t use that one, it’s reserved,” Twilight objected.

“Don’t worry girls, my dad told me we can use it,” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Oh, he works here?” Twilight asked.

“Yup, that’s his post! He pilots some of the national airplanes, didn’t I tell ya?” Rainbow Dash nodded.

“No but it’s very interesting, and quite convenient I’d say, it’s so close to the entrance,” Twilight answered as Pinkie parked.

“Alright girls here we are! everybody move out!” Pinkie Pie announced, opening her door.

“Everyone prepare your tickets and take some luggage, our check-in is at the terminal number three,” Twilight said, looking at her PDA.

The girls got out and one by one took their luggage, even if Twilight needed some help from Rainbow Dash and Applejack to unload all her stuff.

“Oh heave!” Applejack groaned as the two of them pulled a big suitcase from the van’s posterior.

“Woah… that was heavy.” Rainbow Dash panted.

“Yah can say that again. Hey Twilight remind me what yah put in this?” Applejack asked to her friend.

“Oh that’s my investigation equipment, along with my portable computer and a couple portable hard drives,” she explained adjusting her glasses.

“You sure you need it all?” Rainbow Dash asked

“Unfortunately, yes… but don’t worry I’ll pay all the extra fees for it,” she said to them.

“Okay Maude, we’re here, you can come pick up the van whenever you want,” Pinkie Pie said into her phone. “It’s in the parking lot reserved to the pilots, nearby the entrance. Bye Maude I’ll miss you a lot, see you on Skype.”

She turned to her friends. “That was Maude, I told her where the van is so she can take it back home. We are good to go!”

The girls then walked inside the airport’s main building carrying their luggage along.

Being only a small airport, it didn’t have much stuff in it, just a bar, an information center and a little area for baggage pick up. Around the hall there were a few decorative plants, a couple benches and some trash-cans.

“Hey look, it’s Lyra and Bon Bon.” Sunset noticed them.

The two friends for life in fact were walking in the hall heading for the terminals, they looked pretty happy and carefree, however something jumped to Rarity’s eye.

“You are right, oh my… what is Lyra wearing?” Rarity noticed her tinfoil hat.

Their shirts explained everything.

“You see their shirts?” Sunset indicated them. “I think they are going to the UFO convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Knowing Lyra she wanted to dress in style”

“I understand but still… she could have some decency.” Rarity tried to look away. “If I only had some polish I could make that thing look like a steel cup, it would have shone above the other tinfoil hats at that convention.”

“Indeed it would have,” Sunset Shimmer commented.

In that moment the girls noticed two of their classmates walking loudly down the hall, towards the terminal number one.

“Scissors and Snails! Snails and Scissors! S&S!!!” The two of them were chanting and were wearing green and grey shirts with logos representing a Snail and Scissor.

“Hey these two are Snips and Snails, where are they going wearing those?” Sunset asked looking at them.

“Probably at the ‘scissors and snails festival’ in the Colorado” Twilight informed them.

“Since when there are festivals like that?” Applejack asked in disbelief.

“Well, I guess since there are people like these two,” Twilight answered.

As the girls walked towards the third terminal they met others too, including Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, the diamond boys, probably going to a mining camp, Trixie preparing to go to Atlantic city for the great magician convention.

“Hey there is our check in.” Sunset Shimmer indicated the desk in front of a converting belt with the name and symbol of the company appearing on it.

Behind the desk a middle aged man was sitting and looking at a newspaper he was holding in front of his face.

“HELLO!!” Pinkie Pie distracted him

“Oh hello there." The man quickly jumped to attention. "Thanks for the cheerful call to attention, what can I do for you?”

“Me and my friends would like to get our boarding cards please,” Pinkie Pie explained.

“Here are our passports and tickets,” Sunset handed the materials to him.

The man took them and examined them one by one, checking them using the computer.

“Mmmh are you girls on vacation?” The man asked.

“Sorta.” Sunset Shimmer assumed a coy look.

“It’s more like an investigation vacation!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Hmm whatever you youngsters are into nowadays. Now please put your luggage on the balance for weighing and take your boarding cards.” He pressed a button nearby the keyboard on his desk, starting a converting belt behind the desk.

Sunset Shimmer put her luggage first and got the boarding car, followed by Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

One by one the luggages were marked with a bar code and put on the converting belt, and disappeared in the wall.

“Holy horses...” The man said as the weight of Twilight’s baggage appeared on the computer’s screen.

“Sorry miss but you can’t take this thing with you unless you want to pay extra,” the man said to her.

“Oh, no problem, I imagined it would have gone beyond the limits.” Twilight handed him the money.

“No problem then, have a good trip.” He took the money and handed her the boarding card.

Afterwards they went for the security check, right before they could enter the terminal.

“Alright girls! Here we are,” Rainbow Dash said as the group arrived in it, walking down the hallway to reach their boarding gate

“Very good, right on schedule,” Twilight said looking at her PDA. “We have time to relax before the flight.”

“Our boarding gate is the last one of the left, let’s chill on that bench over there,” Sunset Shimmer suggested, to which most of her friends agreed.

Some minutes passed by and the speakers of the airport turned on and emitted a series of beeps to catch the traveler’s attention. “The flight AA two-one-three-one directed to Empire City is now boarding, please prepare your boarding cards and hand baggage,” a male voice spoke through the speakers.

“Let’s go girls.” Sunset Shimmer stood up from the bench.

“Can't you hear? It’s the flight to Empire City, not Sunrise Island,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Rainbow Dash darling, don’t you remember what Twilight said about the flights?” Rarity asked to her.

Rainbow grinned. “Ahem, you mean during yesterday’s pre-travel reunion? I kinda fell asleep after she began lecturing us about the on-flight security,” she confessed, causing Rarity to facepalm.

“If you paid attention to that reunion,” Twilight said, standing up and taking her backpack. “You’d have known that to cut the edges on the flight cost we are going to take a non-direct flight.”

