Spinel's New Best Friend

Chapters

The Party Goes On
Piece of Pancakes
A New Game
Dress Up
Put on a Show
Earth Interlude 2: Gemcentric Boogalloo
Inspirational Memories
Into the Gala We Must Go
The Story You've Heard Over and Over Again
An Apology 6000 Years in the Making
Season 2 Teaser and Lapidot
Living the Dream
Earth Interlude 3: Launch or Lunch?
Princess Meeting and Villain Meeting
Return of The King
Meeting of The Gems
The Tour Begins
Tour Concluded
Days of the Past Part 2
The Present We Live In
Towards The Future
Pinkie's Present
Earth Interlude 1: Dude, Where's My Spinel?
The Show Can't Go On
Days of the Past Part 1

The Party Goes On

Pinkie and Spinel simply held each other and giggled for some time before Spinel finally sat her down saying, "So new best friend, what's you're name?"

"I'm Pinkie Pie but you can just call me Pinkie, and it's a pleasure to be your new best friend Spinel," said Pinkie beaming.

Spinel's smile seemed to waver though as she said, "Pinkie... Pink." For a moment Spinel simply stood in silence as she a wave of emotions she didn't understand tried to push it's way to the surface.

"Um, you OK Spinel?" asked Pinkie concerned at this sudden turn.

At hearing her words Spinel snapped back to reality as she said, "Oh, it's nothing Pinkie, so what do want to do first? Play a game, sing a song, tell jokes?"

"OOHHH! LET'S SING A SONG!" said Pinkie as she suddenly popped up next to Spinel and pulled out a tuning fork from her hair.

She struck it resulting in them both going, "OOOOOHHHHHH!"

This song was interrupted though as Twilight finally spoke up saying, "WAIT A SECOND!"

This caused Pinkie and Spinel to stare in confusion as Pinkie said, "What?"

"WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT!? WHO AND WHAT IS SHE!?" asked Twilight in a mix of worry for her friends safety and annoyance at her lack of concern.

"AND WHY ARE WE IGNORING THE GOWN I MADE YOU!?" said Rarity holding up the dress Spinel's gem had been attached too, and causing Twilight to shigh in continued annoyance.

"Oh sorry girls, I guess I should introduce you," she then gestured her hooves to the girl next to her saying, "This is my new friend Spinel."

"A pleasure," said Spinel with a smile as she bowed to the group before her.

Pinkie smiled at her saying, "And Spinel, these are some of my other friends. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"OHHH A PRINCESS!" said Spinel as she excitedly approached Twilight with stars in her eyes, as while she wasn't a gem... in fact she started to realize that there wasn't any other gems around her at all, her code stated that she should recognize the authority of those around her. She then gave her an official royal greeting as she put her arms in front of herself in the traditional diamond salute saying, "Greetings Princess, I'm Spinel Facet-4G2A Cut-3YT. It is an honor to meet you and I look forward to being friends with your friend Pinkie for many years."

"Well I ahh.." stammered Twilight as she didn't expect such a formal greeting from this... whatever she was.

Thankfully Rainbow Dash then flew between them with an intimidating glare as she said, "Alright pal, so what's your deal, and where did you come from?"

Spinal didn't seem phased as she said, "Well, my 'deal' is that it's my job to be best friends with the one who wakes me up, and that's Pinkie! As for where I cam from...." Spinel then paused in thought for a second before saying, "Hmm, guess I don't remember. This must be my first time taking form."

"Taking form?" asked Fluttershy as she cautiously approached.

"Well yeah, you know the physical form generated by my Gem," said Spinel as she tapped the heart on her chest. "I mean, I know none of you are Gems, but you must at least have heard of them right?"

Rarity confusedly levitated her saddle bag over to Spinel and opened it up saying, "You mean like these darling?"

Spinel gazed at the stones inside as she said, "No nothing like these. These are just a collection of minerals without a spark."

"Spark?" asked Rarity.

"Wow... you really don't know anything about Gems," said Spinel with a smile as Rarity stepped forward to protest, only to be stopped by Applejack biting her tail. "The spark is what we call the energy and data implanted in a Gem while the're forming that gives them life when the're finished forming. Without that spark a Gem is just a lifeless rock."

Twilight thought about asking more questions, but she wasn't sure to ask as Spinel was being vague as she seemed to eager to go back to Pinkie and she assumed all of this should be common knowledge. Applejack stopped her though as she stepped forward saying, "So Spinel, this is a nice talk and all, but I think you and your new friend should get acquainted while we talk."

"OK!" said Spinel excitedly as she jogged back to Pinkie.

The girls then huddled up as Applejack said, "You making any sense out of this Twilight?"

"Maybe... I mean the idea of a sentient gemstone isn't that far fetched, especially if this 'spark' she's talking about is magic," said Twilight.

"But why would she want to be Pinkie's best friend?" asked Rarity.

"Because everyone is Pinkie's best friend," said Rainbow flatly.

"Not helping Dash," replied Applejack equally flat.

"Well... she might just be a creature that thrives on companionship, like a dog or a bear," said Fluttershy with a smile.

"Hmm, I suppose that's possible, there are several creatures both magical and non magical in nature that like to form such bounds," said Twilight.

"So then... you think it's safe to trust her?" asked Applejack.

They were interrupted though as they suddenly heard a crash and turned to see several destroyed cakes, rubber chicken, and stream of confetti all over the floor as Twilight said, "WHAT THE HAY IT'S ONLY BEEN THIRTY SECONDS!"

30 seconds ago

"So what do you want to do Pinkie?" asked Spinel excitedly.

"Well... I was just thinking about what you said about just forming today so that means it's technically your Birthday too, so I figured we could have an old fashioned Goof Off to see who can entertain the other the most on their special day!" said Pinkie as she grabbed her party cannon.

"I don't know what most of those words mean but it sounds fun, so OK!" said Spinel excitedly as she shifted her hands into matching canons.

After an absurd level of goofiness that would be impossible for any mere mortal to describe.

"And so that's what happened," said Pinkie excitedly.

The others stared at the two and the wreckage they caused, still not understanding the specifics of how this happened, before Rainbow Dash spoke up saying, "So wait, who won the Goof Off?"

"WE TIED!" they both yelled excitedly before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

Twilight then sighed as she said, "Yeah she's safe... well as safe as having someone else just like Pinkie will be." Twilight then went back to her seat to eat the cupcake she had been in the middle of when all this started.

"Wait, isn't your insane science mind curious about what she is though?" asked Rainbow Dash, surprised that Twilight was simply walking away from this.

"Oh I am, in fact I'm already mentally planning to comb through my books for anything she mentioned and write Princess Celestia about it," she said before taking a bite of the cupcake and looking at Spinel doing a little dance as Pinkie giggled. "But I feel like asking her more questions is gonna get us no where... at least right now when she's just gonna keep giving us quick answers so she can go back to playing with Pinkie."

Rainbow Dash then shrugged as she said, "That's fair," before returning to her own plate as the other girls reluctantly did the same.

Later that night

As Pinkie entered her room with Spinel she said, "Wow! This really was the best Birthday Ever! I am pooped."

"Happy to help," said Spinel with a smile, somewhat awkward as she didn't know what the word, 'pooped' meant. She then looked around saying, "Are you sure it's OK for me to stay in your private chambers?" While she didn't mind having more time with her best friend, her data told her that usually Spinels are given separate rooms far away from their owners so that they can work without fear of distraction.

"Of course, I mean you don't have anywhere else to go, and Mr. and Mrs. Cakes let me have sleepovers all time and when you think about it, having a roommate is just like a sleepover that never ends," said Pinkie with a smile.

Spinel smiled as she thought, "Pooped, sleep, she certainly uses a lot of words I don't know... my new best friend must be a genius or something!" She then smiled excitedly as she said, "Golly, thanks Pinkie."

"No problem, what are best friends for," she then yawned before plopping in bed as she clapped her hooves together to turn off the light. "Goodnight Spinel," she said sleepily.

"Goodnight Pinkie," replied Spinel with a smile.

Pinkie smiled back before closing her eyes. She laid in bed for a few moments before realizing something was wrong as she opened her eyes to see Spinel standing in front of her smiling as she asked, "What are you doing? Is it some kind of game?"

"Umm, well I'm trying to sleep," said Pinkie, "Don't you want to sleep too, I mean you must be as tired as I am after all the playing?"

Spinel just looked confused as she said, "What is sleep?"

"Hm," said Pinkie confused. Pinkie thought to herself, "Never thought I'd have to explain something like this to anycreature, but I guess there's all kinds of creatures out their and some of them might not need sleep." She then continued saying, "Well it's what creatures like ponies do when their tired."

"Is it fun?" asked Spinel.

"Well, it can be, if you have a good dream," said Pinkie as she got excited before saying, "One time I had this dream where I was a pink hedgehog who could run really fast and I was friends with a big cat and a cute rabbit girl and we fought an army of robot!"

