Across the Shimmering Ocean

Chapters

Chapter 1: Recollection
Chapter 2: Downtown Funk
Chapter 3: Mistaken Identity
Chapter 4: Water Over the Bridge

Chapter 1: Recollection

Across The Shimmering Ocean

Chapter 1: Recollection

There were times, even thousands of years ago before she had been swallowed up in despair, when she wondered why she had stayed on this planet. Times when she had thought of her home and wept. Times when she wondered if she even wanted to keep going on at all.

After all, as far as she knew...she had nothing...no one...to keep going on for.

***

She could feel the currents and pressure of the ocean floor flow across her body as she trudged the silt floor, disrupting the occasional crab and shellfish with each laborious step. Although navigating the deep waters had never been a cakewalk to start with, in her current...condition, the task proved more arduous than it had in centuries.

She did not even bother to look up at the churning ocean surface above her; her cracked gem, the stone that embodied her very being now sundered and broken -had rendered her deep water sight functionally useless, forcing her to rely on her touch and the displacement of water around her to get around. If she could just reach the mesopelagic zone she'd be able to see better...

...no. No, even if she could still swim properly, she knew that THEY were still looking for her.

The Crystal Gems. The traitors who turned on their Homeworld and kidnapped countless innocent Gems for the crime of being from Homeworld in the first place. A vision of Sapphire floated into her mind unbidden as she remembered their first encounter...

She felt a chill run down her spine as she buried the thought. No. That was then. This is now. There's nothing left for me here to hold onto. Now...now I need to focus on getting home.

But then again, she didn't really have a plan in mind, did she? Her memories of the planet were vague at best; five thousand years was a long stretch of time, and it was hard to gauge what kind of effect the battles between the Crystal Gems and Homeworld could have wrought. All the memories she had came from the Mirror, and those were incidental, brief flashes in the lives of a hundred different people that only had a few standouts to speak of.

...like Steven.

Her walk slowed to a crawl as she collapsed in the silt, clutching herself as the weight of everything that had happened on the surface crashed down on her.

She had been such a fool in hindsight, thinking he would follow her into the depths. Forget being a Crystal Gem, he was human! A light breeze could flatten his kind! Taking him into the ocean...into the depths of space...it had been an insane notion from the start.

She looked forward, searching for any signs of life around her to no avail. She was alone in the heavy darkness beneath the waves.

Just like always.

She stood, struggling underneath the water whose pressure she was just starting to feel upon her shoulders. Every step felt like a marathon as she walked forward, only vaguely certain of her destination. She knew what she had to do, but actually doing it...that's where things got complicated. It would be difficult even at full strength, and while building a construct like this wasn't impossible...

A test run. She needed to see what she was capable of now that her power had been stolen from her.

The effects came as if by second nature; all she had to do was imagine the water around her as a part of herself and it would bend to her will almost instantly. Images of the basic construct floated in her mind as she began to spiral the water upwards. Starting as a small cone, the mass quickly expanded at the base, increasing in size as she weaved more water onto the center spire like a loom.

Towers were simple training exercises back on Homeworld, but this was the most complex large structure she could manage in her current state. She could not afford to be picky. Besides, she had a general idea of where Homeworld was...if she could just find the right spot on the water...

Water that had once flowed naturally to her now began to pull back, resisting her control as the weight upon it rose. The normal pressure of the deep ocean was difficult enough to handle, but coiling the water to form a tower...especially of the size she was looking for...enough to reach for the stars...

She planted her feet in the dirt and pressed onward. Struggling against the current she began to lift her left hand into the water. The initial base and the coil she had wrapped around it slowly began to rise up into the murky water, small shrimp and worms displaces by the motion. Her arms noticeably strained as she moved the construct further up.

Her right hand continued the spooling process, winding more and more water around the expanding base. It was a simple process: form, wrap, rise, repeat. The only issue at this point was keeping up with the strain as the water density increased...

A vision of Steven building a sand castle appeared in her mind. She wondered if building sand castles would have been easier...more fun...

Her feet gave out underneath her as the silt shifted, her whole body shaken to the core as a small shockwave crashed into her.

Damn it! I got distracted and...and...

Her eyes widened. She had been so focused on lifting the tower that she had forgotten to replace the displaced water used to create it. And now...there was a vacuum of air at the base of her tower, completely unfilled space...which would prompt the water to fill that void.

The internal spiral collapsed first, crumpling beneath the weight of the ocean above it and sucked down by the vacuum of the rapidly destabilizing base. In a fit of desperation she began to stack more water on the air bubble in an attempt to gradually displace it. Simply filling it would draw water from the spire and cause the whole structure to collapse. She needed to vent the air out through the ground...

But the water pressure was too much. A blast of superpressurized air shot up at her face through the silt, knocking her backwards and completely breaking her control of the construct. The external coils of water began spinning violently around the spire, ripping into the rocks and silt before brutally cracking her in the stomach. She twisted and turned her back away from the lashing cords out of pure instinct, but the pain was still too much to bear as she succumbed to the violent lashes of her out of control creation.

Another shockwave shook her body as she looked up from her beaten stupor. She was aching and throbbing, just barely able to function...and regained her composure just in time to see the sparks of static electricity shoot out from the membrane around the air pocket as it cracked open.

Like an idiot, she had positioned herself too close to the tower's base; she had been afraid that the distance would prevent her from working her full power on it. Now she realized the gravity of her error as she was sucked bodily into the epicenter of the vacuum, dragged along the silt until she crashed into the bubble shaped dent in the ocean bed.

The roar of crashing water rang in her ears as she lifted her eyes above her, the metric tons of water she had displaced in her construction all falling on her at once.

She closed her eyes and smiled.

At least if she died here...some part of her might feel at home before the end.

The water surged into the vacuum with a resounding explosion of light and heat and power. Every life form within a hundred feet of the impact was dead instantly from the blast. Anything two hundred feet past was choked to death on the silt that was disrupted by it.

The ocean rumbled for a bit, and then grew silent. The depths bore witness...and life went on.

***

A humanoid figure, unmoving, floated upwards in the water. She was slim, almost emaciated looking, with deep cerulean pixie cut hair that contrasted elegantly with her sky blue skin. A dark blue sarong, ripped to pieces, hung limply on her body, with a sleeveless top that did not conceal the gruesomely twisted right arm she now had. Eyes of a faint periwinkle shone like mirrors as they dully stared at the water around them.

And on her back, dimly glowing, was a badly cracked Gem, an otherwise perfectly polished teardrop...of Lapis Lazuli.

***

Lapis did not respond as her body breached the ocean surface; she dared not "poof" herself to regenerate, lest the ocean below her damage her unprotected gem, and in her current state she was uncertain if she even could come back. Every part of her body shrieked with an unimaginable pain, save for her right arm, which she could only feel in a very general sense. If the Crystal Gems wanted to dispose of her, she was certainly in the right position for it.

Her eyes adjusted to the relatively bright light of the starlit sky; Lapis had not had any real way to gauge time in the ocean so she could not say for sure how far she had wandered, or even where she was in the world right now. All she knew was that it all looked the same to her.

Her left arm, bruised but not mangled like the right was, reached towards the heavens, towards a dim pinprick of blue light, dimmer than any other star that night. Tears ran down her face as she strained for it.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she felt the last of her strength leave her, the effects of the "hope" she had tried to build for herself down there having caught up to her at last.

I just...want...to go home...

Lapis felt herself drift into the darkness as the tide flowed quietly, softly, pulling her inward towards land.

***

She was only very vaguely aware of anything that happened past this point; her body innately sensed the mild shift in incline, the transition from salt to brackish to fresh, the stars being swallowed up by mountains as she seemed to float through a valley. It was all a terribly heady experience, and Lapis was far too broken at that point to distinguish what was a dream and what was reality. It didn't help that her half-conscious state would sometimes filter in memories from her time in the Mirror. Gems technically could not dream, but each class of Gem had its own "sorting system" to compensate. This just happened to be Lapis's.

But...something strange kept happening. Lapis could not place it, but the majority of the memories she was experiencing during this time...seemed to be coming from Steven. No, a trip he had taken that she herself was barely privy to...

She could see...a school...a courtyard...flashes of gold and red that left a great disturbance churning in her. As the mountains rose, as city lights began to flicker in the distance, these flashes became more pronounced. A violent temper. An abusive nature. She could swear she saw Steven crying as a voice like liquid smoke casually berated him for his mother's death. Green eyes flashing with contempt...a cruelty she had no way to fathom...

Lapis saw flashes of green light blur her vision, and slowly rouse her mind as the city lights grew brighter...a wicked cackling...humans turned into demons...and some winged...monstrosity, glaring down with eyes of black, crimson claws shifting as her hair rose into the sky like fire, a golden crown with a brightly shining amethyst crystal wreathed in it. An army of humans followed in her wake, eyes blank and soulless as they marched towards some unknown vortex...

And soon she was there, standing in the courtyard in her dreams, surrounded by pitch black fire as this nightmare made flesh stared down at her, having grown to the size of a skyscraper.

Her fanged maw twisted into a hateful smirk as she grabbed Lapis by the torso. She could feel her broken arm turn to dust as the demon lifted her up to stare into her very soul. Lapis was utterly helpless as she felt the monster squeeze her in her clutches, leering at her body like some sort of ravenous beast before her snakelike tongue darted along her body. She struggled to find some way to defend herself but there was no water to be found at all.

Such a poor, pitiful creature...all alone...with no friends to save you..., she whispered into her ear, her breath reeking of sulfur as Lapis desperately tried to escape. Her vision began to fog and warp as the monster placed a single talon against her gem, polluting it with dark magics...

I can tell...you're going to be a LOT of fun.

Lapis felt herself fall away, into a vortex of shadow and light and...blaring car horns?

***

The low rumble of traffic fully roused Lapis from her barely conscious state as she jerked to life, resting knee deep in some shallow estuary just beneath a car bridge. Her vision slowly returned to her as she struggled to stand up, and it was with a combination of relief and anguish that she felt her right arm shriek in protest. The pain did cause her to collapse, though, and as Lapis shook the dreaming state out of her head she struggled to make sense of her surroundings.

As she expected, the city she had found herself in was impressively sized, nestled in a valley next to a mountain range; she bitterly realized that the tide must have brought her down river, and so far away from the ocean she needed. Towering buildings styled like castle minarets hovered above her, and as she crawled towards the river bank she could see various signs on the road. Advertisements for some kind of school sporting event...posters for a flight team...her mind swam at all of the insanity these humans indulged.