“We are going to Empire City first,” Sunset Shimmer explained, “then from there we’ll take a flight to Sydney and then another one straight to Sunrise Island.”

“Oh right,” Rainbow Dash understood.

“We should try to get there first, so we don’t have to wait,” Rarity said

After the boarding started, the girls got on the small plane along with the other passengers.

It was one of the many that were stationed around the the airport, it had turboprop engines and two small rows of seats. Along with not distinguishing between business and economy class, there was next to none on-board entertainment, except for a few magazines tied inside the backs of the seats.

“Oh my… I really hope the next airplane will be more comfortable, I don’t know if I’ll make it to Empire City in this thing.” Rarity felt the uncomfortableness of the seat, which was annoyingly small.

Soon all the passengers boarded, secured their luggage and tied their belts the airplane was detached from the gate.

Its propellers started to turn very fast as it positioned on the landing strip and once ready it took off.

Location: Earth, North American continent, United States, Empire City, main highway.

After a quite smooth five hours long trip the Crystal Gems finally reached Empire City, then it was just a matter of passing through the thick city traffic.

“Log continued ten thirteen five, we reached the city known as Empire City, now we are heading for its airport. While I can praise the humans for their promising construction skills,” – Peridot observed the skyscrapers from the van passing on the elevated highway – “I can’t say the same for their traffic control skills.”

“I agree with you Peridot, the traffic in this city is actually as terrible as they say.” Greg gently pressed the gas pedal as the cars slowly started to move.

“Thank goodness we don’t live here, I doubt I could withstand these terrible noises,” Pearl said covering the sides of her head.

“Ah I don’t mind this place too much.” Amethyst opened a windscreen and stuck her head out inhaling the air deeply. “It smells just like my room, and these outskirt neighborhoods look like it.” She pointed to the slummy areas surrounding the city.

“Meh, I’m not very fond of this place anyways,” Greg said.

Steven on the other hand was just playing with the radio, listening to the different stations fighting the boredom.

“Hey Garnet,” Steven asked.

“Yes Steven?” Garnet looked at him.

“What do you think caused that strange energy pulse?” he asked her.

“It was unlike anything I have ever seen before, I don’t know enough to determine it’s origin,” she answered.

“What about your future vision? Did you manage to see anything about Sunrise Island?” Steven asked her.

“Unfortunately not, for some reason my visions about that place are very cloudy,” Garnet answered. “As my eyes space to that island everything I see is a thick fog, but it will probably get better once I get there.”

“Oh, I hope it will too,” Steven said reassuringly smiling at Garnet.

“Speaking of which, Peridot do you know if homeworld had any important facility around that area?” Pearl asked

“Not that I know of. In the diamond base’s database there were no allusions to that place nor to any relevant homeworld structures being installed in it,” Peridot spoke up.

“Maybe it’s a non-registered one?” Pearl asked

“Impossible, the praxis imposes that all structures are catalogued before building, especially during a colonization program. Even at the highest levels of secrecy a trace of the information is kept,” Peridot explained.

“We probably found something the diamonds wanted to kept hidden from the other gems. I bet it’s Blue diamond’s secret food court” Amethyst joked, causing most of the ones in the van to crack a laugh.

“Why would blue diamond have something so useless for a gem? And at any rate how could have it caused such an event?” Peridot asked having taken the suggestion seriously.

“ah, probably she got gassy from eating beans, and only now her fart reached the surface” Amethyst joked again laughing loudly along with a lot of the other gems.

“but gems don’t… “ Peridot suddenly realized “wait was this a joke?”

Amethyst nodded.

“Oh, AHAHAHAHAH. I got it now” Peridot laughed. “But let’s be serious, I exclude the possibility that it is an unregistered structure.”

“What if one of the diamonds erased it from the databanks after the construction?” Pearl put a hand on her mouth thoughtfully.

“That’s a possibility, though I wonder why they’d do that. It wouldn’t make much sense since they didn’t do that for the cluster.” Peridot put an hand over her mouth thoughtfully.

While the two gems were arguing, Greg looked at the landscape out the windshield along with Steven.

It was so different than Beach City. It was like the city was split into three parts, on the left side of the road there was the business district, a bustling place filled with with concrete and glass skyscrapers, without any hint of green. Then on the other side there was the industrial area, along with the residential zones. Even further outside were the slums.

Greg sighed loudly.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” Steven noticed his discomfort.

“Oh it’s nothing Steven, it’s just this place… thinking that I could have wound up here if it wasn’t for your mother,” Greg said, remembering when Marty tried to force him into going there.

“I understand, it looks cool to visit but I don’t think I’d ever want to live here.” Steven looked around and at him.

“It’s moments like that this that remind me of how much she changed my life,” Greg looked at his son’s stone, which was slightly visible through the bottom of his shirt. “And how much she still does.”

“Yeah.” Steven looked down to his stone, and smiled thinking about her.

“I think we should get comfortable, it’s going to take us two more hours to reach the airport with this traffic,” Garnet said thanks to her future vision.

As predicted it was a couple hours before they reached the airport. The time was made to feel even longer once Peridot and Amethyst began fighting over control of the radio. Eventually Garnet had to step in and tell them if they couldn’t agree on something she was going to let Pearl decide, which no one was happy about, including Pearl. In the end they wound up giving control of the radio back to Steven, who did his best to select something they could all agree on. They all politely pretended to like the station he chose.

The airport was huge to say the least, and besides the regional airplanes there were also the very large intercontinental ones docking at the terminals and being refueled. Lots of transport cars moved around the landstrips to distribute the luggage. Numerous radar towers surrounded it, and two high control towers were directing the air traffic around the area. The terminals were seven in total, some for the local flights and others made specifically for the international flights, all interconnected by railways, and covered pathways. The iconic main building was shaped like a white dome was connected directly the the large tower parking lot, in which the Greg’s van was entering.