"WOWEEE!" said Spinel as stars formed in her eyes. "I want to try sleeping! How do you do it?"

Pinkie giggled as she said, "It's easy, just lay down next to me here and close your eyes."

Spinel smiled as she excitedly hopped under the covers and closed her eyes saying, "Now what?"

"Well now you just keep your eyes closed until you fall asleep... now sometimes it takes awhile so don't worry if you can't-" began Pinkie before she was cut off by the sound of Spinel snoring.

Pinkie simply grinned as she whispered, "Sleep tight new best friend," before she too fell asleep and they soon found themselves unconsciously cuddling each other.

Author's Note

Well the party has ended and Spinel is in Pinkie's home, but it looks like her memories aren't as gone as she wanted them to be. Well she get them back, will this friendship work out, will any of you please draw me a cute image of Spinel and Pinkie cuddling (if so I'd be happy to add it to this chapter and credit you of course)? Yes of course someone will, Thank You to Mutter_Butter, you are AWESOME! Find out all these and more, next chapter whenever that maybe

So I'm sorry if the pacing is waunky, I was having trouble getting this chapter as nothing too big can really happen yet. Hopefully next chapter will be better. Anyway thanks for reading, hope you liked it anyway, and have a great day.

Piece of Pancakes

"WEEEE!" cried Spinel in excitement as she rode on the back of a giant winged Pinkie Pie. "THIS IS SO MUCH FUN PINKIE!"

"YUP! YOU KNOW IT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE FUN WITH ME AROUND!" said Pinkie as she spun her head around 180 degrees to face Spinel.

Spinel smiled at that saying, "And I hope you'll always be around."

Pinkie Smiled at that before suddenly disappearing as Spinel began falling towards the ground and she screamed. Once she hit it though she picked herself up as she noticed dead rose petals falling around her. Before she could say anything she turned to see a figure she couldn't fully make out. It seemed to be a tall pink woman with her back towards her, but any details beyond that where indeterminable. She started approaching the woman but was interrupted as the woman suddenly said, "But she won't always be around." The woman then started to turn to her as she continued saying, "Just like I wasn't."

Before Spinel could see the woman's face she suddenly woke up in a cold sweat as she held tightly to the covers. "Well that was fun... until it wasn't," said Spinel sat up as she tried to calm whatever this weird emotion that had stirred inside her was and got up with a smile. That smile quickly faded though as she looked around and saw she was alone. "It's OK, I'm sure Pinkie just went downstairs for something," she said as she slowly left the room and proceeded towards the stairs while grabbing her arms as if she was hugging herself. "What is this?" she thought as she searched her Gem for information. "My symptoms seem to match up with that of anxiety and fear.... but I can't be feeling that. Spinel's aren't supposed to feel this, we're supposed to relax other people who feel it."

As soon as she reached the ground floor she heard Pinkie's voice humming, causing whatever emotions she was feeling to wash away and her usual happiness to return. As she pushed through the saloon style doors she saw Pinkie humming away with a white chef's hat on her head as she stirred a bowl of something. Pinkie noticed the new presence as she turned away from her bowl and smiled saying, "Oh hi Spinel, I didn't want to wake you since you had never slept before and probably needed it... how was it by the way?"

"Oh... it was fun," said Spinel with a smile as she didn't want to tell Pinkie everything as one, she didn't want her new best friend to think she was weird, in a bad way, and two, she still didn't understand what happened herself.

"Glad to hear it," said Pinkie as she got back to stirring. "I was just making breakfast for us.... and all of today's customers since Mr. and Mrs. Cakes are out taking the twins to daycare."

Spinel wasn't sure what breakfast was, but she did notice a bunch of other bowls beyond the one Pinkie was stirring as she approached saying, "So you have to do all this stuff, by yourself?"

"Meh, it's not so bad. Cooking is fun... speaking of which do you want to try it?" asked Pinkie.

Spinel went starry eyed as she ran up saying, "OH YES PLEASE! I LOVE LEARNING NEW FUN THINGS!"

Pinkie giggled before saying, "Alright, now let's just OH WAIT!" Pinkie interrupted herself as she suddenly dove into the cabinet beneath her before pulling out another Chef's hat and placing it on Spinel's head. "Phew, almost had you working without a uniform, anyway today is Pancake Monday which means that we only to have to be stocked up on Pancakes and anything else we do cook to order. I've already gotten enough batter ready, all we have to do now is thoroughly mix it and then pour it into the pan." She then poured the bowl she had been mixing to demonstrate before pulling out a spatula saying, "Then we cook it for 4.8 minutes on each side and it's good to go."

She watched the batter bubble with the spatula in her teeth as she mumbled, "Whdontchamichwhiliduthiz."

"What?" asked Spinel in confusion.

Pinkie got ready to repeat herself, before realizing the problem as she placed the spatula down and said, "I said, why don't you stir some more of the batter while I flip the cakes. You just got to stir each bowl for about five minutes."

"OK," said Spinel as she smiled excitedly and grabbed the spoon Pinkie had been using.

"OH! Since I can't hum with a spatula in my mouth, well I can but it's not sanitary since it makes me spit... not sure how having the spatula in my mouth is sanitary to begin with though," said Pinkie as she briefly paused in thought before shaking her head clear as she giggled and said, "Sorry, thought too hard about life for a second and realized it doesn't make sense again, anyway do you mind if I turn on the radio?"

"Not at all," said Spinel as she mimicked the motion she saw Pinkie doing as she held the bowl with one hand and slowly stirred with the other.

"Awesome!" said Pinkie as she approached the radio and started going through the stations.

"Pony, Pony, Pony, Ponyville RADIO! We Love Ponyville!" said the voice on the radio.

"Meh, I'm not into news," said Pinkie as moved the dial again.

"Cupcakes so sweet and tasty!"

"Fun... but not what we're making right now."

"Let me pull my carriage into your heart!"

"Too meta."

"Coming up now we got a new song from everyone's favorite green dog!"

"OHHH! I LOVE THIS GUY!" said Pinkie as she turned up the radio and the song began.

They each bobbed their heads to the song as they did their tasks, both smiling the whole time as they took joy in the repetitive work.

Soon though Pinkie looked at the clock as she spit out the spatula in surprise and said, "Shoot, at this rate I won't finish by the time the cakes get back," as a frown crossed her face.

Spinel panicked at that as she thought, "Oh no, if Pinkie's late with her task her bosses might discipline her," as an image of a Holy Blue's whip entered her mind. "I don't want that too happen." She looked around for an answer before she saw the straight line of bowls in front of her as she had an idea and said, "Hey Pinkie, do you have any more spoons?"

"Of course, the're in the cabinet above you," said Pinkie before picking the spatula back up and flipping a pancake.

She turned around expecting to see Spinel try and use a spoon in each hand, but was greeted to much more than that as she saw Spinel stretch one arm around all the bowls to hold them in place and stretched several additional gloved hands out of the other arm as each grabbed a spoon and began stirring all the bowls at once. "WOOWWEEE! Great work Spinel," said Pinkie as her smile returned.

"Thanks," said Spinel with her own smile at cheering up Pinkie.

"Haha, but if you think I'm just going to let you go faster then me," said Pinkie as she then pulled out several more spatulas and pans from the cabinets above her. She then titled her hat down as she said, "Then you got another thing coming," with a determined look on her face.

The kitchen became a lively scene as they each stirred and flipped faster then should have been humanly, ponyly, or gemly possible resulting in all the pancakes being ready to serve within five minutes.

Pinkie and Spinel then sat next to each other looking at what they had made as Pinkie shied in relief and said, "Thanks for all your help Spinel, I couldn't have cranked it into high gear like that without you."

Spinel beamed with pride as she said, "It's no problem Pinkie, it was fun just like you said it would be."

"Indeed, now then to enjoy the fruits, or pastries, of our labor," said Pinkie as she excitedly placed a short stack and knife and fork in front of each of them.

Spinel grabbed the fork and knife as she looked down at the pancakes in front o her in confusion and said, "Um Pinkie I meant to ask you... what are these things?"

Pinkie looked back at her surprised as she said, "WHAT! YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF PANCAKES BEFORE!? THE BEST BREAKFAST FOOD EVER!"

"Fooooodddd?" Spinel repeated quizzically a she tilted her head to the side.

"WHAT! YOU'VE NEVER HAD FOOD AT ALL! NO PANCAKES! NO CUPCAKES! NO CAKE CAKE!" said Pinkie as she began hyperventilating.

"Oh my gosh, are you OK Pinkie?" asked Spinel as she became concerned for her best friend.

Pinkie breathed into a brown paper bag she seemly got from no where for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I'm.... I'm OK. I should have guessed that you didn't need food since you didn't need sleep either. But just like sleep, eating food can be really fun."

"Oh, yeah," said Spinel as she smiled and clapped, while trying to ignore the weird emotions from her sleep trying to come back up again.