Lapis soon found herself on dry land, and lurched forward onto the street. She knew very little about human civilization, but she knew all too well about the dangers of the natural world. Her former state would have had trouble surviving in these mountains, and in her present condition she would be dead within the week. As she was she could vaguely pass for human, so she would have much better luck navigating their infrastructure.

"Step by step", she whispered to herself as she staggered onto the sidewalk, right arm twisted limply at her side. She knew this place from one of Steven's memories, but she had to figure out a place to reference her location; she'd have no way of figuring out how to get back to the ocean without it.

Lapis stumbled on her feet as she traversed the roads, going down whatever path she thought was most familiar. Any landmark would do, like a stadium, or a farm, or a school...

She felt her entire body slowly freeze up as it came clearly into view. The expansive court yard, the horse statue that no longer had a glowing portal in it, the wide staircase climbing up towards the red brick and mortar...

Lapis felt a tremble run up and down her spine as she clutched her right arm to make sure it was still there. It had been here. SHE had been here. That wretched, cruel monster that had tormented Steven, that had transformed into a rampaging she-demon and almost set an army upon the world...

She crumpled to the ground as a fear she had never felt before gripped her, memories awakened by the locale coming back to her. Canterlot High School. A scenic, iconic piece of architecture, visited by Steven in an attempt to expand his knowledge base. And the girl, that random thug that had abused him just for being there...who would go on to try and destroy Steven...and the rest of the world.

Lapis could not move. She could barely even register pain. Fear and loathing and hate churned in her heart all at once and held her from leaving her curled ball. All she could do...was remember HER.

The name dripped off her tongue like burning mercury; she felt sick just saying it.

"Sunset...Sunset Shimmer." Lapis grinned bitterly as she snarled at the memory.

After all...it really was her luck, wasn't it?

Author's Note

Getting back into the swing of writing fanfics, and what better way to christen my new account than with brutal violence and crossover shipping? :)

Please feel free to offer advice on this chapter for future outings. I intend to really sink my teeth into this bad boy and it's gonna be a lot of fun, so I want to hit the ground running as I shake the rust off the old gearbox.

Chapter 2: Downtown Funk

The rising sun filtered gently through the blooming greenery of the trees, casting mottled light upon Lapis's still frame as she lay quietly at the border of the school grounds.

Sunlight.

How long had it been since she'd seen the light of day for herself? Actually seen it, instead of having it filtered through memories or the water or a half-dead haze? She could not trust her own reckoning anymore, but she knew it had to have been a very long time.

Lapis leaned back against the tree with a sigh, still amazed after all these years how...soft the wood was compared to the more metallic brambles of her old home. Really, everything was softer on Earth. The plants, the animals, the weather...it stood in stark contrast to the angular crystal mountains and comparably thin atmosphere of home. The first time she had taken a breath, Lapis almost choked on how dense the air around her actually was.

Softest of all, though, was the sunlight. She had spent her younger years under the luminance of a titanic red supergiant, so large and imposing that even the deepest nights held the hue of twilight to them, and the days were tinted a bloody crimson as the sun blanketed the entire sky. She hadn't even known what stars had looked like before she took to space for the first time. But here? Here the nights were only illuminated by those same stars, and the daylight was calm and golden, warm and inviting instead of cold and angry.

It was one of the only things she had liked at first when she came here. And now...now she only wished to see those old bright red skies again.

Gripping the bark of the tree Lapis dragged herself to her feet, brushing some stray twigs and dirt away as she really considered her options for the first time since she had arrived in Canterlot. Using the human infrastructure was a great idea in theory, but her ideas of how to make it work for her were exceptionally muddled. Her actual memories were still fogged and unreliable, and she had never spent much time among humans anyway. All her practical memories of human society were from Steven's perspective, and she doubted that he had had a...normal childhood, for a human.

Still, it was worth a shot. Lapis closed her eyes and allowed the memories of her time with Steven to fill her vision. In her damaged state she had to concentrate to avoid images of the past; she could not afford another relapse into terror.

A beach. People talking...some crackpot screaming his own name...the one named Lars with the holes in his ears who reminded her of an ugly fungus...Steven wanting to go to a place on the other side of town...Steven climbing on some kind of vehicle and placing currency in the front...a "bus"...a bus for the town of...

"Beach City. I have to get to Beach City."

Lapis stumbled forward again, knees still weak and balance uneven. Her body was not getting any better, and in fact seemed to be getting worse with every passing hour. Glancing at her back she stared at the ugly crack in her gem that was the culprit of all this, and to her alarm saw that it had expanded, even if only slightly. If she tried to poof herself now the energy involved would drain the last of the gem's stability, and if that happened...

She just had to keep moving forward...and away from the school. And the first step to that was finding a "bus"!

...how did Steven find a "bus" again?

She supposed she could try to find one by waiting at the road like Steven had, but that could take hours, and in the time it took to find one on her own she could completely break down. If she could get to the ocean...maybe...just maybe she could find some way to heal herself.

Lapis didn't have any time to waste. She'd already lost untold days due to her own incompetence, and the stakes were higher than they were before. As much as she disliked the prospect...

...she had to find a human to help her.

***
As it turned out, finding a human was a bit more...difficult than Lapis had expected. Well, no, FINDING one was easy, they had become much more populous since Lapis had been trapped in the mirror. The problems came in...dealing with them.

The very first person she had come into contact with, a lilac-tinted woman with a lily in her hair, fainted as soon as she laid eyes on Lapis; she didn't even have time to say anything before the small group of people she had come with immediately scattered. Lapis fared little better with the next two encounters, with the first being a green-haired older woman with some sort of bird emblem on her chest who turned tail and ran towards the school she had just fled from. The second, a reedy beige-looking male with thick glasses, sandy hair and an exceptionally hideous plaid shirt, did stop to look her over for a minute before shaking his head in some sort of distaste before wandering away.

Remembering how Steven had always approached other people, Lapis started the next few encounters before they had a chance to run away, immediately running at them and making as much of a...happy face as she could. Her grin stretched ear to ear as she ran towards them shouting loud hellos and waving her left arm around.

This tactic netted...mixed results. At least this time the people actually made noises at her before running off this time.

Lapis gripped her hair in her good hand and audibly groaned as she continued her staggered walk through the streets of Canterlot, the brick and mortar buildings cold and uninviting as people who saw her ran away from the windows. "Damn it, this is getting me nowhere!" In a fit of frustration she planted her foot into a nearby garbage can; the impact ran up along her leg and sent a jolt of pain into her body that caused her to topple over. Her vision, already fuzzy as it was, swam and displaced itself for a solid minute as she regained her bearings.

No doubt about it. Her condition was worsening. Even the slightest pain was almost crippling now.

Lapis closed her eyes, taking in a deep, but steady breath to try and regain some strength; in emergencies Gems could metabolize oxygen for a quick burst of energy, and although it wasn't the most efficient of options her choices were dwindling rapidly. The thick air was worthwhile for once in that respect.

It was as Lapis opened her eyes that she saw...something, moving on the edges of her peripheral vision. Well, not so much moving as...generally vibrating. Her eyes turned towards the source of the movement, and for only a split second she saw another woman standing at the far end of the street she was on, taller than the others she had met but slightly more robust in her build than they were, dressed in a loose white t-shirt, blue overjacket, and pink long skirt. Neon pink hair, styled like a heaping pile of Steven's cotton candy, contrasted a bit with her more subdued coral skin, and sharply contrasted with her even brighter, baby blue eyes. Lapis could have sworn she saw them glowing for a moment. A long and warped grin, wider than even a Gem could manage, adorned her features. In the instant Lapis locked eyes with her she seemed to let out a low gasp, which turned into an extremely deep breath before...

She could not believe it. The girl had been there in one instant, and the moment Lapis blinked she had vanished. It was as if by magic...

Magic. It wasn't unheard of on this planet.

Lapis stood back on her feet again, pinpricks of sweat forming on her brow as she ran down the increasingly humid street towards whatever mad hallucination she had just witnessed. It was a stretch, but if this human had some kind of teleportation she could take advantage of it was her best chance to get home.

She was barely able to keep herself moving as she found herself on the edge of the sidewalk, the pink one having vanished without a trace. Her eyes darted back and forth for where she could be; even back on Homeworld individual teleports were short affairs, maybe about 500 feet or so, but there was not even any sign of her in the distance.

Lapis could feel her spirit pounding, the oxygen's combustive side effects becoming apparent as her sweating seemed to increase. In a rush, she turned to the left and began to run blindly...

...right into another human. Lapis felt strong arms - far stronger than she expected - grip her by the torso as she was knocked backwards, to prevent her from having yet another crippling fall.

"Whoa missy! Almost got yerself flattened, there!", rang a cheerful voice, heavy with an inflection that Lapis was unfamiliar with. She must have been from outside town as well.

She slumped in the muscular arms for only a moment before righting herself, stepping back a bit to get a better look at whoever it was that had caught her. She was definitely shorter than the pink one but significantly better built, arms and legs subtly swelling with strong musculature that just strained against her white button up shirt and thick leather tunic. The woman's tan - lighter than those Lapis had seen on the beach - matched the sun-bleached blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail at her waist, held beneath an equally sun-baked leather hat with a decoration she recognized as an Earth apple, casting a shadow over bright green eyes that nevertheless had an odd...clarity about them.

Lapis shook her head a bit before continuing. This was the first person who hadn't reacted in terror so far; she had to play it cool.

"H-hello?", she opened sheepishly. Smooth.

"Howdy!" The rustic girl slapped her hand on Lapis's left shoulder, grinning widely. "Mah name's Applejack! Ah don't think Ah've seen you around before; new in town, is mah best guess!"

Lapis had to take a minute to sort through what she had actually said. "Y-yeah. My...my name's Lapis. Lapis Lazuli."

Applejack cocked her head. "Like the rock?", she asked quizzically. "Well, can't say mah family's much better at namin' personally, but still, don't matter! You look like you got your ass kicked lookin' for someone...or somethin'."

Lapis nodded eagerly, brushing off the slight against her condition. "Yeah, a bus! I need a bus to get to Beach City and I don't know how to..."

"Whoa there, darlin', don't rush on off yet." Applejack's face had suddenly grown quite serious, her face leaning in towards' Lapis's right arm. The Gem realized that she had been studying her for the entirety of their brief conversation. It was difficult to tell at a glance, but Applejack's expression soon turned sour when she saw how the arm had been cracked and twisted in multiple, unnatural ways...and how, to Lapis's surprise, it was sweating much more profusely than the rest of her body.