The search for a free parking spot came to fruition as they found one on the third floor of the tower, and thankfully it was indicated by a green light.

“Okay people, here we are.” Greg parked the van.

“Yes!” Steven opened his door and jumped out of the van.

Garnet got out and opened the back of the van. “I’m going to help unload the luggage.” She started to take out the various suitcases and Amethyst’s sack.

Greg took out his wallet and got some money out of it. “I’ll go get a trolley to take all this stuff to the check-in.” He prepared to go at the floor’s distributor to get one only to be stopped by Amethyst who morphed into one.

“Did someone say trolley?” She asked upon assuming the form of a large purple trolley with striped handles.

“Well that works too,” Greg said.

“Good idea Amethyst,” Steven complimented her

“Ah you are welcome,” she answered.

Garnet them gently posed the baggage on the ametrolley until the van was empty.

“I’ll start going to the check in” Garnet walked into the building, followed by Peridot and Pearl, leaving Steven along with his dad.

“Well I guess it’s goodbye now,” Greg tried to hide the sadness he was feeling.

“Yeah, but don’t worry Dad, it’s just three weeks,” his son tried to reassure him.

“I know, still it feels like a lot of time. It will be tough to think about things to do without you or the gems around,” Greg said.

“I promise Dad I’ll stay in contact with you. Peridot even rewired my phone so that it would work in every part of the world unlimitedly,” Steven explained to him.

“Thank you son.” Greg hugged him. “But also promise me that you won’t get in trouble or get yourself in danger with whatever caused that energy surge.”

“Don’t worry dad, I’ll have the gems with me, and also I’ve been practicing my shield powers since we fought the Cluster,” Steven explained.

“Still don’t risk your neck for nothing, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” Greg looked at his son in the eyes.

“Dad, I promise you that we won’t get hurt,” Steven said solemnly, but also reassuringly.

Greg smiled and hugged him, relieved by his son’s answer, knowing that he could trust him.

“I better go now, the gems might be already at the check-in,” Steven said.

“Right, and I better get back to Beach City before the cars start to line up at the car wash,” Greg said.

“Bye then Dad, talk to you tonight” He ran with his burger-pack on his shoulder waving at him.

“Bye, Steven.” Greg waved back. He remained where he was for a few moments after Steven disappeared. Eventually he sighed and shuffled back to the van. “I’ll miss you, buddy.”

Location: Earth, African continent Airspace, Delta Airlines airbus.

There were many people on the two level plane, some of whom were going to visit Sydney for pleasure or business, others were going there to catch a connection flight.

Between these people there was a group of French teens, three boys and two girls, who departed from Paris heading for Sunrise Island, but unlike many they weren’t there only for pleasure.

They were Aelita Schaeffer, Jeremy Belpois, Ulrich Stern, Yumi Ishiyama, Odd Della Robbia and William Dunbar. They were also known to each other as the Lyoko warriors, the heroic team that fought the evil artificial intelligence XANA around the world, finally managing to vanquish it thanks to the sacrifice of Waldo Schaeffer, Aelita’s father.

Three years passed since that event, which they thought would be the ending of all their adventures, and each of them went their separate ways. However during a reunion, a strange message arrived through an encrypted internet address. It contained an encrypted message saying that their mission wasn’t over yet, urging them to go to Sunrise Island in order to complete it, and finally get answers to the many questions left unanswered about the supercomputer and project cartage. But what ultimately convinced the group was the signature ending the document: a codified DNA strand of Waldo Schaeffer himself.

After a careful and pondered analysis Jeremy authenticated it, and the group started to make preparations to reach the island in the summer.

“Are we there yet?” Odd asked for the hundredth time.

“Odd, for the last time, asking it continuously won’t make it happen sooner,” Yumi answered him, annoyed.

“We are close Odd, by the map we should already be in the US airspace. It will be a matter of three more hours, or less,” Jeremy said looking at the closest screen in front of him.

“This plane has two floors, and it’s supposed to be one of the best in the world, but still it doesn’t have wifi, or personal entertainment screens.” Odd groaned, thinking about the fact that they had these in the business class.

“Don’t worry Odd, the next airplane will probably be better. I heard that it has wifi too,” Ulrich told him.

“It will be better, I can’t stay off the grid for so long. What will my YouTube followers think?” Odd joked.

“You worry about that channel too much Odd,” Ulrich said.

“You would too if you had one. If my videos get noticed It could finally be the beginning of my film making career” Odd smiled, imagining if that happened.

Ulrich and some of the others just rolled their eyes.

“Still don’t worry too much yourself,” Yumi reassured him. “Your videos are great, and I’m sure that if you stay away from it a couple hours you won’t lose any followers.”

“Thanks for the positivity Yumi,” Odd answered.

William on the other hand was just sitting quietly resting his eyes.

Jeremy reclined his seat and looked thoughtfully at the airplane’s ceiling. So much time passed since their last mission and now they are coming back into one head on, just as he was starting to get accustomed to his now tranquil life.

He sighed and looked at Aelita who was staring in the plane’s window.

The message was groundbreaking for most of them, but above all for Aelita. She thought that her dad was gone forever, but now there seemed to be an actual possibility of him being alive. That thought, mixed with the enigma of what happened to her mother Anthea, was really grinding her up inside... and Jeremy knew it.

“You alright?” Jeremy put an hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, yeah I am,” Aelita answered. “Just reflecting on the mission”

“What about it?” Jeremy asked

“Just wondering if the message was authentic or not, and what we might find on the island.” Aelita answered.

“I’m pretty sure that the message was indeed authentic, and I think it’s too early to make any conjectures about the island,” Jeremy said. Though it is indeed possible that your father might be there, or at least something related to him.”

“I don’t know what to hope.” Aelita turned around looking at him. “I really would want to meet him again, but at same time I don’t want to delude myself with the hope that he’s still alive.”

“It might be a far possibility but we can’t rule it out, not yet. We haven’t even investigated the slightest yet,” he answered.