"Now, it's real simple, all you have to do is cut off a piece of the pancakes, put it in your mouth, chew it, and swallow," said Pinkie before she did so to demonstrate. She then popped another forkful her mouth and mumbled out, "Easy," before swallowing.

Spinel reluctantly looked down before repeating Pinkie's actions as she hesitantly put a bit of pancake in her mouth, only to instantly go starry eyed as she was greeted by a form of pleasure she had never felt before as she chewed it up and swallowed and proceeded to wolf down the rest of the pancakes before her.

With an animalistic glare she then tried to grab more, before Pinkie stopped her saying, "Woah woah, I'm glad you liked it and all but if you eat as much as you look like you want too, we won't have any left."

Spinel calmed herself as she said, "So-sorry Pinkie."

"It's fine," said Pinkie before she suddenly heard the bell signifying the door opened ring as she said, "OH! It sounds like the Cakes are back."

She then grabbed Spinel's hand and pulled her to the lobby saying, "Come on, I'll introduce you."

As the Cakes entered the lobby, they suddenly heard a noise from the kitchen and turned to see Pinkie with a tall figure standing behind her as she said, "Mr. and Mrs. Cakes, I'd like you to meet my new best friend Spinel!"

Spinel then stepped forward with a bow saying, "A pleasure to meet my best friends employers." She then stood back up saying, "And I promise to do my best to help her remain relaxed and efficient."

"Well uh... that's nice deerie," said Mrs. Cake slightly confused, but still smiling as she was used to Pinkie bringing home odd friends at this point.

"Yes um... it's good to meet you too Spinel," said Mr. Cakes as he reached out this hoof, only to have her grab it and shake not only his hoof but his whole body up and down as she smiled.

Once she stopped Mr. Cakes dizzily said, "Well um Pinkie, since you made enough for the breakfast rush how about you take the rest of the day off to spend with your new friend."

"OH THANK YOU SO MUCH!" said Pinkie as she too grabbed Mr. Cake and shook him in gratitude.

"Y-y-your w-w-w-welcome," said Mr. Cake before Pinkie sat him down.

Spinel then got next to her as she said, "So what do you want to do then Pinkie?"

"OH! We can play board games," said Pinkie.

"That sounds fun," said Spinel with a smile.

"Great... shoot, I left them over at the School of Friendship. I brought them in to play when my field trip was rained out," said Pinkie before moving towards the door and saying, "You stay here and I'll go and grab them real quick."

Before she could take a step though, she suddenly heard a loud, "NOOO!" as Spinel yelled and grabbed her as Pinkie saw anger on her face for the first time since they met, which granted was only a few hours ago but still.

"Oh um... I guess you can come with me if you want," said Pinkie smiling nervously.

"YEAAH!" said Spinel as the anger melted back to her normal smile before she herself could even realize what happened.

As Pinkie started walking while holding Spinel's hand she thought, "Hmm, that was odd, but I guess maybe she's just cranky in the morning or something, I'd be cranky too if I'd never slept before and then had to get up," as her genuine smile returned and she continued walking. She then remembered something as she turned around saying, "OH BY THE WAY, SPINEL IS LIVING WITH US NOW!"

"WHAT!" said the Cakes in unison, only to look and see the two already gone.

Author's Note

And so Spinel is dangerously close to getting her memories back and Pinkie has caught a glimpse at how unstable and hurt she really is beneath the smile. How will she react when she sees the truth? Will Spinel's memory come back soon? Find all this and more next chapter whenever that may be

Sorry if this has a lot of errors but a storm is making my internet go waunky so it's either publish now, or publish who knows when. Hope you like it anyway, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

A New Game

As Pinkie and Spinel walked through Ponyville, not paying any mind to the odd looks they where getting, they soon arrived at the School of Friendship. As they entered the doors Pinkie suddenly felt her breakfast catch up to as she walked up to one of the public restrooms and said, "OK Spinel, I just gotta use the potty real quick and then we can get the games."

Spinel then turned to her confused as she said, "What's potty?"

Pinkie then blushed slightly as she said, "Um well... it's something ponies need to do after they eat."

Spinel went starry eyed as she said, "OH! IS IT AS FUN AS EATING!? CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW TO DO IT SO I CAN TRY IT!?"

Pinkie's blush only increased as she said, "Um I'm sorry Spinel, I'm happy to show some of the other fun things ponies do but this one is kind of a solo activity."

"Oh... I see," said Spinel as while her Gem told her it was perfectly normal and fine for her friend to apart from her from time to time, that odd feeling crept back up again at the prospect.

Pinkie mistook this for disappointment at being denied knowledge as she sighed, and smiled saying, "Sorry... I'll tell you about it some time if you want, though Twilight might be better to ask since can give you books and stuff talking about metabolism and stuff, in the mean time just wait here and I'll be back in a minute." She then gestured her hoof to a bench next to the bathroom door as Spinel nodded and sat down before Pinkie walked through the door.

Spinel sat down and attempted to wait patiently for Pinkie... for about three seconds before her strange thoughts and emotions stirred up again. She closed and began mumbling, "Pinkie will be right back, Pinkie will be right back," over and over again as emotions stirred in her and images she also didn't understand started to creep into her mind. The tall pink lady from her dream and... a boy with curly hair?

"Hey, are you OK?"

Before she could dwell on these images an emotions further a voice snapped her back to reality as she looked up to see a mare standing before her looking concerned.

"Oh, um... just waiting for Pinkie," said Spinel still not fully herself.

"That's cool, you mind with I wait with you," said the mare as she gestured to the empty seat next to Spinel.

She shrugged saying, "I guess so."

The mare smiled as she sat next to her saying, "My name's Starlight Glimmer," as she reached out her hoof.

Spinel took it with a smile as being talking to people seemed to help take her mind off whatever odd things she kept feeling. "My name's Spinel."

"I figured, Twilight told me all about your grand entrance to Pinkie's party last night," said Starlight.

Spinel smiled even further as she said, "Yup, I was so happy to meet Pinkie and that party was a blast!"

Starlight giggled as she said, "I bet it was. Soooo, I noticed you had abit of funny look on your face while you where waiting there."

Spinel grew tense as she said, "Um... was I?"

"It's OK if you did their's absolutely nothing wrong with it... I was just wondering if that happens every time Pinkie leaves," said Starlight placing her hoof on the Gems lap, as she had from several concealing sessions how to talk to a young filly or colt with problems, and despite her large size the girl before her seemed to be very much a child.

The technique seemed to work as while Spinel looked reluctant she did say, "Well.... yeah. I don't know why but I feel weird whenever Pinkie leaves like.... I don't know, I'm not supposed to have feelings like this I'm supposed to help others who have these feelings."

"I see," said Starlight as she thought about what was said. "Say Spinel, how would you like to play a game with me."

Spinel became excited as she clapped and said, "OH YES PLEASE! What's it called?"

"Uhhh, Therapy Session," said Starlight as she smiled awkwardly and mentally kicked herself for not thinking on her hooves better.

Thankfully Spinel didn't know what those words where as she simply said, "Sounds like fun, I'll tell Pinkie."

"NO.... I mean, it's only a two player game and since I need to teach you how to play to play it, what do you say we leave Pinkie out of it this time," said Starlight.

"Oh," said Spinel as she thought this over, unsure of what to say as while learning new games from other creatures to play with her best friend was, again, something her Gem said was OK it still didn't feel right for some reason.

"I'm sure Pinkie would be happy for you to learn more games," said Starlight with a smile as she thought, "I do feel a little bad about this, but this isn't the first time I've had to trick someone into my office to talk about their issues. Sometimes a creature just needs a push."

"Well OK then," said Spinel as she got up and did her best to restore her smile.

"Great," said Starlight as she gave her a gentle smile back and said, "My office is the last door on the left their, just head in and I'll tell Pinkie what happened, OK."

Spinel nodded as she shakily walked away and entered the office. It was at that moment Pinkie came out of the bathroom and looked around as she said, "Oh hey Starlight, have you seen Spinel?"

"Yeah... about that. Pinkie have you noticed any odd behavior from her when you leave her alone, or try to?" asked Starlight.

"Hmmm," said Pinkie as she began thinking back to the short time she had known her. "Weeellll, she did seem to get a little angry when I tried to leave her at Sugarcube Corner and... I didn't say anything at the time but while I was making pancakes I saw her looking kinda panicky before she came in the kitchen. But I just chalked both up to her maybe being weird when she first wakes up."

"I thought so, well unfortunately it might be more then that as I saw her panic while you where in the bathroom and it looked more like separation anxiety, and trust me I know what that looks like," said Starlight as she briefly thought back to how she was after Sunburst first left.

"Oh no," said Pinkie as she became concerned for her new friend. "Is their anything I can do to help?"

"Well that all depends on how bad it is, for now you can have a seat outside my office while I talk to her," said Starlight.

"Well OK," said Pinkie as she shakily followed Starlight.

Starlight noticed this as she looked back with a slight smile saying, "Don't worry, Pinkie no matter how bad this we can help her get through it." She then turned forward as said, "Besides, how bad could it be?"