"Hun, Ah thought you might've got into a fight or run through the woods, but there ain't no way Ah'm lettin' you run off on your own when you're like this. You're arm's broken and you're cold as a rock. We need to get you to a hospital."

Lapis stepped back. Hospital? Could an Earth hospital even properly analyze her, especially so far away from any Gem influence? They'd probably end up shattering her in their utter incompetence.

No, no she had to get to the ocean. If she could just get to the ocean...

"If I can just get to the ocean..."

"Darlin'? Darlin', you've been mumblin' to yerself for a bit now."

Lapis started. Thinking about the hospital had caused her to lose track of time. She didn't have the time to waste.

"Look, the hospitals here can't help me, they don't have the equipment to fix my Gem! I can repair it...I think...but I need to be near the ocean to do it!"

Applejack stared at her in surprise and concern, her eyebrows knitting. Lapis swore to herself as she remembered how few humans had come into contact with their kind before. It was probably why so many had been running away from her.

"Gem? Ah don't know much 'bout jewelry, but Ah know someone who does. Ah also know that you're 'bout to keel over if you don't get treatment. If yah come with me Ah'll introduce you to her and she can fix up your gems real nice. She's darn good at it."

Lapis was about to run past her when she realized just how futile the effort was, and right now she was not in any position to pick and choose her help. Applejack was the first person to make an effort to help her, even if only out of some sense of hospitality...

That and her knees were about to give out on her. Lapis felt her whole body slump down to the ground, just in time for Applejack to hook her right arm underneath Lapis's left shoulder, hoisting herself under the rapidly fading Gem.

"Hang on, Lapis, Ah gotcha." Applejack was the one holding most of Lapis's weight as she reached for some kind of device in her tunic pocket. "Jeez, figures this happens on the one day Big Mac isn't in the city on errands. Just as well, really, boy'd talk your ear off if he had the chance. Let's just hope Rarity doesn't do the same; she's got a thing for blue types." Applejack winked at her as she flipped open the device, something Lapis could vaguely identify as a cell phone from her Mirror memories, and dialed a number into it.

"Hey, hey Rares, this is Applejack. Look, we've got a situation goin' on right now and...no, Ah'm pretty sure Pinkie has nothin' to do with it. Yes, Ah just saw her! Look, you go and get yer car and meet us at the water fountain. We got some poor girl in really bad shape, keeps babblin' about her gem and...wh...what?"

Lapis vaguely heard an excited squeal on the other end of the line and a sudden stream of muffled questions; anything else faded into background noise as she weakly limped forward.

"Yes, yes she's a weird color and named after a rock, who cares? No, Ah don't care who actually gets yer car, just get it done!"

Applejack sighed in frustration and closed her phone. "Darn, Rarity, can't keep it together for a minute, can ya?" Applejack hefted Lapis again and directed her down the street, patiently helping Lapis walk where she needed to go. "Sorry 'bout that, she can get a bit overeager sometimes. Ah guess she knows you or something, called you a Crystal?"

"Gem," Lapis moaned weakly. "Just a Gem." She would not be associated with crystals of any kind if she could help it. "Did she sound like she knew what I was?"

Applejack shrugged with her free shoulder, pocketing the phone as they passed by the judgmental looks of many a passing stranger. "Heck if Ah know. Bein' perfectly honest, between the phone call and yer body temp, somethin' tells me Ah don't know what you are neither."

Lapis stared at Applejack in some surprise, lifting her head enough to get a better look at her. "...then why help me? You barely know me at all..."

"Just how Ah was raised, Ah guess. We Apples have always been part of the town, especially back in the day when it was all farmland. And even back then mah granny was taught how to be respectful of people. So if Ah see someone banged up like you...then Ah can't just let it slide."

Lapis smiled to herself, a vision of Steven pulling her Gem out of the Mirror flashing in her memory. "Heheh...I just hope all your friends are this nice."

Applejack laughed. "Well, mebbe nice isn't quite the word for a few of them, but Ah'd trust mah friends with mah life, even Rarity. Don't worry, Ah think y'all'll get along like a wagon on fire."

Lapis couldn't help but imagine an ancient gem wheelbarrow in flames, rolling down a hill. Fitting metaphor for the past few days, really.

"Actually, Ah think you'll be meetin' most of 'em today," Applejack grunted as she readjusted the weight. Everyone 'cept for Pinkie is already at the fountain; we met up to do some birthday shoppin' for another friend of ours..."

The name struck a memory. "Wait, did you say Pinkie? Does she have pink hair?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, actually. Why, did you see her?"

"Yeah! She was standing on the street and just vanished! I thought she could use magic and I wanted to talk to her!"

Applejack stared at her for a moment and rolled her eyes. "Darn it, that's why Ah couldn't find her either. She ran off when her hair started twitching so Ah chased after her. Ah guess when she saw you that's when she disappeared."

Lapis was surprised by how...casual Applejack was about all this. "Does...does she do that a lot?"

Applejack shrugged. "Only when she meets someone new. Pinkie Pie is...different. Ah mean, different even by this town's standards. She's probably cooking up some kind of wacky party for ya as we speak. Ah just hope she has enough sense not to do it when you're getting bettere."

Lapis smiled. "I don't know. A party might not be bad right now."

Applejack grinned at her, the slightest hint of mischief creeping into her eyes. "Well, we'll see what you think after she throws it."

Lapis would have little time to ponder what Applejack meant by that.

It wasn't much longer before Lapis managed to spot the fountain. It was a surprisingly elegant affair for a town like this, carved out of white polished granite and adorned with various equestrian iconography; in fact, the centerpiece of the fountain was a trio of horses - upon closer inspection Lapis noticed one had a horn and the other had wings - spraying water from their mouths. And as Applejack had described there were already two people -or was it three? Lapis could swear she saw a third person dart away behind a tree as soon as she was in sight -waiting for them at the fountain's edge.

In spite of the distance and the slight cerulean haze now hovering at the edges of her vision, Lapis could almost immediately identify which one was the "Rarity" Applejack spoke of. She was not so much sitting on the fountain as much as posing on it, reclining on the stone as she crossed her surprisingly long legs without a care in the world, her light blue sundress framed upon her lithe and slender body as if it had been designed for her. Dark purple hair was neatly coiffed and curled, with nary a strand out of place. If she hadn't already known she was a human Lapis would have sworn she was some kind of Gem; the fact that her hairclip was almost an exact replica of the Royal Seal of the Blue Diamond House did not help. Nevertheless, it was almost...comforting, to see something like it again, after all this time.

The other human closest to them, who seemed to be deep in conversation with this Rarity, was...not quite as proper. Squatting on the ground like a bird of prey, the shorter of the two women sported a tattered jean jacket and white nylon miniskirt, providing contrast to her lighter blue skin and, to Lapis's legitimate shock, the messy and uncombed mane of hair which had all the colors of the rainbow. Like Rarity she struck a slim figure, if a bit more muscular. The emblem of a cloud spitting rainbow-colored lightning adorned her shirt, and Lapis vaguely wondered if everyone in town had some sort of symbol associated with them. Maybe they had more in common than she thought.

Drawing closer allowed her to hear the snippets of their conversation.

"Yeah yeah, college, financing, whatever. I'm sure I can cook something up."

"Rainbow Dash, darling, one does not "cook up" a future. It requires foresight, planning, dare I say a little charisma! Do you really plan on coasting like this forever?" Rarity seemed to be busy typing something on her own phone, which Lapis noticed was more advanced - and significantly more decorated - than Applejack's.

The one named Rainbow Dash visibly rolled her eyes as she seemed to scoff at Rarity's concerns. "This from the girl who can't take her eyes off her phone for five seconds."

Rarity harrumphed. "If you MUST know, I just so happen to be keeping up to date with events in Beach City. If Applejack is to be believed, we may well have a Crystal Gem visiting today, and I will NOT be embarrassed in front of them."

Lapis was about to open her mouth in objection when Applejack herself spoke up. "Erm, actually, she just wants to be called a Gem, Ah guess. Sorry to disappoint."

Rainbow Dash was the first to respond, glancing sideways towards the both of them as she lifted herself up.

"Hey Applejack, is that the HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT?!!!"

Rainbow Dash tumbled in a panic, just barely able to flip herself out of falling into the fountain. At this distance it was plainly obvious Lapis was not human, and to her frustration she found the multicolored girl staring at her like something out of an insane menagerie. Which Lapis supposed she technically was...

Still...the idea of being stared at like a freak...she felt herself bristle as a chill ran down her injured arm.

To her surprise, Rarity managed to keep her composure, as Lapis noticed her walking in her direction without a trace of fear.

"THAT, Rainbow my dear, is a Gem. If you'd been keeping up with the local news you'd know they're all the rage in Beach City."

Rainbow snorted. "Psssh, only good thing that ever happened in Beach City was Greg Universe stopping there on a tour ten years ago, what's your point? And again. Seriously. What the hell is that?"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "You and your rock bands. But no, Rainbow, I may not know exactly WHAT she is, but I do know she needs our help right now. I mean, look at the poor dear."

Lapis pulled away from Applejack as Rarity stepped forward.

"Well, let's start with introductions. I am Rarity, but I would think Applejack mentioned me at least once to you, right?"

Lapis stared at the stylish human, and tentatively nodded, not capable of much else by this point. "Y-yes. Applejack said you could...fix me?"

Rarity said nothing, choosing instead to crouch down in front of Lapis to observe her more closely. "Well, perhaps. I can at least get a sense of what sort of condition you're in. The name is Lapis Lazuli, right?"

Where Lapis had been confused before, now she was totally gobsmacked. "How did you..."

"Darling, I work with precious stones for a living and I follow the exploits of your friends in Beach City. It's not that hard to..."

"They're not my friends," Lapis spat out, a heat rising in her gullet as this mistake was made for the second time in a row. Rarity stepped back for a moment at the sudden spike in hostility.

"Tch, talk about touchy. Maybe someone needs to chill out." Rainbow Dash audibly snorted in the background, her smile denoting disdain.

But Lapis noticed that her eyes were fixed squarely on her and noone else, and that she had not taken one step away from the tree trunk where she had seen that third person hide behind. A tuft of pink hair peeked out from between the branches, immediately darting back as soon as Lapis spotted them.

Lapis glared at Rainbow Dash for a moment, staring right back at her, before realizing exactly what was going on. A vision of Steven stepping up to her defense passed before her eyes.