“You are right… Also, I have a strange feeling about all of this,” Aelita said.

“A strange feeling?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah, like as if I was about to have one of the visions generated by the supercomputer.” Aelita held her head.

That answer kinda worried Jeremy but he managed to keep it cool for the time being.

“It’s probably just an effect of the pressure, however if it gets worse please let me know,” Jeremy told her.

“I will Jeremy, I promise.” Aelita turned around again and returned to look at the stratas of the troposphere and at the sun shining above them, noticing a little spark coming from the sun.

“Attention dear passengers, we have landed at Empire City’s RFK international airport, please stay at your seats and keep your belts tied until the light will come off.”

“Ah finally,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “This was one of the most boring flights of my life.”

“Well what did you expect from a propeller airplane? They are made for short trips, not for long intercontinental flights,” Twilight said.

“I know darling, but they could at least install more comfortable seats, and of course give us more up to date magazines.” Rarity held a quite outdated copy of a magazine.

“Anyways it’s not a problem anymore, we’re here. And the next airplane will probably be better right?” Applejack asked.

“It’s most probable,” Twilight confirmed.

Some minutes later the plane was docked and it’s frontal door opened up. The passengers started to leave in mass, including the Rainbooms who tried not to get separated in the confusion.

After passing through the metal pipe connected with the plane, the girls found themselves inside the terminal of the airport which, compared with the one of Pegasus Airport, was huge.

The girls wowed seeing how many people were filling up the place, arriving, departing visiting some of the duty free shops inside.

“Sweet Apples, this makes our airport look like a plow compared with a professional tractor,” Applejack said

“You said that darling,” Rarity remarked.

“Alright girls let’s not get lost, we need to go to the international terminals. Twilight, indications?” Sunset Shimmer asked to her friend, who was already checking the map of the airport on her tablet.

“I believe that our best option is to get out of this terminal, reach the internal railway transport and get on a tram to the international area, this way.” Twilight indicated where to go. Following her the girls moved through the herd of people.

Meanwhile the crystal gems were finishing their check in.

“With this it would be everything,” Garnet said, putting on the balance the last of the luggage they had.

“Isn’t that a garbage sack?” The guy sitting by the desk asked

“Hey what’s garbage for somebody is a treasure for others, pal,” Amethyst said sassily.

“If you say so. Everything is in check, including your passports.” He looked down to the projections generated by their gemstones, perfectly mimicking regular passports. “You may carry on. Here are your boarding cards, the boarding will commence in four hours.”

“Thank you.” Garnet took the cards.

“Let’s go to the terminal and use this free time we have constructively,” Pearl suggested

“I concur,” Peridot said.

“You can be as constructive as you like,” Amethyst said. “I’m going straight to the arcade as soon as we step foot in the terminal.”

The two scientific gems just rolled their eyes and carried on.

“How do we get to the terminal?” Steven asked.

“This archaic transport hub has an inner railway system for passenger and cargo transport, we can use that,” Peridot suggested.

“It’s a good idea Peridot, we need to get on the third tram wagon, it will be the one with the least number of passengers.” Garnet said, using her power.

“The nearest railway station should be in that direction.” Pearl pointed to a corridor after observing the airport’s map.

“Then let’s go!” Steven said cheerfully as they headed for the railway station.

The transport station the Rainbooms were in back in the regional terminal was quite small, but equally as crowded as the terminal itself. It was quite hard to get through the people, and even harder to find seats.

“Brace yourselves girls, the next tram should arrive in two minutes or less,” Twilight said.

Rarity looked down at her sore feet. “I do hope that we’ll manage to find some seats on it.” These high heel shoes are perfect for a city like Empire City, but not much for long waits.”

“Then I guess it’s a priority, we gotta get ourselves some seats, and I know exactly how,” Rainbow Dash said.

“How partner?” Applejack asked Rainbow Dash.

“Simple, once the doors open one of us sprints for the nearest seats and keeps six seats for the rest of us,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Don’t worry, I’ll take them”

In that moment the tram arrived. Once it was by the quay the doors opened up, and a voice invited the passengers to enter.

“Here we go!” Rainbow Dash ran in as the mass of people did the same, and arrived just in time to save a row of seven places in the third cabin.

“Here girls!” She called to her friends, who joined her shortly.

“Oh thank goodness, good job, darling,” Rarity complimented Rainbow Dash, feeling a sense of relief coming from her feet.

“Stand clear by the closing doors,” the speakers spoke, some moments before the doors closed up as the wagon was full.

“What’s the next stop gonna be?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s gonna be the central building of the airport.” Sunset observed the map over the door they entered. “Probably to embark incoming passengers, then two stops after that we’ll be in the terminal five.”

“Alright! How long do we have to wait before our boarding starts?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight took out her PDA and checked the digital itinerary she prepared. “Here it says four hours before–”

“Four hours!?” Rainbow interrupted, while everyone else just looked at Twilight in shock. “Are you kidding?”

“Why the hay would this take so long?“ Applejack asked

“Well, in order to make an intercontinental flight an airplane needs to be properly prepared. It needs to be fueled, cleaned, inspected and the luggage...” Twilight restarted, before Applejack took her question back.

“Alright Twilight, Ah got it,” she said.

“What are we supposed to do? Sit on a chair near the boarding gate?” Rainbow Dash looked unamused by the idea.

“Actually, we don’t have to do that,” Sunset explained. “Being a terminal for international flights, it’s suited to entertain the passengers for long times.”

“Exactly,” Twilight said, checking the terminal’s map with her tablet. “The map shows that it has a lot of duty free shops, and some of them are boutiques–”

“Boutiques!?” Rarity exclaimed. “Oh how convenient, ’ll be able to check out some dresses from the competition”

“And an arcade, you might like that Rainbow.” Twilight turned to her friend.