Meanwhile in a nearby classroom

"Since when is Headmare Twilight late?" asked Silverstream in concern.

"Seriously, doesn't she have a super tight schedule and freaks out if she's so much as a second off?" said Gallus flatly as he leaned back in his chair.

"Actually, she hasn't freaked about schedules since she went back in time to tell her younger self not to worry so much.... which ironically only made her worry more," said Occelus as she flipped through her notes to try and find this page.

Before Gallus could point out he was being sarcastic the swung open as Twilight entered saying, "Sorry I'm late class," before she then let out a yawn. "I was up late last night looking up information about a new resident of Ponyville whom you'll all probably meet soon." She then reached into her bag and pulled out what her tired mind believed was her usual laser pointer as she gestured it to board saying, "Now today we'll be looking at the feud between the Hooffield's and the McColt's and how a small disagreement, if left unchecked, can turn into a long time grudge."

She then pushed the button on it to point to the board, only to then be greeted by a new weight in her magic field and several gasps from her students. Unsure what was going on, she glanced over to see that she was now holding a scythe with a glowing blade as she gasped and shuck into her desk in shock, thankfully the blade simply seemed to phase through the desk without cutting it. After shuddering at the thought that she could have damaged her new imported mahogany desk, Twilight instinctively pushed the button again causing the scythe to retract back into the small rod as she nervously looked at the students saying, "Alright class, I ahhh... gotta figure out what this is so let's just call this a free day so finish up outstanding work you have, or read, or.... I don't know just talk I guess, build friendships and all." Twiilght then ran out the room and into the hall.

The students simply sat confused for a moment before Gallus decided the lighten the mood by sarcastically saying, "So pony teachers carry scythe's, and I thought Grandpa Gruff's discipline stick was bad."

As Twilight stood in the hall and turned the odd rod over in her magic saying, "What in Equestria is this? It didn't cut my desk so it most have some sort of safety function or something." She then reactived the scythe as said, "It doesn't seem to be magical in nature and technology like this is WAY more advanced then anything I've seen. So where did it come from?" Twilight thought for a moment before realization struck her as she said, "Oh that's right, I found this in the Everfree Forest next to..." that realization turned to worry as she said, "Oh no," remembering the strange creature that had been next to this. She then trotted towards the nearest exit saying, "I gotta check on Pinkie."

Meanwhile back in Starlight's office.

As Starlight sat across from Spinel she thought about offering her empathy coco or a security blanket, but decided against it for now as it might break the allusion that she was teaching her a game.

That seemed to be the right call as Spinel looked to her eagerly asking, "So how we play Therapy Session?"

"Well, it's simple. One player talks about their feelings or any weird thing that is going on, completely unfiltered without fear of judgement, and the other listens and gives them advice helps them figure out why the're feeling that," said Staright with a nervous smile.

"Oh," said Spinel slightly confused as that didn't fully sound like a game, but simply shrugged at off as she said, "Well alright, as long as you say it will be fun."

"Oh, don't worry it will be," said Starlight as her smile grew wider, and a bit awkward.

"So you want to go first?" asked Spinel, eager to play.

"Oh um..." said Starlight nervously as she was not expecting this and struggling to come up with something to say. Before honing in on something she had planned to discuss later anyway as she said, "Well I was probably going to talk about this with Rarity since she's a bit of an expert on this subject but last night I had a dream where I was kissing my best friend Trixie and I'm not sure if it means anything or it's just a dream because I mean, sure she's a great friend and certainly not an unattractive mare, but I'd just never thought of her that way." Sarlight then looked to Spinel blushing, curious about the strange girl would say.

Spinel simply smiled as she repeated back Starlight's early statement saying, "I see," thinking it might be part of the game. "I just have some questions."

"OK," said Starlight nervous.

"What's kissing, and what way where you not thinking of her? Are either of them fun?" asked Spinel in confusion and curiosity.

Starlight's blush increased as she said, "MOVING ON! So have you had any odd dreams lately?"

"Well I actually had my first dream EVER last night," said Spinel excited to relay the good parts of it, forgetting the bad parts for a second.

"Really?" said Starlight in confusion.

"Well the first one I can remember anyway, I don't have any memories from before I formed in front of Pinkie so I figured that must the first time I formed which is weird because it should have happened in a Kindergarten," said Spinel as she for the first time realized that this didn't fully make sense as she should at least have memories of walking around the Kindergarten and meeting other Spinel's before she Poofed for transport to her new best friend.

"I see," said Starlight as she levitated a pencil and notepad in front of herself, "So tell me about this dream of yours."

Spinel smiled excitedly as she said, "Well, Pinkie was a giant and I was riding her through the super sky super fast and it was so AMAZING AND FUN AND-" She paused as her mind turned to what happened next.

"And then," said Starlight as she placed a supportive hoof on Spinel's lap

"Then it got... weird," said Spinel

"Weird how?" asked Starlight.

"Well... I was suddenly in a garden, but one where all the plants where dieing, like whoever was supposed to care for it hadn't been their in a long time. And there was this tall pink women there and," suddenly the tension came into her chest and tears formed in her eyes as she continued saying, "And... she said Pinkie would leave me... just like she did, but I don't know who she is, she was all foggy and had her back turned to me but... why do I get like this talking about her?" Spinel then looked at Starlight as the tears flowed further, "I don't know this women and I trust Pinkie and.. and."

Spinel's stammering was suddenly interrupted as she suddenly found a blanket wrapped herself and a mug of coco in her hands as Starlight grabbed her shoulders and said, "Listen to me Spine, Pinkie will NEVER LEAVE YOU! Atleast not forever, and when she ever does go out I'm here for you if you don't want to be alone."

"Ohh, OK," said Spinel as she dried her tears, still unsure about what all this was.

Starlight then shied as she sat down saying, "OK, I think I know why you feel this way Spinel."

"YOU DO!" said Spinel suddenly excited. "So does not mean you can help me be a normal Spinel?"

"First off don't call yourself not normal, it's perfectly normal to have feelings like this secondly... I think the woman in your dreams may have done something to you that... something that wasn't fun," said Starlight trying to put it a way Spinel would understand. "And your mind is trying to make you forget it but it can't, at least not completely."

"Oh... then what can we do?" asked Spinel

"Well, if we play more rounds of Therapy Session, maybe every Monday at 8am, you should be able to remember eventually and deal with it," said Starlight.

"Oh... isn't there a way you can make me remember now, I would like to the BEST friend for Pinkie as soon as possible?" asked Spinel.

"Welll," said Starlight as she levitated a book of memory spells over to herself. "Recalling repressed memories magically isn't easy since it's you trying to block them out and not an outside force." She then flipped through the spells until she found one that looked promising as she said, "I could try this spell here, it will copy any memories you have hidden away in your subconscious into my mind so that I can then transfer them into your conscious mind."

Spinel then got out from under the blanket excitedly as she said, "I'm not sure what that means, but you think it will help then let's do it!"

"Alright, but remember it might not work," said Starlight as she moved to Spinel and gestured for her to lean down before touching her horn to her forehead. She probed deep withing preparing for the worst as she didn't know what kind of trauma Spinel might have gone through, but what she saw was.... nothing.

"Hmm," she commented, before remembering she was dealing with a foreign species as she said, "Hey Spinel, where are your memories and thoughts stored?"

"Oh that would be in my Gem," she said as she pointed towards it.

Starlight nodded before touching her horn to that and was finally greeted to some stimulus though. She thought to herself, "What the... this feel more like electronic signals? Wait is she come of sentient machine... no. Scientific questions later, physiological help now." She then focused more and went deeper in trying to understand it, but just as she thought she was getting the hang of it and caught a glimpse of the tall pink woman Spinel had been talking about, a surge suddenly struck her knocking her back against the wall.

"OH MY GOSH! Are you OK Starlight?" said Spinel.

Starlight couldn't hear her though as vision went blurry and hearing went out as her mind was assaulted by strange images of the girl she was just talking too.

The images soon cleared though, leaving only a splitting headache as Starlight saw the concerned girl before and said, "Yeah, I'm OK."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I pushed you to try that magic thing," said Spinel still concerned.

"It's fine, I probably would have tried it myself after the first week or so, at least now we know it doesn't work and can just focus on our game," said Starlight as she moved to the door. "I just need to tell Pinkie something real quick and then you and her can go off and play like you planned."

"OK," said Spinel excitedly. "Oh and thanks for playing Therapy Session with me it was weird, but now I don't feel so weird about myself anymore so that means it's kind of fun," said Spinel as she gave a warm innocent smile.

"No problem, and don't just think we can play on Mondays, anytime you think you feel funny again feel free to stop by so we can play again," said Starlight returning Spinel's smile.

Starlight then stepped out of the room and looked the concerned Pinkie as she sighed saying, "Well, unfortunately Spinel's anxiety was more like mine then I thought. It looks like she was abandoned by someone before you found her and is struggling with the repress the memory of it. Judging by what little she does remember it sounds like it was her mother."