"Whatever," both Lapis and Rainbow sighed simultaneously.

"IF you're both quite done measuring sizes...I think we can proceed."

It took Lapis a moment to realize that Rarity was still there, arms crossed and...pouting?

Applejack audibly groaned. " Aww jeez, now we're never gonna hear the end of it."

Within the minute, Rarity was back to examining Lapis, focusing specifically on her right arm and upon the cracked gem on her back, all the while mildly whining - or was it complaining? - about how everyone in town was out to make her day more complicated. In a strange way, though, Lapis found it...almost cute, like some manner of grumpy Pearl that had been offended and wished to express it.

"...And despite the fact that both of you could use some much needed "chilling out," pontificated Rarity, "I would like to apologize to you about earlier. Applejack did tell me that, for whatever reason, you didn't want to be associated with the Crystal Gems. As much as I'd like to hear whatever juicy gossip you have on them, I do need to respect your boundaries."

Lapis stared at Rarity for a moment, taking a minute to process what she had said; her hearing was a bit muffled at the moment. "Ummm...thank you. There's no way you could have known." Unlike the Crystal Gems, she thought bitterly.

"Still, it was exceptionally unladylike of me. Someone as lovely as you needn't have to put up with that; your style is trés magnifique. " Rarity winked directly at Lapis, who was now at a complete loss for words. How could she be expected to respond to something like that?

"Uh, Rares, the gem?"

"Oh, right!" Rarity seemed to shake herself out of her thorough inspection. "Well, my dear, Applejack is right about one thing, you do need to get some medical attention. This arm alone would have you laid up for weeks if you were flesh and blood like us. However...that's where things get complicated."

Lapis tilted her head, a bit of frustration building in her. "I thought you could fix my Gem, that's what Applejack said."

"Gems, darling, rocks and jewelry, that's my speciality. I know enough about the Beach City Gems to diagnose you, not cure you. THAT requires someone with a bit more expertise in magic than I have...and lucky for you I know just the girl."

Rarity was interrupted before she could explain further by the roar of an engine as a sizable towncar pulled up next to the fountain, a white Oldsmobile with what appeared to be a dragon as a car ornament. Lapis was caught off guard, believing that none of these girls really knew how to drive in the first place.

"Well. Speak of the devil and she shall appear! Lapis, this is the girl I want you to meet, I just had her pick up my car since she's the only one I trust to drive it."

Rainbow audibly coughed in the background. "Oh, so I drag race your little red Corvette ONE time!"

Rarity glanced over her shoulder, glaring daggers at Rainbow. "Into. A. DITCH."

Applejack stepped in at this point, holding her hands out at both. "Look, guys, maybe we can save the bickerin' for when we DON'T have a crippled gal to tend to? Oh, and stow that devil talk, Rares, you know how she gets about that."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "It's an EXPRESSION, Applejack, one she's heard a dozen times before. Besides, she's not actually a demon! ...anymore, anyway."

Something about that last statement sent a shudder into Lapis, a terrible dread that she had to flee this place. Her voice was even as she spoke up. "Devil? What do you mean devil?"

"Oh, it's a long and sordid story, my dear. I wouldn't bring it up to her, she's a bit...sensitive about it."

Lapis rolled her eyes. "It doesn't really matter. It's not like she's actually a demon or...or..."

Lapis could feel every part of her body lock into place, like she was frozen in time, as the town car door opened and its occupant stepped out. Everyone else was moving around her, the girl...if she, no IT could even be called that...walked towards them, speaking and laughing like nothing was wrong.

She was unmistakeable. The vision of her was burned in her memory forever, hair of auburn gold and blood red framing her gleaming, bright blue eyes. Her figure had filled out substantially since the last human form she had from Steven's memory, but she was still as imposing as ever, and naturally wore the same leather jacket. Confidence...charisma...deception...it was all a lie.

Now, in the moment where Lapis had thought herself safe...Sunset Shimmer stood before her. And Applejack...was pointing Sunset in her direction.

The demon walked forward, false smile beaming brightly, staring right at Lapis. Her options had now disappeared and she was in no condition to run. Who knew if the others were under her spell...or could even be trusted now?

Visions ran through her mind again...a crying Steven...a swelling surge of darkness...the monster hiding in this seemingly innocent girl...

Lapis stepped back, a combination of fear and outright wrath polluting her face. She could finally hear her voice, as smoky and deep as ever.

"Hi! You must be Lapis!"

She was still in front of the fountain. Lapis still had a chance.

"You."

Lapis spoke the word with vitriol and wrath as she lifted her left arm. The other girls stared at her in surprise, not expecting this particular response.

"You hurt him. You hurt them. You...you're here to hurt everyone...to trap me. But I won't let you."

She had one shot...if she failed, her strength would not last for another one.

"Applejack. Get out of my way."

Applejack stared at Lapis in shock, unaware of how the fountain water had started to overflow, forming a pool in front of Sunset. The crimson haired monster backed away, a look that Lapis could not read creeping over her face. Was it...fear?

No. She could not let confusion cloud her judgment. This was Sunset Shimmer. This was the one who was seeking her and Steven out. She was the one whose presence she felt on the river.

The water rose up in a wall, and molded itself into the shape of a razor thin cresting wave. The bottom edge sliced a wedge into the concrete as it rose.

"Lapis, what are you doing?! Stop!!!"

Rainbow Dash and Rarity began to run towards her, but Lapis had her sights set on the target. She could see Sunset Shimmer's expression rapidly shifting, turned from fear into concern as she stared into Lapis's eyes.

The blue haze blocked out Applejack and the others from Lapis's sight as water droplets began to hover silently, forming walls of razor sharp liquid sharps on both sides of the she-demon. Her left hand hung in the air like an executioner's axe, positioned directly across from her water construct.

Black glowing eyes wreathed in flame appeared before her. Sunset was in the way. She stood between her...and home.

I am Lapis Lazuli. And you...are my enemy.

"Die."

Lapis brought her hand forward,in a sweeping motion, her killing intent focused entirely on Sunset...

The water blade ruptured apart, disintegrating into pieces. A spasm rocked Lapis's whole body as a gout of water sprayed unbidden out of her open mouth.

Author's Note

...Everything's waiting for yooooooooou...

Puking water's not a good thing, right? XD

Be sure to comment with tips and advice, if you would. I'mma try to keep this on a weekly schedule. :)

Chapter 3: Mistaken Identity

Lapis had collapsed onto the ground before she was even remotely aware of what had happened.

An agonizing pain, like a ball of fire, throbbed in her Gem and the rest of her body and was growing worse by the second. She could feel water slowly start to leak from her eyes and from every crack and wound upon her body, alternating between ice cold and boiling hot as the last of her temperature control left her.

She tried to scream, but the only result was a strangled groan as another jet of water sprayed from her mouth, this time flecked with shards of her own Gem. Cracks and splinters ran up and down her arms as she clutched her stomach, desperate to prevent another eruption. Her legs flailed about with every spasm of her body, unable to find any footing to move at all.

Lapis could just barely see the others crowding around her, their voices a cacophonous din of inaudible white noise as their forms, now indistinguishable from one another, formed a semi-circle around her. She couldn't even tell if they were looking at her or at each other.

There was only one person she could see with any sort of clarity, and that was Sunset, staring down at her like some kind of vengeful deity, her expression completely inscrutable as she towered over the broken Gem. Her memory recall began to fall out of control as her visage flickered between her human disguise and the face of the demon she truly was. Lapis slowly curled into a ball as she clutched her head in her hands again, a pool of alternately steaming and frosting water forming around her body.

She was toying with her. That had been her last chance and she had failed spectacularly. And Sunset knew it.

Lapis clutched her hands to her chest as a terrible, choking fear began to fill her from head to toe. But with fear comes a certain kind of clarity. She had to run. She had to hide. She had to do something, anything, even if it killed her. She knew what would happen if she didn't.

Lapis reached out with the last of her energy and drew some of the steaming water towards her right hand; her temperature control was nowhere near as precise as Sapphire's but she had just enough left in her to keep it hot if she focused. She had to wait for the right moment, and sure enough Sunset was already reaching down towards her...

With a swing of her arm an arc of boiling water slapped Sunset across the face. Her yells were tinged with white noise in Lapis's distorted hearing as she clutched her hands to her face, staggering backwards and shrieking in agony. It was far from a lethal blow and she'd be angrier than ever once she recovered, but it did give Lapis the moment she needed to get some distance.

Focusing on her vision and legs, Lapis summoned the last of the water she had spilled out to propel herself to her feet; in her hazy state she just barely noticed Applejack and the others crowding around Sunset. Lapis glanced back at them for only a moment, reaching out her hand to Applejack, but it was as if she was invisible compared to the screaming Sunset.

No. She had no time for this. She'd already fallen once before in a moment of weakness. She would not be imprisoned again.

Lapis used all of her energy to run, or rather, attempt to run, her slowly disintegrating legs barely able to attempt a limping stumble as she began her escape towards...somewhere. Anywhere. Her journey through the town had been such a hazy blur that she had no idea where anything was anymore.

The agonized screaming faded into the background as Lapis kept running. All that mattered was putting distance between her and Sunset.

Even if she had nowhere to run to.

***
"God damn it, why didn't we see that coming?!"

For once in her life Applejack didn't feel the need to call Rainbow Dash out on her cussing, focused instead on grabbing some cold water from the fountain to splash on a towel for Sunset's face. Not exactly an ice pack, but it would do in a pinch to get her to calm down for a moment.

Applejack's gullet churned as she listened to the poor girl, her screams slowly quieting down to muffled sobs as she patted down the red streak across her face. She was grateful the water hadn't been too hot; the guilt was too much as it was.

"Shhh...shhh, it's going to be alright. It's just a surface burn, that's it. See, Applejack's making it all better now, sweetie."

The quiet voice of the light pink haired girl gently caressing Sunset's head seemed to be meant just as much for Applejack's benefit, as she reached out to grip the farmgirl's hand to make sure she wasn't too rough with the towel. Her gentle blue eyes stared right into Applejack's, and she wondered if her poker face really was that terrible.

It amazed her how Fluttershy could behave some times, really. The entire time Lapis had been here she had hidden behind the tree, making Applejack wonder if she had just run away, but the moment Sunset had been injured she had been the first to rush over and assess the damage. It kind of made her wonder what she could have done for Lapis, and her face once again contorted with guilt.