“Hmm, what games to they have there?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“From the look of it, it seems to have a considerable number. It says also it has some quite immersive action games, one of them is Hero’s Duty.” Twilight said.

“Mmh I heard of that one, it’s supposed a very good game. But I think I’ll be the one judging it today,” Rainbow said, knowing exactly how she’d pass the time.

“And that’s not all, there’s lots to do here. I bet that there will be good way for you to pass the time also.” Twilight told Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. “Meanwhile, I should probably go to the internet point to check the satellite readings, and to see if any other networks picked up the wave.”

“I’ll come with you, I can help you check the data,” Sunet said.

“Here comes the tram!” Steven pointed to the arriving transport.

“Right on schedule, let’s stay here so we can enter the third wagon” Garnet said stepping up to the quay.

Exactly as she predicted the tram stopped right in front of her and the gems, and after the door opened they found immediately the seats they were looking for.

“Right as always, Garnet,” Pearl sat down gracefully.

“Thank you, Pearl” Garnet answered.

After a few minutes the tram filled up, the doors closed again, and down the rails they all went.

The first stop was terminal number seven, then number six, and finally number five.

“This stop is: terminal number five.” The doors opened up.

“We’re here, let’s go girls. Our gate is the number thirty,” Twilight said.

At the same time at the other end of the wagon the gems were also preparing to go.

“Our gate is the number thirty, let’s go gems.” Garnet stood up.

The two groups exited without noticing each other, as the crowd hid them.

Terminal number five was one of the biggest in the airport. Its duty free shopping area was the size of a small mall, had a very large food court with international gastronomy, and as shown on the map also had an arcade.

Due to its large size, there were some moving walkwayS here and there to help the passengers move, and some carts could be seen moving around its halls.

The Rainbooms were using the belts to move, while Amethyst morphed discreetly into an electric cart for the gems.

The gate’s area was distinct with a sign showing a number, nearby the door there was an empty desk with a screen behind it, on which the name of the company as well as the departure and destination names were shown. A countdown was visible in a corner of the screen.

Around the desk there were numerous seats, some of them already occupied by people who were minding their own businesses, some were just resting others answering and making calls and using the laptop.

The Rainbooms took the nearest seats to the door, as well as the gems.

“Well girls, I’ll be off to the arcade then, see ya!” Rainbow Dash said.

“I’ll come with you… if that’s okay,” Fluttershy shyly said.

“Of course it is! Come on!” Rainbow Dash grabbed her gently, and they walked off together.

“Let’s go Sunset, we’ve gotta reach the internet point.” Twilight pointed to the sign of an internet cafe placed conveniently by the gate.

“I promise I’ll be quick, I just want to take a look and see how good the duty free boutiques are.” Rarity said, walked off in another direction.

“And I’ll stay here and make sure that nobody touches our stuff!” Pinkie wore a big smile on her face as she sat back down next to Applejack.

Meanwhile, five people settled on the row of seats behind the girls.

“Good, we are here.” Garnet sat down.

“Alright gems, we have four hours and thirty five minutes before the departure,” Pearl said. “I suggest we don’t venture too far from this location so–”

“I’m off to the arcade!” Amethyst interrupted and waved goodbye.

Pearl remained silent for a minute. “Alright alright, have fun Amethyst!” Pearl yelled at Amethyst as she disappeared in the crowd. “I’ll go to that internet point over there, to see if there has been any news of any strange activity around Sunrise Island”

“I’d like to come with you.” Peridot stood up. “Besides wanting to help you with the surveillance I’m kind of curious about how your global data sharing network works.”

The two left as well, leaving Steven and Garnet alone on one side, and Pinkie Pie and Applejack on the other.

To pass the time Steven took out his Ukulele and started to play it, humming a song.

Hearing him play, Pinkie Pie turned around to see who was playing that nice song.

“Hey, did you write that song?” she asked to him.

“Oh yeah it was me, I’ll stop if it bothers you.” Steven stopped playing.

“Oh no no no no! Your song is nice, please go on,” she answered him.

“Alright then.” Steven continued playing his instrument and humming the song, while Pinkie started to dance a little.

It was a quite catchy song, and she immediately started to think about a nice musical number she could perform to the rhythm of it.

Meanwhile at the arcade, Rainbow Dash quickly started to achieve some very high scores on the games it offered.

There were racing games, first person shooting games, and some classics like pinball and tetris.

‘High score: Rainbow Dash’ Appeared on the screen of a pinball videogame Rainbow Dash was playing, beating it easily.

“Piece of cake.” She put her hands behind her head.

“Congratulations Rainbow Dash, you did very well,” Fluttershy complimented her.

“Thanks Flutters, how good did you do?” Rainbow asked her.

“Well, I kinda didn’t earn any points, but at least I didn’t hurt these cute little moles.” She pointed at an arcade machine showing a digital version of Whack-A-Mole.

“Meh, I’m sure that if they made a game about saving animals, you’d even beat me,” Rainbow Dash told her. “Well time for me to move on to another game now.”

She then walked around the lounge until she spotted the infamous Hero’s Duty. It was composed of a large flat screen, in front of which were multiple fake laser rifles connected to a computer underneath it.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait to try it, but she wanted to save it for last after trying the other games.

She then came around a game called ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and it got her interest. It was basically a race with Fast and Furious based cars, each with a unique built-in weapon.

“Hmm this will be a nice warm up.” Rainbow Dash looked at it confidently and sat in front of the right screen. Before she could put her money inside it, however, somebody else sat on the left seat.

“Alright, it’s time to crash some cars!” Amethyst said, stretching on the seat. “Oh hi.” she noticed Rainbow Dash.

“Hello there,” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Here for some high speed fun hmm?” She asked.

“Well yeah, after beating some high scores on the last few games, I wanted to have some fun before trying Hero’s Duty,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Cool, I was getting warmed for it too. How many games did you beat?” Amethyst asked, getting her coins ready.