"Oh dear," said Pinkie as she looked down in sadness, "What can we do to help her?"

"Well, I already got her to agree to a weekly session so we can talk about it more, f.w.i. she thinks this is some kind of game so don't ruin that. As for you just... be yourself," said Starlight.

"Hmm?" said Pinkie as she looked her confused.

"Right now, what she needs is a warm ball of positively who will always stick by her, and I can't think of anyone better qualified for that then you," said Starlight as she placed a hoof on her. "Just be careful about leaving her alone, at least for now."

"Well OK," said Pinkie as she opened the door and greeted the girl on the other with a hug and laugh as she said, "OK, I got the board games, you want to head back home so we can play them?"

"Can we play here so Starlight can join?" asked Spinel.

"Oh, I'm flattered but I got a lot of paperwork to catch up, you two enjoy yourselves," said Starlight as she sat back down in her desk.

"OK, bye Starlight," said Pinkie as she approached the exit.

"Bye, Starlight, and again thanks for the games," said Spinel as she followed after her.

"No prob, what are friends for," said Starlight with a smile.

Spinel then suddenly turned back around saying, "Oh and good luck with the kissing Trixie thing."

This resulted in Pinkie saying, "HAH! I KNOW YOU TWO WHERE MORE THEN JUST FRIENDS!"

"Wait, Pinkie I-" started Starlight only to see that the two had already left as she sighed and got to work on her paperwork. She began thinking to herself, "It's good for those two to hang out.... though yeah I do wish I could join them, but Twilight needs these reports by this afternoon." As she worked though she heard the faintest whisper from the back her mind say, "They'd rather hang out with their other friends anyway."

Author's Note

Well, well, well. The story has gotten a little serious as Spinel is slowly recovering more memories, and it looks like Starlight might have something, or perhaps someone in her head with her now. What will happen next? Find out next chapter whenever that may be.

Thanks to motcharu for making the video, check them out on YouTube

Sorry for the sudden tone shift, but I had to serious eventually and I figured I'd rip that bandaid off now. Hope you liked it, any constructive criticism is welcome (though my battery is dyeing so I won't see it for awhile), have a great day.

Dress Up

"Shoot. Looks like you win again Spinel," said Pinkie as she looked at Spinel's dice role with a gentle smile.

"YAY!" cried Spinel as her smile beamed and she raised her hands in the air. "These games are so much fun Pinkie... but why aren't we playing them in your room?"

"Oh that's because Mr and Mrs Cakes went to pick the twins up from daycare, so we got to watch the lobby in case someone shows up," said Pinkie.

"So we have to stop playing if someone comes in?" said Spinel with some disappointment.

"Well yeah... but don't worry, we're in the afternoon lull so we probably won't get-" began Pinkie before being interrupted by the welcome bell ringing.

"The GREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRIIIXXXIIIEE... requires a cupcake," said the familiar mare as she entered the shop.

"Oh, sure thing Trixie. Spinel you want to come in back with me to get a fresh one?" asked Pinkie.

"I," began Spinel about to say yes, only to then remember her conversation with Starlight as she thought, "Starlight might be doing her best to help get me over this weirdness about being alone... but I should still do my part as well."

She then turned to Pinkie and smiled saying, "No thanks, I'll just stay here and start setting up the next game."

"Oh um... OK if that's what you wanted," said Pinkie as she smiled somewhat hesitantly about leaving her. She then turned to Trixie saying, "Oh um, Trixie this is Spinel, Spinel this is Trixie. Feel free to get to know each other while I get your cupcake."

She then rocketed into the kitchen, eager to finish and get to her friend as Spinel looked at the blue mare saying, "Trixie... I feel like I've heard that name before."

Trixie was slightly confused about whatever creature was in front of her, but quickly shrugged if off as she said, "Why of course you have. Why, who hasn't heard of the astounding magic of the GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!"

"Hmmm," said Spinel as she stroked her chin before coming to a realization as she smiled saying, "Oh, you're the mare Starlight was talking about kissing."

Suddenly Trixie's trademark confidence vanished as her jaw dropped to the floor and she began stammering, "Star-S-S-Starlight and me and," and blushing.

Spinel wasn't sure what was going on as she said, "Um, are you OK?"

Suddenly Trixie was directly in front of her with her hooves on her shoulders saying, "What did she say!?"

"Well I-" began Spinel but was cut off as Trixie continued.

"I mean, she's cute and all, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about asking her out but she seemed to only think of me as a friend. Did she say when or where she wanted to kiss?" stammered Trixie as she looked at Spinel

Spinel opened her mouth, only to not get any words out as Trxie gasped and said, "Of course! The Grand Galloping Gala is next week, that must be when!" She then got away from Spinel as she nervously smiled saying, "Oh I gotta get her flowers, and dig out the dress my mom gave me for special occasions, can't think of anything more special then this!"

While Trixie gushed Pinkie suddenly reentered smiling widely as she held a to go bag saying, "Here's your cupcake Trixie."

That smile faded though as Trixie turned to her seemingly angry as she said, "Trixie can't have cupcakes now! The last thing she needs is to pop a seem on her dress the night she's destined to kiss the mare of her dreams. If anything I should head to the gym to make sure that doesn't happen!"

Before PInkie could respond to that Trixie suddenly ran out of the store. The confusion on Pinkie's grew as she said, "OOOKKKK." She then looked over at Spinel saying, "Do you know what that was about?"

Spinel shrugged as she said, "Not really, something about Starlight and a thing called a gala."

Upon Pinkie smiled as she said, "Ah, young love at the Gala... WAIT THE GALA!" She then looked over at Spinel as she said, "Oh my gosh, I forgot the Gala is next week and we haven't even bothered to make an outfit for you!"

Spinel's confusion only increased as she didn't understand what Pinkie was saying either and was suddenly whisked out the door.

Meanwhile back at the School of Friendship

As Starlight continued to file the paperwork trying, and failing, to shake off her headache her door suddenly swung open as Twilight burst in.

"Have you seen Pinkie and Spinel? Everycreature I talked to said they came in here." said Twilight as she looked panicky.

Starlight looked at her friend and mentor with concern as she said, "They left awhile ago, why what's up?"

Twilight sighed as she pulled out the mysterious rod saying, "What's up is I found this whatever this is next to Spinel's gem," as she pushed the button and made the scythe come out."

Starlight looked at this she sighed saying, "Well looks like we can add possible abuse to the list."

"What?" said Twilight confused.

"Well, I saw Spinel acting weird earlier so I pulled her in here for a quick session and well.... she is repressing memories of her, possible abusive, mother abandoning her," said Starlight.

"Oh... oh dear," said Twilight as she retracted the scythe and started feeling guilty about the fears that ran through her mind that Spinel could be dangerous. "Well um.... I'm sure you can handle this Starlight, but let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Hmm, well you should give me that thing," she said gesturing at the rod, "She might recall some memories if I show it to her later. If need be of course since I don't recovering anything painful too quickly."

"Of course," said Twilight as she placed the rod on Starlight's desk. She thought to herself, "I kind of want to examine that thing in my lab, who knows what kind of secrets it could hold, but if it's to help a friend even the scientific advancement of a life time can be put aside... besides once Spinel remembers everything I might be able to get even more stuff like this!" She then blushed as she realized her thoughts where turning selfish, before saying, "So um... yeah thanks Starlight, I'll see you later."

"See you Twilight," said Starlight as she nodded, understanding that not everyone can deal with this stuff. As Twilight left she grabbed the rod in her magic field, before winching as her headache suddenly increased. "OW! Well I'll just put the Rejuvenator in my desk for now," said Starlight as she got back to work, not even realizing she had called the rod by it's proper name.

At Carousel Boutique

As Rarity finished putting the finishing touches on her latest masterpiece she suddenly heard the entrance bell as she looked towards door saying, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique I... Oh Pinkie, Spinel. What brings you two lovely ladies here?"

"What's going on is I just realized the Gala is next week and we don't have an outfit for Spinel," said Pinkie.

Suddenly Rarity dropped the the needle and thread she was using as she suddenly popped in front of Spinel saying, "OH MY GOODNESS! How could I have not realized this, I'm so sorry dear."

Spinel continued to be confused as she said, "Um... it's fine."

"Oh nonsense dear," said Rarity as she suddenly grabbed Spinel in her magic saying, "Now then let's get you out of your current outfit so we can get your measurement."

Spinel was placed on the measuring platform as she said, "Out of my what?"

Rarity didn't hear her though as she pulled on Spinel's gloves with her magic... only to have her arms stretch out with them. "What the?" said Rarity in confusion as she did the same to her shoes and torso and got the same result.

After seeing exactly what Rarity's magic was grabbing Spinel had a look or realization come to her face as she said, "OH MY APPEARANCE MODIFIERS! Yeah, I can shape shift them to look however you want or even get rid of them and shift entirely new and different ones, but their part of my body so they don't come off like that."