Fluttershy could say it wasn't her fault until the end of time. But it didn't change a damn thing.

Rainbow Dash stomped around next to the fountain, kicking aside debris and either screaming or swearing at the general area. Every now and then she would accidentally kick the fountain and a much longer spew of profanity would emerge. And to be fair, Applejack could not blame her. They'd all been caught flat on their feet and stood around like chumps while Lapis tried to kill Sunset. It was hard not to feel inadequate after a botch like that.

Rainbow stomped over to the two of them, blitzing by Rarity as she continued her cell phone search as per her instructions.

"Alright, what's the plan here? Are we going after this bitch or what?"

Applejack stared pointedly at Rainbow as her free hand clenched. "Look, sugarcube, Lapis ain't a bitch. She just...overreacted. She panicked and I don't know why." Applejack struggled to get the words out, her weak poker face crumbling in embarrassment.

Rainbow's own face contorted into anger; Applejack could tell she was holding a lot of it back as she glared down at her, but she would not budge.

"Panicked? Overreacted? Did you SEE that thing? She was going to slice Sunset in half! Who cares if she panicked?!"

Rainbow slammed her fist into her hands as she began looking around. "If she's still here we need to find her. We need to make sure she knows who she's dealing with. And this time we'll be ready."

Applejack stood up, handing the towel to Fluttershy so she could face Rainbow directly. "We're not even close to ready, Rainbow. Pinkie's nowhere in sight, Sunset's still hurtin', and Lapis knew who she was so she probably has the drop on all of us now! We're just as much in the lurch now as we were ten minutes ago; running off half cocked ain't going to accomplish anything!"

Rainbow could be just as stubborn and pigheaded as Applejack, and refused to back down, Fluttershy watching nervously as she held the slowly quieting Sunset. "So what, are we just going to let her get away with this? Just let her run off, get her strength back, and then come back for Sunset again?!"

"It's better than just stormin' in and gettin' ALL of us killed! We need to sit down, cool our heads, and actually come up with a PLAN!"

Rainbow opened her mouth to keep going, but her face dropped as she seriously considered the plan she had in mind, nonexistent as it actually was. She visibly blushed as she looked down at her sneakers.

"Rainbow, Ah get it. Ah know you wanna make sure we're safe, and Ah appreciate the hell out of you fer it." Applejack placed her hand on Rainbow's shoulders, lifting her chin up to face her with the other. "But if Lapis is gonna come back or we're gonna go after her...and Ah ain't sayin' she will...we have to set up a plan of attack. For now we need to regroup, figure out our options, and THEN try to find her. Sound like a good idea?"

Rainbow continued looking down sheepishly, but soon worked out a smile. "Um...yeah...yeah, that sounds better." For all her bluster, it was remarkably easy to make Rainbow Dash nervous if you knew what buttons to press. Lucky for her, Applejack knew exactly which ones.

The click of stiletto heels interrupted the moment, Rarity interceding between the two with a stern look about her. "We might not have the time for that. Depending on how much Lapis knows about her condition, and how much she wants to go after Sunset, she may come back sooner than you both think."

A quizzical look crossed Rainbow's face, surprised by the seriousness on Rarity's. "What do you mean? As soon as she started hacking up water she bolted like hell. She's just trying to buy time."

"Time she does not have, darling, and I think she knows that. What she did wasn't a retreat, it was a moment of panic. Once she calms down she WILL come back to exact her revenge. And if she's even remotely aware of her condition she knows that she doesn't have much longer to do it."

"Yeah, she looked pretty banged up, but-"

"Rainbow, Lapis was more than "banged up." I saw her Gem. I saw the cracks on her body. If someone offered me an emerald with that much damage I doubt I could get a penny for it. And she isn't simply a human, she's a walking, talking stone. If it was a human the damage would be catastrophic! As it is?"

Rarity closed her eyes and sighed, Applejack remembering the expression from her days working on their prom dresses and the exasperation at their "helpful"ideas. She had been giving this matter a great deal of thought.

"As it is...she's dying."

The fountain, split and cracked, had finished draining onto the walkway. All the water had been spilled, and slowly began to dry. A hush fell over the girls as they realized the gravity of the situation. A shuffling sound could be heard as Fluttershy seemed to backed away from Sunset.

"SO, Applejack, Rainbow Dash? If we're going to do this, we have to start getting ready. It will probably take the poor dear a while to get her head straight and realize what's happening, so that gives us some time to set up."

A rustling noise went unnoticed next to them, as Fluttershy spoke up. "Um...Rarity? Applejack?"

Rarity was too focused on the task at hand to notice. "Firstly, we need to find Pinkie Pie and calm her down for five minutes so we can have all of us together. I'd prefer we had Twilight or some more effective equipment, but at the moment beggars needn't be choosers. Besides, we always have our accessories." Rarity grinned as she whipped her diamond headband off her head and held it up like some glorified Henshin morpher.

"Rainbow?" Fluttershy quietly spoke up again as Rarity began to do an elaborate dance that she had seen in one of the girlier anime she had watched with Rainbow Dash.

"Oh sweet salty Christ," Rainbow muttered, herself too embarrassed to notice Fluttershy's concerns despite being the only one who could hear her clearly.

"ANYWAY," intoned Rarity as she got back on track, "the important thing is that we take this to an isolated area; the fewer people that get caught up in this the better. I honestly don't think Lapis would attack random strangers, but we can't take the chance. I know a few places where she can't cause any problems...but we need to move Sunset first."

Rarity's expression softened as she said Sunset's name; they had been so focused on keeping Sunset safe that they had practically ignored her this whole time. Even if the burn itself had not been serious, the crack of the water must have felt like a whip to the face.

And goodness knows the last thing the poor girl needs is more pain.

Rarity couldn't help but wonder what Sunset had done to make Lapis so angry, so vengeful, so hateful. The sad truth of it was that, with Sunset's past, it could have been just about anything. Maybe Lapis had spilled water on her dress, or had lured away a boy she liked. Maybe she had run into her history with Equestria and the Portal and seen too much.

But Rarity felt her heart begin to chill as she thought about how close Lapis had come to killing Sunset in her anger. It didn't matter what she had done in the past. This was the here and now.

And right now, Sunset needed her to be strong.

"Sunset, darling, I know you're still in pain, but we need to get moving. Lapis will be coming back any minute and...and..."

Rarity had started speaking before turning around to see how she was doing, and as she turned she found only Fluttershy, sporting a look of irritation...or as irritated as Fluttershy could manage, anyway.

"Fluttershy...where's Sunset?"

***

"Get the hell off the street!"

Horns blared around her as Lapis desperately weaved her way through the traffic, only vaguely aware of each car as it narrowly zipped by her. On one or two occasions her arm was nearly clipped by a passing motorist, but in her half-dead state she was in no condition to care.

She thought back to Beach City, how Steven had panicked and dodged the trucks and cars on the road to avoid being hit, and while she was certain getting struck herself wouldn't do any good, she knew it would be worse for her.

Still, she kept running, drunkenly stumbling onto the sidewalk as water sprayed from her legs with each passing step. Her memories of her arrival in the city were hazed and jumbled, but she could just barely recall hearing the sound of human traffic over the river she'd found herself in. Perhaps if she followed the streets she could find a bridge, or at least some kind of sign as to where she could go next.

All she had to do was get to the ocean. All she had to do was get to the river. All she had to do was survive. All she had to do was...

A barb of pain shot up her leg, causing Lapis to stumble and catch the nearest wall. A spiderwebbed crater had appeared on her left thigh, sending deep cracks throughout her leg. Just the slightest bit of pressure on it left her in absolute agony.

Lapis slumped against the rough bricks. Every part of her body felt like solid lead.

"All I have to do is not die." She laughed bitterly at that lovely sentiment.

Struggling, Lapis held onto the wall with her good arm for dear life, dragging her slowly decaying leg behind her as she followed the flow of traffic away from that damned fountain. Occasionally even her good arm slipped, steam beginning to slip from her fingertips as she slowly lost sensation. It would not be long before the rest of her limbs followed suit.

Lapis stared up at the blazing sun, the oppressive heat more apparent now than ever as it filled up her vision. She could feel it on her body, seeping into it, and averting her gaze left her with spots in her vision for far longer than normal. The sound of rushing water in her ears was now overbearing, and she could just barely hear the traffic and the shouting and the sound of someone calling her name...

"LAPIS!!!"

***
Rainbow and Applejack, equally distracted by their discussion, turned around in surprise at the statement, surprise which turned into panic for Applejack and complete bemusement for Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy simply stared at them for a moment before her irritation turned into apologetic shame.

"Sorry, I should have spoken up earlier. Sunset got up and ran away. I tried to stop her, but she said she had to handle something alone."

Rainbow's voice was incredulous, but Rarity could tell she was restraining herself for Fluttershy's benefit. Rainbow tended to do that. "Wait, what do you mean handle it alone? You don't mean Lapis?!"

Fluttershy took a moment, before nodding her head in shame.
***

She did not recognize the voice until it was practically in her ear. Lapis spun around to face the end of the sidewalk. Even in the intense light Sunset stood out, black leather and piercing green eyes contrasting with her rapidly decaying vision, like a dark blot on pure snow. Her boots stood on the trail of water Lapis had left behind like an idiot.

Lapis and Sunset stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, the red blotch upon her face from Lapis's attack just beginning to welt. All it had done was make her angry, and now Lapis had absolutely no chance of pulling off another attack.

Sunset began to walk towards her, a walk which erupted into a sprint as Lapis stumbled backwards. A loud and nasty crack rang out as she landed on her broken arm. Lapis could feel it fold in half before a million hairline fractures spread across it like melting ice. Only the fear kept her from passing out again.

Barely able to regain her footing, Lapis turned and fled, willing her decaying leg to move as fast as she was able as her arm began to slowly disintegrate from the fingertips up. Chunks of stone fell from the fracture on her leg with each step as she moved faster than her body could maintain. Fear tends to inspire such a response.

Lapis dared not turn back; she knew that Sunset was faster than her and gaining ground, and that made actual escape almost impossible. Her field of vision had been reduced to about ten feet in any given direction, everything else a haze of red and vague shapes, so she could no longer see any landmarks.

Nor could she see the street lamp that she slammed into in her panic. Lapis screamed out as her broken arm shattered to pieces, floating about her like snowflakes as she spun about in the confusion. Water spilled out of the broken stump and sprayed across the sidewalk, causing Sunset to pause in her pursuit for a moment in a play at caution.