“Hmm four or five, but I lost the count,” she answered

“Wow, I managed to beat almost as many.”

“You did? Hmm, you must be quite good.” Rainbow grinned at the thought of a worthy opponent. “How about we see who is best then? I’m kind of sick of playing only with AIs.”

“Challenge accepted,” Amethyst answered with a confident smile on her face, deciding also that if they wanted to have a grand showdown they should have gone with what was supposed to be the best game of the arcade. “Hero’s Duty then?”

“Hero’s Duty it is,” Rainbow grinned.

The two left the race game and then rushed to Hero’s duty’s screen.

“Hey you with the pink hair, wanna play?” Amethyst asked Fluttershy.

“Uhm... I’d rather not.” She cowered, guessing by the look of the game that it was a violent one.

“Come on, it’s all fake you know?” Amethyst encouraged her.

“Don’t try to convince her, this is just not her kind of game,” Rainbow Dash told Amethyst.

“Hmm alright then, sorry.” Amethyst told Fluttershy.

“Oh, it’s okay...” Fluttershy said shyly.

“Anyways, let’s start the robo-bugs carnage,” Rainbow Dash said, putting some coins inside the machine and picking up a rifle.

“Way ahead of you.” Amethyst grabbed a rifle too.

As Rainbow Dash hit the start game button, the introduction video started.

“On an anonymous planet a scientific experiment” – The screen showed images of the cy-bugs being created – “failed with terrible consequences. You are humanity’s last hope your mission is: destroying all the cy-bugs.”

“Whoever kills more cy-bugs is best player!” Rainbow Dash got ready to start.

“That’s an everyday job for me.” Amethyst was already ready to fire.

Meanwhile, Pearl and Peridot arrived at the Internet point.

It was a rather large and badly illuminated open space, with a bar table stretching from a corner. Scattered around it there were circular tables with computers mounted on them, mostly old models with analog screens, with some contained in private booths.

A massive middle aged man stood behind a cash register near a computer terminal.

“We would like two access points please, in those booths if possible,” Pearl said to the clerk.

“Fine, for how much time?” the clerk asked rudely.

“Three hours or more I think,” Pearl answered.

“Okay it’s nineteen dollars” he answered.

Pearl took out a wallet and gave the clerk the exact amount he wanted.

“Enjoy the internet, if you want anything to drink or eat don’t be shy.” The clerk pointed at the bar.

The two gems walked to the computer booths and sat down.

“Alright, we should check the principal news networks first, and then probably go over the minor ones,” Pearl suggested.

“Good idea. While this world has primitive reconnaissance machinery, I doubt that nobody picked up that energy signature.” She looked at the black screen in front of her. “Mmmmh remind me Pearl, how do you turn on this archaic data elaborator?”

“Press the red button on the case Peridot, with the symbol on it,” Pearl answered.

Peridot found the button and pressed it starting up the computer, as did Pearl.

I wonder how anybody could work with such low level machines. Hmm, I can probably upgrade it a little, I’m a natural technician after all, Peridot thought, while accessing the computer’s settings.

Pearl, on the other hand, was already on the research. Steven showed her how the internet worked some days after the strange energy pulse, knowing they probably would have needed it to book the rooms and the flight.

She first visited the sites of SNN, NBS, OBC and WBS.

Mmmh it seems that the effects of the wave were seen around the planet, but thankfully nobody has any idea of its true nature. She observed the articles, explaining the wave as a consequence of an explosion underneath the mantle.

Pearl couldn’t help but giggle while reading Ronaldo’s blog breaking news entry, depicting the wave as an accident related to an HAARP emitter.

However she couldn’t imagine that just at a few meters from her two other girls were checking the same thing.

“Alright, safe connection established.” Twilight observed the windows appearing on the screen of her computer.

“You completely sure?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, the encryption uses a symmetrical key and an algorithm that I programmed myself,” Twilight explained accessing the program.

On the screen four windows opened, the first three related to the scanning system, and the last one was a register of previous scans along with graphic representations of the waves.

“So what’s the story?” Sunset asked.

“No major energy emissions since two weeks ago, but the energy keeps fluctuating nearby that area, as you can see.” She magnified the window showing the globe and closed in on Sunrise Island. It was glowing of very hot colors, indicating a that the magic around that place was still very high.

“I see, can we compare it with an older imagine?” Sunset suggested.

Twilight nodded. “This one is from three weeks ago.” She proceeded to click on an element of the list opening up a fifth window, showing another map of the area around Sunrise island which presented the same colors.

“It appears that none of the magical energy dissipated… which probably means that the source is still active,” Sunset observed.

“Do you have any idea of what kind of source it could be?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not sure. Magical artifacts can generate an extremely high amount of energy, but it dissipates quickly if there is nobody using it. Magic beings like unicorns can generate a fair amount of energy and make it last for some time but not nearly as much… ” Sunset brought her hand to her chin.

Could it have been the doing of an alicorn? Sunset thought.

“While I don't really understand the biology of the Equestrian beings, I’d exclude it was caused by something biological,” Twilight answered. “Nothing living could withstand such an amount of power.”

Sunset rested her chin on her hands. “Well… In Equestria there are beings capable of doing much more, but they can be counted on the fingers of an hand, and I doubt any of them came here.”

“I’m accessing more data regarding the first event.” Twilight typed more commands. “I should have the wave’s potential model up on the screen now.”

As she said that a tridimensional model of a wave propagating from a center appeared in a section of the screen, as well as some other tables, fraunhofer lines and graphs.

However before they could check out more, the terminal suddenly went dark. And so did the other computers in the cafe, the moans and sighs of angry people around the cafe could be heard.

“Hey! what’s the big idea?!” some guy asked angrily.

“I want my money back!” another guy barked.

Twilight panicked a little. But quickly she remembered that the program was running on her home’s computer which was working as a server, so there was nothing to fear.

Sunset frowned, that was inconvenient to say the least.