"Oh," said Rarity as she released Spinel from her magic grip.

"Wait!" said Pinkie as she suddenly stepped forward. "So this whole time you've been walking around naked!" continued Pinkie before covering her eyes with her hooves and blushing.

Rarity facehoofed as she said, "Pinkie darling, I know this sounds weird coming from me of all ponies but.. we almost never wear clothes."

"Oh yeah," said Pinkie with a smile and a giggle as her embarrassment suddenly disappeared.

Rarity rolled her eyes as she then looked to Spinel saying, "So let me get this straight dear, you can shift your body to make it look you're wearing any outfit you want?"

"Yup," said Spinel with a nod and a smile.

"Excuse me for a minute," said Rarity as she turned away for a moment. She then began internally screaming, "WHY CAN'T I DO THAT! THE ABILITY TO CHANGE OUTFITS ON THE FLY TO FIT THE LATEST TRENDS AND MY SURROUNDINGS WOULD BE TO DIE FOR!" She let out a deep calming breath before turning back to Spinel and grabbing several books off her table saying, "Well I suppose this makes things easier, feel free to look at these fashion magazines in the changing room and make whatever you like."

"OK," said Spinel as she took the books from Rarity's magic field and headed into the room she indicated.

She then began looking through the books, not particularly feeling any of them before reaching one with a picture of a frog on it.

As Rarity and Pinkie waited for Spinel Pinkie said, "So if we don't usually wear clothes, why do you have private changing rooms?"

"Well you see," began Rarity before she suddenly realized she didn't know the answer to that.

Thankfully she was saved as Sweetie Belle yelled from upstairs, "HEY SIS, HAVE YOU SEEN ONE OF MY OLD STORY BOOKS I WAS GONNA DONATE TO THE FOALS BOOK FOUNDATION!?"

Before Rarity could reply she suddenly got the answer of where it was as Spinel burst out trough the door

She then looked at the two and sang, "Hello my Pinkie, hello my Rarity, hello my two great galllllsssss!" as she gestured her arms to side for applause.

"Oh my gosh, you look AMAZING!" said PInkie as she began clapping her hooves.

Rarity stood mouth agape for a moment before saying, "Well dear... it certainly suites you," as a smile came to her face. "I'm sure you and Pinkie will turn quite a few heads at the Gala."

"YEAH!" said Spinel as she raised her cane in the air. "I just have one question."

"Yes dear," said Rarity.

"What's a Gala?" asked Spinel with the most innocent look as Rarity once again started internally screaming.

Author's Note

Thank you to Penek-Hemp-grove for drawing that amazing picture of Spinel, go check them out on DeviantArt.

So Spinel is ready for the Gala, even if she doesn't know what it yet and it looks like Starlight's getting more then just a voice in her head now. What will happen next? Find out next chapter whenever that may be

Hope you liked this, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

P.S. As for Spinel not knowing what a Gala, I took the liberty that they only referred to Pink's party as Balls and I'm sorry if they did say Gala once and I forgot

P.S.S. Spinel's little song and dance was inspired by this classic cartoon moment

Put on a Show

After hearing Spinel ask what a Gala was, Pinkie burst forward with a huge smile and took a large breath in ready to go off explaining on how fun the Gala is and all the weird things that happen there... or at least at the ones she's been too.

She was interrupted though as a now calm Rarity placed her hoof over Pinkie's mouth saying, "Darling, no offence... but I think it would be best if I explain it to her. Wouldn't want her getting the wrong idea like we all did the first time we went."

Pinkie thought for a moment before simply nodding and saying, "True." She then took a seat next to Spinel to watch Rarity explain.

Rarity cleared her throat before using her magic to create a small image of a mare in an elegant blue dress and a stallion in brilliant black suit as she said, "The Grand Galloping Gala, or simply the Gala for short, is one of the most refined and prestigious events in all of Canterlot. The social elite from all across Equestria gather there to engage in fine dining, polite conversation, and dancing."

"OH! I LOVE TO DANCE!" said Spinel as she got up and began doing a little number

(only play from 0:10 to 0:21)

"Not that kind of dancing darling," said Rarity, which caused Spinel to turn her head around a complete 180 to look at her, then down at herself as she realized she'd never seen her backside before and absentmindedly kicked it with her squeaky shoe, before turning back to Rarity.

Rarity then made the image of the stallion and mare dance as she said, "Typically at the Gala there's Ballet, Salsa, Waltz, and well... you know the standard ball room dances."

"Oh," said Spinel as she briefly felt a tremor of sadness at hearing the words, "ballroom," but tried to take her mind off it this time. She turned Rarity and said, "That's sounds.... not very fun."

"I KNOW RIGHT!" said Pinkie with a huge smile as she stepped forward. "That's why I tried to make everypony there loosen up and do some other dances the first time I went."

"OH! DID IT WORK!?" asked Spinel excitedly.

Pinkie froze in her smiling face for a moment before finally saying, "Not really... in fact we all kind of screwed up the night for everypony... except Celestia, she apparently was hoping something like that would happen."

"But I can assure you dear, the next time we went we were on our best behavior and had a smashing time," said Rarity trying to get back to the elegant experience she was envisioning.

"Yeah, but that was only because Discord showed up with friend the Smooze and actually smashed stuff," said Pinkie.

"Oh, that sounds fun! Is Discord gonna do that again this year?" asked Spinel eagerly, ignoring the fact that she didn't know who Discord was.

"Unfortunately no, as soon as he found out that Celestia expects him to go there and ruin something he decided that the most chaotic and unexpected thing to do would just be to not go, so he and Fluttershy are just gonna stay in and have a movie night," said Pinkie.

Rarity sighed as she smiled saying, "Ugh, those two. I'm happy they finally admitted the're more than just friends and officially started going out, Celestia knows we could all see that coming, but I was so looking forward to making them matching outfits the Gala."

"Eh... well maybe you'll have a new couple to make outfits for after it's over, "said Pinkie, remembering Trixie's declaration, as she nudged Spinel... who didn't seem to get what she was driving at.

Spinel simply looked at her saying, "Well can we do something to make the Gala more fun?"

"Hmmm," said Pinkie as she thought about it. "OH I KNOW! You and I could put on a show for everycreature there!"

"THAT WOULD BE AMAZING! WE COULD DO A SONG AND DANCE!" began Spinel with a new level of excitement.

"AND LIGHTS AND PYROTECHNICS!" continued Pinkie, matching her excitement.

"HOLD ON NOW LADIES!" said Rarity as she stepped between them. She turned to Pinkie saying, "Pinkie darling, you know outside entertainment is forbidden inside the Gala hall."

"Which is why we don't do it in the Gala hall, we'll do it the Garden! All the animals there hide from the ponies anyway," said Pinkie as she looked over at Spinel expecting a smile.

What she saw though was Spinel trembling as she simply repeated the words, "Th-the Ga-garden..." and trailed off as the images from her dream came back to her somewhat clearer as she started to see the woman had appearance modifiers not unlike her own in coloration.

She was snapped out of the image though as Pinkie nuzzled against her, scared her friend and wanting her to talk.

"Spinel darling are you OK?" asked Rarity as she too became concerned.

"I... I'm," began Spinel, before remembering what Starlight said about it being normal to feel this way. She decided to focus on Starlight... something about the mare just seemed to calm her, the words she said, what she did to help her, even her name triggered a slight happy emotion in her for some reason. She took a breath before looking at the two concerned mare's in front of her, "I'm OK."

"Are you sure dear?" said Rarity.

"Do you want to go back to Starlight's?" asked Pinkie.

Spinel thought about it, before saying, "No... I think I'll be OK!"

"Well if you're sure," said Pinkie.

"I am," said Spinel with a nod as her normal emotions started returning to her. She then shape shifted back to her usual look before turning to Rarity and saying, "Thanks for helping me pick out a look for the Gala, Rarity."

"Oh... you're quite welcome Spinel," said Rarity as she looked to Pinkie for info about what just happened, only to be greeted by a look that said, "We'll talk later."

Spinel then turned to Pinkie with a renewed smile as she said, "So you want to go home and plan what kind of show we can put on?"

"Sure," said Pinkie with a slight smile, happy to see her friend seemed fine for now, but noting it to make sure she mentioned it to Starlight just in case Spinel tried to leave it out in there next session.

Later that night in Twilight's castle

As Starlight trotted into her room exhausted from her paperwork, she quickly plopped into bed and rested her head on her pillow, happy that the head ache seemed to be subsiding.

She looked up at her bedroom ceiling groaning and saying, "Ehhh, what a long day. I seriously need to have a talk with Twilight because I don't think we need to file every student's psychological profile in triplicate like this... at least I got to help Spinel. Poor girl, I know what it's like to be left alone. Between mom passing away before I could even really remember her and dad working all the time it felt awful when Sunburst left." As she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep though, the voice returned from the back of her head, and this time exited her mouth as she said, "He driiiiffffttteeed away."