The pain was unimaginable, worse than anything short of being trapped in the Mirror for the first time. Static rang in her ears as she heard people around her begin to scream, a small crowd having gathered in all the commotion. Lapis struggled to her feet again and large chunks of her legs began to fall away, causing the screaming crowd to break into complete hysterics as they backed away from the decaying Gem. And as she shambled forward like the walking dead the crowd began to disperse in a mad panic, running in a hundred different directions.

To her relief she noticed how a fair chunk of the crowd headed in Sunset's direction, a few even grabbing her shoulders to try and pull her away. She saw Sunset struggle against the crowd, reaching her arm out towards Lapis as she began to limp away...only to burst out of the throng and make a mad dash towards her, not stopping for even an instant.

Lapis no longer had even an inkling of a plan left now; that crowd had been her last chance and she had been unable to exploit it in her condition. The end of the street was a straight shot ahead and Sunset would surely catch her. Crossing the street itself would lead to almost certain death with the cars moving faster than she could keep up with. And with her vision now reduced to, at best, five feet in front of her, she could not see any other escape routes. All save one, a dark intersection between two shops.

She turned on her good leg and stumbled into the alley, her run reduced to a mere walk as her various extreme injuries finally all caught up to her. Her blurred eyes scanned
left and right for any possible escape route, but any windows were either barred or too high for her to reach. Her attempts at each door were met with locks or broken handles. But she had to keep moving, find the end of the alley, get to some kind of shelter...

Her leg shattered, whole slabs of stone sloughing away and disintegrating as it gave out from beneath her.

Lapis crumpled to the ground, her remaining leg and arm struggling desperately towards the exit. She could hear boots stomping outside the alley as her predator drew ever nearer. She had to escape. She had to get away. Every inch was an inch away from death. She could not walk, but she could crawl, get into another building, hide under some garbage, something, anything, any option she could find.

But it was as she placed her hand out for the exit, only to feel hard brick, only to see the looming building wall above her, devoid of doors or windows or even sturdy footholds...that Lapis realized where she had come to.

A dead end. Every hope of escape she had clasped onto crumbled in her heart like every other part of her body. Despair filled her to the brim as she heard the boot steps come to a halt in front of the alley she had trapped herself in.

Heavy breathing resonated in her ears. Lapis struggled to lift herself as she clawed against the wall, struggling to grip onto anything she could find as a weapon or escape. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she began rapidly bashing her hand against the wall, more cracks forming on her fist with each strike.

And then...she heard her voice, looming over her like an angel of death.

"I found you."
***

Applejack was the next to step forward, guilt spreading anew on her expression. Her hands clasped nervously, making Rarity wonder if she had some kind of insight. "Fluttershy. When did she make a run for it? Was...was it after we said something?"

Fluttershy seemed to roll the memory over in her head before she had a response. "It...it was after..."

Applejack knelt down to Fluttershy, gently but firmly gripping her hand. "Fluttershy, this is important. What did we say?"

"...it was after you said Lapis was dying."

It took a moment for what she said to register, but it was Rainbow Dash to first realize just what had happened. "Oh fuck."

"So much for having a plan," groaned Applejack. "Think we can catch her before she does something stupid?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "She's ALREADY done something stupid! Now we need to make sure she doesn't get herself killed!"

Rarity was already on the way to her car, having realized right away exactly what Sunset was about to do. "Come on! I think I have an idea where she's going! And if we follow the water we can probably catch up to her first! Rainbow, you text Pinkie Pie to meet us in the town square, that's where Lapis is likely to try and hide!"

Applejack lifted a profusely apologizing Fluttershy on her shoulder, following Rainbow as she began her wild typing. She'd blame Rarity for being overdramatic, but it was all of their fault for not realizing what Sunset might try to do if she heard something like that. Lapis was like a cornered dog; no matter what her intentions, she was bound to lash out.

All she could do was hope Sunset knew what she was doing.

***
Lapis had often wondered what it would be like to die.

She had entertained the thought many times while trapped in the mirror, begging for any kind of relief from the agony she felt. Even back when she was on Homeworld, she remembered many times asking Sapphire about it, although even then she had admitted that, even with her powers, she could not see far enough ahead to tell what would happen to them.

But now, backed against a wall, two limbs destroyed and the others rapidly following suit, almost totally blind, and a literal monster stepping towards her...she wondered if Sapphire had been lying to spare her this moment.

"Stay back!!! Get away from me!!!"

Lapis once again whipped a cord of water at Sunset, but it only succeeded in mildly splashing against her face. Panic gripped her as she summoned another strand and hurled it, and another, and another. Lapis put more and more of herself into each swing, but every "attack" had less and less impact in spite of the effort. It was like throwing a glass of water on a forest fire. But still she kept going, lashing out with as much strength as she could manage, even as each splash of water failed to even reach Sunset.

"I SAID STAY BACK!!!"

Lapis's cries were becoming hoarse and strangled as she struggled to even lift her arm for another blow. She summoned all of the water she had left into a spinning, spiraling ball, lifting her arm in front of her to make the shot...

...only for her hand and a good chunk of her forearm to explode into a million shards, the water evaporating into steam.

Lapis stared at the leaking stump dully for a moment, unable to feel any sensation at all from the injury. It only took a moment or so for the reality to sink in, and the last shreds of defiance died in her.

She began to push her back against the wall, putting as much distance between Sunset and her Gem as possible. Her angry screams from before had fully devolved, a strangled moan bursting out into full, body racking sobs. Tears streamed down her ashen cheeks, forming into ice droplets as they hit the ground.

"Please...please..." Her voice barely registered above a whisper as she sensed Sunset's presence over her' having finally reached her. Lapis dared not look up, curling into a ball with what little remained of her limbs. Her entire body trembled and shivered, her wretched sobbing muffled as she buried her face in her arm.

"I don't want to die."

Lapis heard the rustle of clothes as Sunset knelt down...she could feel her monstrous aura begin to engulf her...she felt her hand reaching, further, further down...

...and rest gently upon her head. She heard more rustling as Sunset seemed to kneel in front of her, slowly drawing another hand across her destroyed arm. A soft gasp escaped her mouth unbidden.

Lapis was unable to comprehend any of this. "Wha-what are you doing to me...?" She dared not look up at her.

"Lapis." Sunset spoke her name quietly, almost whispering it, as if a single breath would wipe her away. "I need you to stay still. Just for a minute."

Lapis attempted to move to the side, but Sunset's grip was suddenly firm. Not rough, but firm. "Get your hands off me..." Lapis tried to scream, but she could barely manage a soft yelp as Sunset's grasp did not budge. "You're a monster..."

"We can deal with that later. Right now you need my help."

Lapis spat in Sunset's face. With what little strength she had left she began to struggle from side to side, desperately trying to escape as Sunset muttered unintelligible things under her breath. She felt her hands move to various points on her body, arms, legs, across her face...until she felt Sunset's fingers touch her Gem.

"I just need you to trust me."

Lapis stood stock still in that moment. She felt Sunset run her fingers along the contours of the Gem, tracing the cracks and crevices and occasionally mumbling some obscenities, something about a princess and higher knowledge. Lapis had no idea what she was babbling about, only that in that moment, she was completely and totally at her mercy.

"What are you going to..."

"Hold still," whispered Sunset. "This is going to feel a little weird."

Lapis heard a low sound coming Sunset, what she could only guess was her humming a song, low and melodious. It was a song she somehow recognized, as if from a dream. And as her humming grew louder a sudden burst of heat emerged from Lapis's Gem where her fingers had touched. It felt...warm, radiant, like the light of the sun she had felt on her body when she first arrived on this wretched planet. It felt...good.

That warmth soon began to radiate from her Gem, flowing throughout her body and coursing along her arms and legs, and as it did she felt something impossible. The heat traced where her arms and legs had been, across her eyes and face, and that warmth seemed to expand into the vague shape of the limbs she had lost. The humming became clearer with every second as her hearing returned, and the darkness of her curled position seemed to glow with a golden light. Was...was her sight coming back too?

What was she doing?

As soon as it began, however, the magic seemed to fade, and Lapis heard Sunset step away from her. The sound of traffic rang out on the edge of the alleyway. And her body seemed heavier than it had been. Had Sunset done what she thought she had done?

Lapis lifted her head, and stared down. Her legs...her arms...they were back, healed, as good as new! She could see them clearly, her vision was better than ever! Lapis leapt to her feet, staring at every part of her reformed body, completely free of pain!

Did...did she dare to hope? Lapis twisted her left arm to reach her back. She felt around for her Gem and found it...still cracked. The healing had only extended to her physical form, she realized, her face slowly falling with the realization.

"I'm sorry. I tried to fix your Gem, I really did. But...I don't know why it didn't work."

Lapis stopped, the tone in Sunset's voice completely catching her off guard. She spun around to face her pursuer, the monstrous Sunset Shimmer...who was staring down at her own feet, looking absolutely crestfallen. She seemed almost ashamed to look at her, and her eyes seemed to be shining, as if she was about to cry. Some part of Lapis broke a little at the sight.

This was the monster she had seen in her visions, the girl who had tortured Steven...and she had just saved her life.

Lapis stepped forward, but Sunset had no response. Neither one said a word as they stood in the alleyway. But Sunset was the first to break that silence.

"Lapis...I don't know what I did to you. It's hard to keep track of all the people I hurt, and I know this probably doesn't come close to making us even. But I want to help you fix your Gem...in any way I can."

Her voice was as deep and husky as ever, but it carried a gentleness to it that Lapis was not used to. It had been so long since someone had ever tried to help her, and to have it be another human was even more shocking.

Sunset stepped forward this time, reaching her hand out and placing a piece of paper in Lapis's hand before she could even draw it back.

"You need more time to think about it, I know. But...when you've made your decision, come to this address later tonight. I'll explain everything to the other girls and then we can figure out what you want to do from here. I'll be in the area for a while, so don't worry about getting lost."

Sunset reached out her other hand, towards Lapis's cheek, an unreadably sad expression crossing her features before she pulled it away and turned around, running towards the street. Lapis noticed she never once took her eyes off her until she reached the exit, staring at her with those same sad green eyes for a solid minute before she ran off.

Lapis stood still in the middle of the dark alley. The sounds of city life rang out around her as she backed herself against the wall and slumped to the ground. She found herself, once again, staring into the sunlight peeking out from the rooftop behind her, clear as day and much softer than she remembered.

And once again, Lapis had exactly no idea what to do next.

What the hell just happened?