“Peridot? What have you done?” Pearl asked Peridot, who was holding pieces of an analog screen.

“Oh this?” She wore a quite frustrated expression as she pointed to the device she just disassembled. “I was just trying to improve this archaic calculator by upgrading its power supply, though it seems that I accidentally bypassed the anti-peak causing an electric overload.”

Before she could try to fix it, the clerk approached them angrily. “So this is your fault! I hope you are loaded with money because you are paying me back everything!” he angrily barked at them them.

Pearl glared at Peridot. The money they had was counted, and paying for damage could compromise them. But fortunately for them Peridot had an idea.

“Actually sir, I think I could return this archaic machine to it’s original state, and fix your electric system.” She stood in front of him.

“And why would I let you do that?” the clerk asked angrily.

“Because if I managed to fix it, you wouldn’t need to buy a new calculator,” Peridot said, “thus not compromising the efficiency of your shop during the period needed for the replacement to arrive.”

“Hmm you have ten minutes, and if you break something else you can consider what you owe me doubled,” he threatened.

Peridot quickly got to work on fixing the computer, cleaning up the damaged power supply, managing to restore it completely. She then closed up the screen’s case and got down the chair. She asked where the fusebox was and the clerk indicated it to her. With Pearl’s help she reached it and proceeded to open it up, and returned the lifesaver breaker in the ‘On’ position. Once she did so, the lights turned back on, and so did the screens of the computers.

Everybody emitted sighs of either relief or groans of annoyance as the computers restarted.

“We are very sorry about what happened, my friend Peridot just wanted to improve this computer. We’ll be on our way now,” Pearl said.

She grabbed Peridot and started to head out the cafe, noticing out of the corner of her eyes the computer Twilight and Sunset where using.

“You can’t pass two seconds without experimenting with Earth technology, can you?” Pearl scolded.

“What?” Peridot asked incredulously. “I was doing that guy a favor, if my power supply modification had gone well that archaic calculator would have been able to consume two hundred percent less.”

“First of all, he didn’t ask you to do it. Second of all, you should have checked the specs of that computer before trying to modify it and...” Pearl stopped suddenly when she noticed two girls finishing to re-access their computer’s internet browser.

She noticed a series of graphs regarding electromagnetic waves and energy levels, as well as numerous maps of the globe, Sunrise Island in particular. She took note of the two girls, and looked at them suspiciously.

“Pearl? Why did you stop? I was just in the middle of processing a good answer,” Peridot told her.

“I think I saw something. We have to talk to the others once we are on the plane,” she explained and left the hotel.

“So, Twilight, is everything okay?” Sunset asked.

“It is. Although we lost some data, so we’ll need to wait for it to redownload, nothing serious happened though,” Twilight explained.

“Whew.” Sunset sighed. She looked at the two women going out the cafe. “They kinda look weird.”

“hmm, I agree.” Twilight looked at them too. ”I wonder why that smaller one thought she could modify the computer. I mean, has she never visited an internet cafe before?”

Sunset then noticed something else about them. “Forget that look closely at their foreheads,” Sunset whispered to Twilight, causing her to notice their gemstones encased in their foreheads.

“Oh… well I don’t think it’s anything important, they’re probably just into some extreme forms of fashion. There are lots of people lately who have gemstones implanted in their skin.” Twilight turned her attention back to the computer, however Sunset didn’t lose her suspicious look.

Meanwhile, Pearl and Peridot were coming back to the gate as Fluttershy was coming back from the gaming lounge, since Amethyst and Rainbow Dash monopolized it. She knew that Rainbow had everything under control and was probably winning, so she decided to take a break. However, as she arrived she was greeted by a crowd of people clapping their hands at two figures in its center.

“Is there anything that’s worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth!” Pinkie Pie sang at the top of her lungs as the song ended, striking a rock star pose while Steven held his ukulele triumphally.

Everybody cheered, while Garnet clapped her hands slowly. Steven and Pinkie Pie bowed and the crowd started to disperse.

“That… was… so much fun! It has been so long since my last duo performance! Your Ukulele skills are awesome,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed making acrobatic bounces around.

“Oh thanks, my dad taught me. You were pretty great too, where did you learn how to sing like that?” Steven asked

“Let’s say I have been a natural since I started to develope my party making talent,” Pinkie Pie answered.

“You’re a party organizer?” Steven’s pupils became stars upon hearing that.

“Yes! One of the best in my town, here’s my card.” Pinkie Pie handed to Steven a card covered in sparkly glittery balloon stickers.

“Pinkie Pie?” He read it. “What a nice name, mine is Steven, Steven Universe.”

“Universe? Ooooh you mean your dad is the universe?” Pinkie Pie asked with wide eyes.

“Uh, no… it’s just my last name,” he explained.

“Oh! Silly me!” She started to laugh, making Steven smile a bit too. “Anywho… Where do you come from and where are you headed?”

“Me and my… uh… friends are headed for Sunrise Island!” Steven answered.

“WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!! Me and MY friends too are headed there too,” Pinkie Pie said.

Steven smiled as Garnet approached them.

“Oooh who are you?” Pinkie asked her.

“She’s a friend of mine, her name is Garnet,” Steven introduced her.

“A pleasure.” Garnet extended her hand.

“Ooooh! Pleased to meet you too,” Pinkie said, shaking Garnet’s hand vigorously. “I’m always happy to meet new people, even more when they’re friends of people I already met!”

“You are quite an… active person, I see,” Garnet remarked as the handshake finished.

“Thank you!” Pinkie Pie said. “Tell me, do those goggles cover something embarrassing or secret? Like a third eye maybe?”

Garnet and Steven were immediately taken aback by that sentence.

“HAHAHAHA I’m just kidding, there must be something wrong with my Pinkie sense today.” She laughed, ignoring the sensation she got from her sixth sense.

Garnet looked impassive, while Steven forced a smile on his face.

“Hey Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy arrived.