In Sugarcube Corner

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep Spinel?" asked Pinkie as she sat up in her bed.

"No I'm OK... I just want to finish this sketch of our performance stage," said Spinel as she continued drawing.

"Well.... OK, if you're sure. Goodnight Spinel," said Pinkie before yawning and turning over in bed.

Spinel smiled at this as she said, "Goodnight Pinkie." She then resumed her drawing as she thought, "Remembering my day with Starlight helped me deal with that... whatever that was at Rarity's place. I just want to make sure I have a few more good memories in my Gem before I sleep again... then the dreams will be better."

Author's Note

So Spinel is trying her sad memories by turning her eye to the happy ones, how long will this work? What will happen with Starlight? Will Trixie simply go to the gym or be tricked into paying the outrageous monthly fees? (Sorry couldn't resist ending on a joke after all this serious stuff) Find all this and more next chapter... whenever that may be.

So first thanks first acknowledgements. Firstly, thanks to StevieRey for making this video, Brother Malachia for convincing me to use it, and finally to TimeLord11 for reminding me that Starlight is White Diamond's nickname for Pink... I decided to use it possible a happy trigger word since she probably would have heard it mostly during good times.

Anyway, thank you all for reading, hope you like it, have a great day, (also like I said to previous commentor my school work is starting to pile up and my job is taking it's tole so I won't be able to write super often... I'm gonna try to get out either chapters of this, or my other stories whenever I can though so please bear with me)

Earth Interlude 2: Gemcentric Boogalloo

As Steven paced in front of the skeletal remains of his mother's star ship he watched as Bismuth pounded the frame repeatedly with her hammer hands trying to get all the dents and bends they inadvertently put in it while taking it apart out. All the while he still couldn't stop hearing, "It's all your fault," over and over. Amethyst and Connie had long since left to try and figure out a way to cheer him up, but he was so focused on fixing what he believed to be his mistake that he didn't even notice.

Those thoughts where interrupted though as he saw Lapis fly towards him holding Peridot in her arms and he yelled up at them, "GUYS YOU'RE BACK," and as they landed in front of him he continued saying, "Any luck finding another ship?"

Lapis shied as she said, "Well the bad news is pretty much every Gem here was either one of the corrupted Gems already on Earth or used the Warp Pad to get so none of them have a ship."

As Steven started to sulk Peridot stepped forth saying, "But the good news, the construction of Little Homeworld is 100% Complete!" She then used her magnetic abilities to move a few party poppers up into the air before pulling the strings on them with a huge smile.

That smile didn't particularly affect Steven at all, even though the party poppers where his idea before all this happened, so Peridot awkwardly cleared her throat before she continued saying, "What that means is that we can now start putting The Legs back together without any issues."

"That's great! How long do you think it will take," asked Steven as stars formed in his eyes excitedly at the idea that this could all be over soon.

"Hmm, let's see," said Peridot as she pulled out her tablet. "Luckily, since I planned on putting it back together from the beginning, I kept a log of each piece we used so finding the parts shouldn't be a problem." She then began walking as she scrolled through her list saying, "We just need to actually assembly it, wire it up, encrypt the link software in a way that the other Diamonds don't know what we're doing just in case, but we can still access the star maps to help guide us there," she then reached a crude drawing she had done with the legs looking like her own and the label 'All Hail Peridot a.k.a. Green Diamond' on it before swiping it away with a slight blush as she hoped no one saw that, but a smirk from Lapis told her otherwise. She briefly thought, "Probably gonna have the deal with THAT when we get back to the barn tonight." She then tried to brush it off for now as she continued saying, "and of course putting the upgrades I wanted to do on to the side for awhile, it should take about three weeks."

"THREE WEEKS! ISN'T THERE A WAY WE COULD FIX IT FASTER!?" asked Steven as the stars in his eyes shattered and his panic once again returned.

Peridot then adjusted the parameters of her tablet as she said, "Well if we skip the tests on the gravity drive we could possible get it down to two weeks.... that is if you don't mind the possibility of the micro black hole collapsing on itself and potentially ripping a hole in the space time continuum itself."

Thankfully Steven didn't have to make such a decision in his very irrational state as Connie and Amethyst, along with someone else they had enlisted in the "Calm Down Steven Squad" had walked up around then, and upon hearing all this ran up as Connie said, "Three weeks will be plenty soon, in the the mean time," she reached into the bag she was holding and pulled out a case saying, "I just got the Crying Breakfast Friends Movie on DVD for us to watch!" She then showed Steven the back of the case as she said, "Look it even has a commentary track from the creator, Alexandra Cinnamon!"

Amethyst then stepped forward saying, "And while you two watch you can have your favorite snack, Fry Bits, coated in sugar by your favorite doughnut guy LARS!"

She then gestured to the latest member of the team who nervously smiled holding the bag as he said, "Hey dude, uhhh. These two told me you needed some cheering up about something so I figured I'd help out."

He then held out the bag to Steven and, as he caught a whiff of the perfect sweet and salty mix, he started to form a slight smile saying, "Gee thanks Lars I.... WAIT LARS!" He then remembered that the person standing before him wasn't just a doughnut delivery boy, but was also the greatest pirate this galaxy had ever seen as he grabbed onto him saying, "PLEASE TELL ME YOU STILL HAVE THE SUN INCINERATOR!"

Lars became somewhat nervous at seeing this reaction as he said, "I hate to disappoint you man, especially with how you seem now, but no I don't."

"WHAAAATTT! But why?!"

"Well dude did you think everyone was happy about this whole 'piece among the galaxy' thing?" responded Lars.

"Kind of?" said Steven as he never thought to much about it.

Lars sighed as he briefly remembered Steven's huge naivety and how it used to to annoy him, but also how it led to them being friends, and later how he started to feel like a big brother to Steven teaching him about stuff as he sat down and gestured for Steven to sit down next to him and he prepared to tell him stuff that the Diamonds apparently wanted to keep from him.

As Steven sat down Lars began saying, "Look Steven, plain and simple there where a lot of Gems who liked the status quo and the power it gave them and didn't like this idea of every Gem suddenly being equal. I know it sucks, but it happens and one of those Gems was Emerald. So in order to get her to go along with all this not only did I have to give her her ship but me and the Off Colors had to issue a formal apology, and that was just to get her to open up negotiations!"

Steven thought about all this as he said, "Huh, I never even thought about that.... I mean so many Gems came forward willing to embrace change that... I didn't even think about the ones who wouldn't."

"Well change can be scary man, when you've been doing the same thing for so long it's hard to think about doing something else. Especially if you actually enjoy it," said Lars.

"I guess," said Steven as he briefly recalled how Jasper refused to give up her mission to the end and how there were probably plenty of other Gems like her, before returning to sulking.

Upon seeing this Lars felt just like he did when he and Steven had been kidnapped by Topaz and Aqua Marine as he put his arm on him and said, "OK man, clearly this is worse then those too let on, so what's up?"

Steven shied before saying, "Well it's a bit of a long story, but basically I have a friend who's stranded on an alien planet because of something stupid I did and it's gonna be a while before I can rescue them."

Lars chuckled at that as he said, "Gee I wonder what that's like." This resulted in a slight grin from Steven as Lars continued saying, "Come on Steven, who's the one who talked about moving on during this kind of thing and said how it was cool that I was doing pirate stuff?"

"Me," replied Steven as he looked up briefly.

"And who's the one who actually helped Sadie move on and start her band?" said Lars as he stood up excitedly.

"I did," said Steven as he too stood up with a slight smile.

"EXACTLY! Look it doesn't matter if you screwed up, the point is you're working to fix it and in the mean time it won't do you any good to just sit around thinking about it," said Lars.

"I... I guess you're right," said Steven as he looked up at Lars with a slight grin. "I'm just scared that something bad is going to happen to Spinel before we can get to her."

"Please, I'm sure if she's your friend she's plenty tough. After all, nothing bad happened to me while I was gone," said Lars before glancing at his pink skin as he said, "Well... almost nothing bad."

Steven let out a little chuckle at that, the first genuine one in days, as he said, "I guess you're right." He then turned to Lapis and Peridot as he said, "You think you guys can handle things for awhile."

Lapis opened her mouth to answer, only to be interrupted as Bismuth yelled, "YOU KIDDIN!" before hopping down as she looked to Steven saying, "The three of us can get some Bismuth done like THAT! After all... we'll find a way."

Peridot then jumped forward saying, "To save the day."

And then Lapis causally floated over saying, "That's who we are."

"Right," said Steven as he nodded at them and said, "Good luck."

He then ran over to Connie and Amethyst as Connie looked at him saying, "Sooo... Crying Breakfast Friends Movie?"

"Of course! I've been looking forward to this for awhile. I heard the're gonna introduce a new character named Breakfast Burrito who has some kind of mysterious connection to Pear," said Steven as he smiled. The three of them began walking towards the house before he turned back to a smiling Lars who was getting ready to head back to Big Doughnut as he thought about all they've been through and how Lars wasn't the only one who thought of them like brothers, before saying, "Hey Lars, if you want we can hold off on the movie until your shift is over so you can watch it with us."