Author's Note

Dear God, I sincerely apologize for the lateness of this. I had an editing session with some friends and realized two things: I needed to tone down the...tone, and I needed to have a real plan for the story. The tone I can work on, and now I have a plan. Updates are back on track, you awesome people!

Read, review, critique, and lemme know whatcha think!

Chapter 4: Water Over the Bridge

Bad behavior is like bad magic. Throw it around too much, and eventually it will backfire on you.

She couldn't help the strained smile as she realized how true that little chunk of caution from her old teacher had turned out to be.

Sunset leaned up against the nearest wall she could find once she thought she'd given Lapis enough space, eyes closed to try and suppress the rapidly spreading headache that had been bubbling up for the past hour or so as she had tried to parse out everything that had transpired. If she was being honest with herself she had no idea how any of this would play out. She didn't even know if she was making the right decision.

And, if the long string of text messages still lighting up her phone were any indicator, neither did her friends. Her fault for sending a group text, really.

Sunset hadn't bothered giving them all the details; apart from Twilight, who wasn't in town yet, and Rarity, whose knowledge was all second hand, none of her friends actually understood what Lapis was like she did. Hell, her own knowledge was just as second hand as Rarity, just from a more reliable source than local television fluff pieces.

But it still didn't make any sense to her.

Another Gem. Another Gem on this side of the portal. I knew there were a few in Beach City, but I thought they were the only ones.

It didn't help that, for the life of her, she could not remember even meeting Lapis before. Sunset made a mental checklist of everything Rarity had said about Lapis during their initial phonecall: that Applejack had found her, near dead, on a sidewalk, that she was trying to get to the ocean, and that she had reacted badly to being called a Crystal Gem, the group name of the Gems she knew lived in Beach City. Apart from the control over water that she had demonstrated, Sunset had nothing else to work with to help her remember.

The only time she had ever met another Gem was several years back when the tall purple one from Beach City had shown up with...with that boy. Sunset pictured him, the little chubby boy whose name she had long forgotten. She pictured him crying, screaming, as miserable as he could get without her inflicting physical violence on him. She felt her gut twist into a hundred knots as she remembered thinking that, if it weren't for the Gem and her lack of magic, she probably would have tried.

Yeah, you don't remember hurting her. Doesn't mean you didn't.

It kept coming back, didn't it? Every time she tried burying her old self she found fresh new ways to open up the wounds. If it wasn't from her school it was from her actions. If it wasn't from a pony it was from a Gem. And if nothing else worked, she always had good old fashioned regret to fall back on.

She did her best to let those feelings disappear on their own; bottling them up only ended in her lashing out at people. She couldn't get tangled up in what she'd done. What she had to do now was figure out where to go from here.

Sunset opened her eyes, letting the slowly descending sun filter onto her face. This was the time of day she loved best, when it was bright enough to be warm but not overwhelmingly hot either. Back in the old days, before all of this, this was when she would spend most of her pleasant moments with Celestia. No squabbling over ethics, no demanding more advanced lessons just...teacher and student, talking and laughing as if they weren't at each others throats most of the time.

A flurry of old questions and internal debates were quashed as quickly as they had arisen. She didn't have time to be mired in the old doubts on the best of days, let alone one where things had gone so completely off the rails as today had. If Lapis was going to show up tonight - even if it was to take another shot at her - she had to be ready.

And, as with most of her plans these days, the first step to getting ready was calling the girls.

***
If there was one thing Sunset could say for the gang, it's that they were enthusiastic. Well, that and a bunch of worrywarts.

To their credit, the dogpile of friendship had been streamlined over the past few months to a solid group hug; back in the day they literally jumped on top of her as a collective group if something momentous or terrible happened. Hell, it could be something as simple as a trophy for a Battle of the Bands contest. But it was still a long affair, each one asking a million questions a minute as they checked for signs of "water damage" before she finally managed to calm all of them down; she had gotten lucky that Pinkie Pie was off on another bit of business or it would have taken twice as long to do it. It had been the reason she picked such an out of the way cafe to have this meeting in the first place; so few people even knew this place existed that it was perfect for their specific brand of, for lack of a better term, pep rallies. That and it was the one pastry shop in town Pinkie hadn't tried to break into for supplies yet.

Fluttershy was probably the worst off, looking completely miserable until Sunset managed to get her to relax. She had no reason to feel guilty if Sunset had talked her into letting her go in the first place, a fact she affirmed as she brushed aside one of her errant tears.

"You beat yourself up way too much, Flutters. No offense."

The old nickname brought her some solace, as Fluttershy meekly smiled back. It was a bit underhanded, using her special skills like this, but sometimes saying what people wanted to hear was just what they needed from time to time.

As for the others, it was time for a bit more...honesty. Rainbow Dash sat stony faced across from her, as Applejack seemed unable to look her in the eye at all. Rarity had filled her in on everything that happened after she had run off, and even though they seemed to have gotten over their conflict with each other, there was still some explanations to be had. Especially for what was about to come next.

Rainbow was the first to break the new silence, having spent a bit of time reaffirming everything Sunset had said to Fluttershy before getting down to business...

"Would you mind explaining to me what the hell happened back there?"

...in her usual graceful style.

Rainbow did not once take her eyes off of Sunset, looking all over her expression for some kind of hint. The sad truth of the matter was, as crass as she was being about it, Sunset knew that Rainbow was right. She had always responded badly to being left in the dark on stuff like this, and running off to her almost certain death likely hadn't put Rainbow in much of a good mood to start with.

Sunset leaned forward, staring down at her coffee as she tried to think of a response. "What, why I went after her?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, scoffing in spite of the annoyed stares she received from the others. "No, I know exactly why you did that. You're worse than Fluttershy with stray kittens, I swear to God..." Applejack cleared her throat with an audible edge, and Rainbow Dash returned to the point. "I'm talking about what that girl was. You were the only one who didn't completely flip out when you saw her, you knew exactly what to do with her...what gives? Is she from Equestria or something?"

Sunset could see Rarity start ramping up in her head for an explanation, but she shook her head to let herself speak first. "Well, no, she's not from Equestria. Technically speaking, based on what she said and how the portal works, she's probably lived on this planet a lot longer than Equestria has even existed. It's just we've had more recent experience with her people than this side has...relatively speaking."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, she mentioned that she was a Gem or somethin' like that. Is that some kind of magical fairy stuff?"

"Aliens, actually. If I'm being honest we don't know a whole lot about them. The only ones who've even seen a live Gem in Equestria would be the Princesses; they technically haven't been seen in centuries back home."

Sunset smiled a little as Rainbow spat out her soda and Applejack put her hand in her head. It was always fun dropping bits of information like this to see their response.

"Aliens? Seriously, Sunset?"

Sunset shrugged at Rainbow's surprise. "Well, technically I'm more horse than human; why's the alien thing such a shock?"

Rarity nodded. "Is that why we weren't able to find any of the body parts you said fell off of her? Alien physiology?"

"Well, kind of. You were actually really close when you said what you did. That body wasn't actually her body, more of a...hologram."

Rarity took a moment to process this information, and managed it much faster than either Rainbow or Apple. "So when they called themselves Gems, they meant it literally. I always assumed that their gemstones were simply a power source. No wonder they keep wearing the same clothes."

Sunset nodded. They were taking it pretty well, all things told; although, again, they had seen a lot of various nonsense between her and Twilight. It took a lot to legitimately shock them. Lucky for her that she had just the thing to do that.

"That's why I need to talk to her again. And I'd like all of you to help me."

The look on all of their faces was priceless; if it weren't for how serious the situation was she might have snapped a photo. But she decided not to.

Not when the real insanity was just beginning.

Rainbow Dash, predictably, was the first to respond, and just as predictably in a fit of peak. "Ok, so this bitch tries to kill you. No no, she tries to kill you TWICE."

"Well, hot water can't really kill you when-"

"WHATEVER. Fact is, she TRIED. And when she starts puking water she ran off like a coward. And now you wanna set up a play date?"

Sunset shook her head, Rainbow's obstinance slowly taking its toll on her patience. "Look, I know this seems silly-"

"It's not silly, it's stupid! The second you walk in the door she's going to try and cut you in half, and who knows what she'll do to the rest of us! Sunset, I get it, helping people is what you do, but you have to draw a line somewhere! She's crazy! She's dangerous! She's-"

"She's scared. She's alone. She's angry. She made a mistake, and she's lashing out because of it. Sound familiar?"

Rainbow glanced up at Sunset, and a heavy blush fell on her face as she turned her head away. She didn't want to have to do that, but it was the only way to make her understand.

Applejack rested her hand on Rainbow's shoulder as she looked into Sunset's eyes. "Sunset, Ah can't say Ah'm too keen on this myself, but if you really think this is the best way to handle it Ah'll back your play. You're right about one thing, Lapis isn't in her right mind, and Ah don't think we should throw her under the bus cuz of somethin' like that."

Rarity nodded, standing up from her seat and setting her notepad down to look at the pair. "Agreed. The poor dear probably doesn't even have a place to stay if what you said is true, and goodness knows I can be a real witch if I don't have a proper bed and breakfast."

"It wasn't just anger, though." Fluttershy's quiet voice broke out, the softness of it drawing attention so that they could hear her better. It made her a surprisingly noticeable speaker, as Twilight had observed. "When she saw you, Sunset...the way she reacted...it's like she saw a monster. If she lashes out like that again..."

"Then I'll handle it. As she is right now she's really not a threat to anyone."

Rainbow Dash took a moment to consider the statement before replying. "Wait, didn't you say you healed her?"

Sunset shook her head; this was the root of the issue, so it was best to get it all out in the open. "No. Like I said, I couldn't heal her Gem, I just managed to stabilize her body. But it's like treating a cold, getting rid of the symptoms doesn't change anything. If her Gem is cracked that badly, it will only get worse, and whatever put her in the state she was in didn't do any favors."

Rarity nodded. "I see. So you want to find a more permanent solution."

"I think I've already found one. It's just an issue of timing. That's why I need you guys with me on this. It'll be hard enough getting her to stay in town, but she seems to like all of you. And maybe, if that magic worked..."

"Then she might be more obliged to listen to you," Applejack nodded.

"Maybe. It's no guarantee. But I have to try."

Sunset stood up, looking out at the clock across the street. She had about an hour to get to the meeting spot, if Lapis even showed up. It was coming down to it, and she only hoped that all of this would work.

But as she looked at the others, who stood up with her, she knew that no matter what...she wouldn't be alone.