“How are you, Fluttershy? Had fun with Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well… kind of. She’s having a challenge at the arcade now.” She then noticed Steven and Garnet. “Who are your new friends?”

“Oh! This little nice guy over here is Steven, and this towering one over here is Garnet.” Pinkie Pie explained. “I was singing a song with Steven before.”

“I saw the crowd, you must have been good,” Fluttershy complimented them.

“We were!” Pinkie declared. She jumped as she launched back into the chorus.

“Oooh,
Life and death and love and birth,
And peace and war on the planet Earth.
Is there anything that's worth more
Than peace and love on the planet Earth?

These lyrics are brilliant!”

“I wish I was there to hear too.” Fluttershy smiled.

Garnet turned away as she noticed Peridot and Pearl arrive. “Welcome back you two, how did it go?”

“Good, until Peridot caused an electric overload trying to ‘upgrade’ a computer.” Pearl glared at Peridot.

“It wasn’t my fault if that power supply was that outdated!” Peridot said.

Pearl just rolled her eyes and looked at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. “Oh hi, were you the one who was singing and dancing with Steven before?”

“Oh yeah, I was. And lemme guess, you’re Pearl right? And you are… uhm Pear-Colored Emerald?” Pinkie Pie asked, laughing.

“My name is Peridot… ” Peridot grew immediately annoyed by the young girl with the cloudy hair.

“As a matter of fact, Pearl is my name. How did you know?” Pearl asked.

“Oh it was easy. Your friend over there is called Garnet.” Pinkie took her hands and showed her gemstones. “Because she has garnets encased in her hands… ouch. So, if she was called that because of this, I figured out that your name was Pearl because of that big pearl on your forehead!” She pointed at Pearl’s pearl. “And your name was Pear-Colored Emerald because you have a triangular pear-colored-emerald in your forehead! Simple”

Everyone was pretty amazed by Pinkie Pie’s perception, except for Fluttershy and Peridot.

“It’s not an emerald, it’s a peridot. And my name is Peridot!” Peridot groaned. Her voice growing in annoyance.

“Anywho, my name is Pinkie Pie and this one is Fluttershy, one of my best friends.” She indicated Fluttershy.

“Very pleased,” Fluttershy whispered shyly.

“Is your friend always so… active?” Peridot asked.

“Uhm, yes. Even more usually, but she means well,” Fluttershy told the gem.

“Yeah, that’s right. Anyway Flutters, these ones are coming to Sunrise Island too!” Pinkie Pie gestured at them. “With us! Can you believe it? What a coincidence!”

“Oh oh, speaking of our trip, I need to talk with my friends over here. Could you please give us a moment, it’s something private.” Pearl smiled widely.

“Very private,” Peridot added.

“Doubly noted, see ya soon, hopefully!” Pinkie Pie left, along with Fluttershy.

Pearl, Peridot and Garnet moved away from the gate and found a private enough spot. Pearl then explained what she saw on Twilight and Sunset’s computer, leaving Garnet suspicious and Peridot unphased.

“So they were checking the electromagnetic activity around Sunrise Island? This could be relevant,” Garnet concluded.

“I disagree, we are talking about something that interferes with dimensional gem technology.” Peridot objected. “It’s improbable that some humans would even be able to detect the disturbance, let alone study it.”

“But isn’t it a little too convenient that they were in the process of researching about Sunrise Island’s magnetic field, when they’re probably going there too?” Pearl remembered that the pink one and the shy one were in group with these two back on the tram.

“Hmmm, you do have a point.” Peridot tapped her chin thoughtfully. “But even if they did detect it, I don’t think that they’ll be a menace. They probably haven’t even figured out the phenomena completely yet.”

“Still, I suggest we keep them under surveillance, even more so if they don’t have a clear idea of what they are tampering with,” Pearl finished.

“I agree, we need to keep a close eye on that group. We should also tell Amethyst when she comes back.” Garnet crossed her arms.

“Speaking of our quartz, where is she?” Peridot asked, just as Amethyst could be seen coming back with Rainbow Dash. Both the girls were looking pretty exhausted.

The competition had been long and tight, and it ended with a tie as both the girls managed to kill the same number of cy-bugs.

“Wow girl, that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash complimented Amethyst.

“Eh thanks, you were pretty great too.” Amethyst smiled at her.

“Where did you get those reflexes?”Rainbow Dash asked her. “You even anticipated a cy-bug that was about to sneak up on your back”

“Simple: practice. Lots and lots of practice,” Amethyst answered.

“Practice? You exercise with some sort of fighting style?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You could say that,” Amethyst answered a little elusively. “Anyway, there are my friends.” She pointed at the other Crystal Gems, noticing that they seemed to be mid discussion. “Hmm better if I go to them, they might need me. Anyway happy to have played with you, tell me what was your name again?”

“Rainbow Dash,” she answered.

“Amethyst. Hope to meet ya again,” she waved at Rainbow before going to her friends.

“See ya,” Rainbow Dash said, returning to her own friends.

Rainbow Dash reached her friends and, after Pinkie Pie told her about what she had been doing, they all relaxed on the chairs around the gate, waiting for the rest of the group to come back.

Rarity came back an hour later, carrying some bags of summer clothings, from swimsuits to sundresses and sunhats. She stated that the products were passable. Fluttershy seemed to appreciate some of them, as well as Pinkie Pie, while Rainbow Dash didn’t really care.

Later on Sunset Shimmer and Twilight arrived too, reporting their findings, and that the energy didn’t seem to be dissipating.

Pinkie Pie took the occasion to tell the others about the other group she met too, telling them that they were headed to Sunrise Island as well. She also indicated them, allowing Twilight and Sunset to recognize the two who were with them at the Internet point.

The gems took some time to relax too, while Steven kept playing his ukulele and Peridot started recording her pre-flight log.

While they waited for the boarding to commence, both groups tried their best to relax, but neither one could shake the feeling that the other was watching them.