Applejack looked around, seeming to put together a piece of the puzzle Sunset had forgotten. "Sugar, you keep talkin' about needing all of us, but Ah haven't seen Pinkie Pie all day. Has she called you at all?"

Rarity and Rainbow also looked surprised, each one shaking their heads until they noticed Sunset, a slightly mischievous smile crossing her face.

"Actually, she called me. I filled her in on what happened and she said she was already on her way to meet Lapis. So I asked Lapis to meet her at Sugarcube Corner in an hour."

"What? How is it that even..."

They all glanced at each other, realizing the answer before they even had to say it.

"Pinkie Pie."

Rarity shook her head. "Well, we can only hope she leaves a good impression. It'll definitely be a lasting one."

Of that there was no doubt.

For a species with precisely zero spectrum vision, humans certainly liked their colors.

Lapis Lazuli couldn't help but find a sense of familiarity staring at the bright pastel pinks and blues of the shop Sunset had directed her towards, all sorts of spiraling designs and balloons decorating the front, forming shapes she could vaguely identify as human pastries. She'd never had a chance to smell them, of course, and even from outside the shop the aroma was cloying and overpowering, but by no means unpleasant. The whole thing reminded her of the Nacre Houses where Pearls were raised and trained in the fine arts.

It occurred to her that this was the first nice thing that she had found all day, ignoring the nagging sensation in her subconscious that always reared its head when she lied. Bad enough when her regular mindset had no idea how to handle what had happened.

Lapis had been trying to piece together her memories over the past two days, but with the sheer amount of them it had been slow going. What she remembered, she remembered with extreme clarity, but it kept displacing other memories and making even the most important ones vague and dim. So she tended to focus on the most recent sets of years to keep her sanity in check, and it was that clarity that was the problem.

She healed me. I was on the verge of shattering...and she healed me.

The Sunset she remembered was evil. There was no doubt about that. She was a bully and a thug, and what she couldn't knock down by force she knocked down by humiliation. And it was only when she was free, knew what she did, that her hatred became tangible. When it became real, when she understood...it burned in her.

But the Sunset she had seen now had saved her. A part of Lapis wondered if it could be some kind of bluff, to get her to drop her guard, but she'd had the perfect opportunity to finish her then and there, no complications.

She was the same person, but displayed two completely different personalities. There was evolution, and then there was this. It didn't make any sense, and only one of them could be real. One Sunset had promised to help her, one Sunset would try and kill her. And one Sunset wouldn't hesitate to hurt Steven if given the chance. It was a risk she couldn't take.

So then why hadn't she run yet? Was it strategy? Curiosity? Despair?

Gratitude?

Lapis had no idea. But she knew one thing: with a cracked Gem and six different people looking for her, she wasn't exactly in a position to run or fight.The best approach was to accept the olive branch and figure out what was happening; for whatever reason, Sunset wanted to play this game off the battlefield, and Lapis was more than happy to play it that way.

It took Lapis a moment or two to remember how human doors worked; she had been so used to Gem Encoded Doors back home that she still had a tough time understanding door knobs. But a quick memory recollect gave her the information and, to her surprise, it was unlocked. Lapis tentatively stepped into the closed bakery, the bright colors outside belying how dark and gloomy the interior was at night. To her frustration, her low light vision was still on the fritz, making navigating the room somewhat treacherous. Her memory of Steven in the donut shop made things easier, though, and she could make out the vague shapes of chairs and tables, and a counter top where she guessed there would be a light switch.

"Hello? Sunset? Applejack?" Lapis wasn't sure why she thought anyone else would be here, but a familiar face would decrease the tension a little. She continued to look around, and was so focused on that she didn't hear the shutters click until it was too late.

In an instant, every window and door had been closed off, plunging the room into total darkness. On pure instinct, Lapis mentally reached out for any kind of water she could find, but there was no response. Even the pipes had been totally cleared out. A swell of panic rose in Lapis as she realized she was completely defenseless.

Lapis kept her ears open for any disruption, any way to observe her surroundings. But without being surrounded by water she was as blind as any other Gem in the dark. All she could hear was cars outside and the hum of refrigeration.

It was only as the last car in a string of traffic passed by that she heard a hand land on the glass countertop, a rustle disrupting the air as feet landed on the ground.

"Behind you."

Lapis responded immediately, swinging her arm to swat at her attacker, only to meet with air and the sound of her guest landing behind her again.

"Don't you know how to greet a new friend?"

Her voice was low, soft, unrecognizable, like it was being disguised somehow. A delicate hand landed on her shoulder, the arm Lapis had used to attack her before. Whatever was going on, she had the advantage here.

A creeping fear began to crawl up Lapis's spine. This was a different entity from Sunset altogether. She couldn't even begin to sense anything about her.

"Turn around. Slowly. And shake my hand."

The iron behind her words was palpable. Lapis knew that if she tried anything else, her Gem was completely exposed to an attack. If this was a trick of Sunset's, she had to play into it. She was no longer in control here.

Lapis turned slowly, as instructed, and in spite of the pitch darkness she could make out the dimmest of outlines of a human being, tall and with straight, long hair, illuminated from some unknown light source. Her hand, decorated with baubles, extended out to her.

She hesitated for a moment, and as she did the woman's hair began to lift in spite of itself. A catlike grin became visible and Lapis immediately realized it was now or never. She clasped tightly onto the outstretched hand...

A loud, long, and wet fart cut through the room as every light in the place went up.

Lapis stared at the hand of her attacker, straight hair replaced by a pile of pink cotton candy locks and wicked smile replaced by a genuinely happy one. A brightly colored t-shirt and balloon decorated miniskirt completed the mad ensemble as Lapis tried to process what she had just seen. It took a moment for her to recognize the girl as the tall, pink haired woman who had seemingly lead her to Applejack earlier in the day, a fact she barely processed on top of everything else as she tried to keep her cool.

Tried, and failed. Lapis clasped her hand onto her mouth to hold in the laughter, but the contrast of atmosphere and the obscene noises were just too much as she buckled down to her knees. Maybe it was the stress from the past few days or maybe it was just her weakness for blue comedy, but she had soon completely given up as she started to howl raucously.

"The old whoopee cushion in the hand during a creepy haunted house trick! Works every time!" The pink haired prankster waited for a moment or two for the laughter to subside before helping the Gem to her feet. Lapis was still chuckling as she wiped the tears from her eyes, but she did manage to turn to see her strange new companion.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! Full time party girl, part time baker, quarter time world saver, and I make a pretty mean chimichanga too! And you're Lapis Lazuli!"

In her subsiding laughter, it took her a minute to process what she had just said. The slight traces of a frown crossed her face. "You know my name? So did Sunset set all this up?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "No, not really! She didn't even know about it until Rainbow mentioned it to her. I mean, she told me your name and what went down between you two, that was it. I already had a party set up for you anyway when I saw you earlier, so I just moved it out here!" She leaned up to Lapis, whispering almost conspirationally. "Just don't tell Sunset about the whole spooky scary stuff. She called me and told me to be nice, but I couldn't resist."

Lapis looked down at her feet; once again, Sunset was full of surprises.

"And the water?"

It was Pinkie Pie's turn to frown, although it had vanished so quickly Lapis barely noticed. "You noticed, huh? That was me too, actually. Sorry about that. Rainbow Dash...kind of told me everything. Even the stuff with the water."

The frown returned, sticking around a bit, and Lapis could swear she saw Pinkie's hair deflate for a split second. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I deal with grumpies and meanies a lot! It's a trademark of mine! So I can see why you'd be jumpy if you felt scared; it's tough new in town AND injured, so you have all the reason in the world to be a grumpy jumpy meanie! And I know that you probably met Sunset before she turned around, back when she was a grumpy meanie too, even if she wasn't all that jumpy. But...well..."

Everything Pinkie said was at breakneck speed, but Lapis managed to get the gist of it until she slowed down with a sudden seriousness to her expression.

"Look, I can guess why you attacked her. Sunset was a real jerk for a real long time; there's no way you met her before she became a better person. But...well, it's too much to get into, but a lot of things changed since the last time you met. She's not the same girl you remember. Plus she did save your life...even after you were a jerk to her too. Just sit and listen for a while, cuz we all have a lot to talk about, and maybe we can find something we can agree on, even if it's whoopie cushions."

The words hit alarmingly close to home; all it had taken was a conversation with Rainbow Dash and five minutes looking at Lapis to decode her concerns completely. She crossed her arms and continued avoiding Pinkie Pie's gaze...until she lifted up her chin to face her.

"Hey, hey, hey! I said it wasn't the best first impression, not that it was your only chance! If we rejected everyone that tried to kill us then Sunset wouldn't even be involved right now! And if I can get you to laugh at the thirty-fifth oldest trick in the book then you can't be all bad!"

Lapis looked into Pinkie Pie's eyes directly; she was almost as unreadable as Sunset. But she had no reason not to trust her, not when she'd had the chance to kill her and passed it up. And for all of her silliness and random humor...she seemed to know just what words to say to calm her down.

Lapis smiled, and Pinkie Pie giggled happily before slapping her on the shoulder. Lapis couldn't help but notice that she avoided the Gem on her back completely when she did so. Did Sunset mention it to her? ...did Sunset know what she was? Or was Pinkie even stranger than she first thought?

A strange buzzing noise hummed in the air as Pinkie pulled out what looked like a fob watch, popping it open and holding it to her ear. "Well, we can chat and play beanbag therapist later. The gang's all here! Hang on, lemme pull the blinds so they won't think we're closed, that happens every time we meet up here..."

With a snap of her fingers- or maybe it was her pressing a button on the watch, Lapis wasn't paying attention -the blinds all spun upwards, and to her alarm the town car Sunset had arrived in earlier was parked right outside. She choked back the panic and bit down on her lip as two more vehicles rolled up to the front, a beaten down red pickup truck, half filled with apples and what looked like a cardboard horse half broken on the back bed...and a small dirtbike, straddled by a tall woman in a leather jacket that Lapis had come to recognize all too well.

We're just here to talk, Lapis repeated to herself quietly. No conflict, no monsters, just here to talk.

If only everything was that easy.

Author's Note

RIIIIIIIISE!!!!

And people said I would never master the schedule slip.

But yeah, my apologies. Work's been terrible, and this chapter was a doozie, until I realized I was putting too much into one chapter and that was what was overrunning me. But it did work out, as with all the new Steven Universe episodes I have more material to really work with.

Get your tissues ready, folks. XD