Lars turned to Steven as he said, "Yeah... I'd like that... little bro," feeling now seemed like the right time to express how he felt.

Steven smiled and nodded at this as he said, "We'll be waiting for you... big bro." The two shared a simple look of understanding before going their separate ways. As Steven walked with the others he thought to himself, "I'm still gonna rescue you Spinel, but I'm gonna try not to worry about to much along the way.... key word being try," he thought as a small bit of anxiety flared up. "Please just be OK."

Meanwhile at Sugarcube Corner

As Pinkie slowly opened her eyes she was greeted by another pair of eyes staring at her as Spinel jumped back and yelled, "SURPRISE!" She then gestured at a collection of papers taped over the entirety of one of Pinkie's walls that outlined the exact design and size of the stage for their show.

"Golly Spinel... you sure put a lot of work into this," said Pinkie as she lightly smiled at her and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"I'm just so excited for our show and can't wait to get started on it!" said Spinel excitedly.

"Awesome," said Pinkie as she got out of bed and started her morning stretches to wake up. She slightly yawned before saying, "So what kind of show did you want to do?"

With her smile totally unwavering Spinel yelled out, "I HAVE NO IDEA!"

Author's Note

So Steven's trip to Equestria is even more delayed, but thanks to help from his "big brother" he's OK with that for now. In the meantime what kind of show will Pinkie and Spinel put on? Will Trixie and Starlight get together at the Gala? How will the bit of Spinel in Starlight's head affect this? Is the Crying Breakfast Friends Movie good? Will I come up with some other reason to delay the Crystal Gems and keep it grounded in Equestria for a little while longer, find all these and more next time whenever that may be.

So yeah.... been a while since my last update and gonna be awhile since the next update as while I thought I could get a lot more done when winter break starts... that's not gonna be the case as I had forgetting just how long it takes to write a chapter I'm happy with and consider that I also need to draw stuff for some of the later chapters... yeah it could be a while.

I thank you all for bearing with me though and reading, I hope you liked it, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

Inspirational Memories

Pinkie slightly chuckled at this as she asked, "You don't know?"

"Well not really... I mean of course I have a bunch of ideas swirling around in my Gem but none I'm too eager about," said Spinel as she looked towards Pinkie.

She only smiled at that as she said, "Well that's fine. That's something we should really plan together anyway."

Spinel smiled back as she hopped to Pinkie giddily saying, "So what were you thinking?"

"Hmmm, I don't know either," said Pinkie with a smile.

"Well shucks," said Spinel as she put her hands into pockets she had just formed on her pants and began thinking.

"Hmmm," said Pinkie before noticing a neck poking out of the pile of party supplies near her bed. She then ran up to it saying, "I think I know just the thing to clear our heads." After a fair amount of digging she finally pulled out the acoustic guitar and said, "After all, music is very relaxing," before strumming it with a smile.

Spinel on the other hand looked somewhat curious as the object in Pinkie's hooves looked familiar... but at the same different as she said, "What's that thing you're holding?"

"Oh this, it's a guitar," said Pinkie smiling at getting to tell her friend something new and fun again. "Have you never seen one before?"

"Well no I have... at least I think I have?" said Spinel confused as a brief memory of being surrounded by people and watching other people play music on something like that started to come forward. "It looked kinda like that, but flat, and it sounded different," she then paused thinking before the picture became clearer and she said, "and it was plugged into something."

"OH! Hang on," said Pinkie as she excitedly dove back into the supply pile and swam in it a bit before coming back up holding several things as she said, "Is this it?"

"YES EXACTLY!" said Spinel as she smiled upon seeing the objects from this memory, that so far seemed to be a good one.

"This is called an electric guitars, and it plugs into this thingy here called an amp," said Pinkie before she noticed just how happy Spinel looked and she said, "Do you want me to teach you how to play?"

"OH YES PLEASE!" said Spinel excitedly as she reached out for the guitar, which Pinkie plugged into the amp before giving it to her.

"AWESOME! Though, most people usually learn on acoustics and move up to electrics," said Pinkie as she looked over towards her own guitar before saying, "Try strumming on it for a bit, and then I'll teach you some of the chords."

Spinel smiled before moving her hand across the strings. Upon doing so though the memory she had started to have come back became clearer and more solid and to her thanks, it seemed to remain happy as she decided to go with and strum more.

As Pinkie walked towards her own guitar listening to Spinel strumming she suddenly realized it was becoming less random and actually sounded like a song, before she turned back around and saw Spinel somehow knowing to shape shift a guitar pick out of her thumb as she strummed and began singing.

As Spinel played and sang her smile only grew wider and wider as she thought, "I'm doing it, I'm remembering just like Starlight wanted but it's good things this time! I just gotta keep this up and then who knows, maybe between the good memories like this and the new ones I'm forming with Pinkie whatever those bad memories with the pink lady are, they'll feel like nothing!"

As Spinel reached the end of the song and bowed to her audience of one, Pinkie clapped her hooves together saying, "OH MY GOSH SPINEL! Why didn't you tell me you already knew how to play!?"

"Well that's because... I don't!" said Spinel with an even larger smile.

This only confused Pinkie as she said, "Wait, what do you mean you don't know how to play?"

"I mean, I was just mimicking a memory from my Gem... which means," said Spinel eagerly.

Pinkie caught on quickly as she said, "OH MY GOSH! YOU GOT YOUR MEMORIES BACK?!"

"Well just the one... I remember being at a concert and hearing this song... I was so happy then," said Spinel as she thought on the memory. "I was with someone important too I..." began Spinel, before realizing that part was still kinda fuzzy for some reason. Part of her told her it was the pink woman but another part of her said it was someone else and the odd thing was... she didn't actually think either part was wrong. She then decided to shake it off as she continued saying, "I had a really fun time."

"That's so great to hear Spinel, and I'm sure Starlight will be happy to hear it too," said Pinkie with a smile before she continued saying, "For now I think it's pretty clear what we're gonna do for our show."

"What?" asked Spinel, not getting what Pinkie was driving at.

"Isn't it obvious silly," said Pinkie with a huge grin, "I'm gonna teach you how to play guitar for real, and we're gonna perform a song together at the Gala!"

"OH MY GOSH! That's a great idea!" said Spinel excitedly. She then plopped down on the floor in front Pinkie as she said, "Let's get to work then."

Pinkie opened her mouth to respond, only to then be interrupted by her stomach growling as she giggled before saying, "How about we grab some breakfast first, today's Cinnamon Roll day and I KNOW you'll just love those!"

"Oh YAY!" said Spinel as she followed Pinkie down the stares and thought to herself, "I can't wait to tell Starlight about this little break through I've had."

Meanwhile at the Castle of Friendship

Starlight awoke in a cold sweat panting as she began thinking to herself, "What the!?" She paused for a moment to catch her breath as she said, "Been a while since I've had a night terror like that.... I guess maybe talking to Spinel about her similar past might have stirred them back up again." After glancing out her clock and seeing how late it was she said, "Shoot. Looks like I gotta skip my shower and breakfast if I want to be at the school on time... maybe I can grab something from the cafeteria." She then got to her hooves and walked over to her vanity to start getting ready. As she walked though she thought about the night terrors again and commented, "It is a little weird though.... usually I can remember my night terror dreams, but this time I'm drawing a blank about it."

Any thoughts on this where quickly interrupted though as she got a look of her self in the mirror and noticed some oddities. Firstly her mane was matted, which didn't sound weird given how she was tossing and turning in her sleep, but it was the way it was matted that looked weird. Instead of just being a nonsensical mess like normal, it had somehow formed into the twin tail style she had when she was filly but still messy and frayed. She decided to shrug that off though as she used her magic to grab a brush and get it back to normal. Once the hair was straightened though she noticed another weird thing as she said, "Guess I forgot to wipe my make up off before bed?" as somehow there where three trails of mascara under each of her eyes.

"But how did it form so perfect like this?" she asked as she looked at the lines closer in the mirror before she heard a small laugh from the back of her head that startled her. As quickly as it came though it left, as she commented to herself, "I REALLY need to tell Twilight to dial down the paper work... between these late nights and now my night terrors potentially coming back I think this lack of restful sleep is getting to me." She then wiped the mascara off and looked towards a bottle to apply to a fresh coat, only to see that it was empty. "Hmm, could of sworn I had enough left for a day or two," she said before shrugging and saying, "oh well, guess I'm just gonna have to have the natural look today."

As she walked out of the room she failed to notice two more odd things about that mascara bottle. One, it had already been open and two, the brush was next to her bed indicating that perhaps she had done more then just toss and turn in her sleep.

Author's Note

Well well well, looks like the Spinel in Starlight is getting stronger. How will that turn out, how will the currently happy Spinel react, and how will all of this impact the upcoming Gala? Find out all this and more next chapter, whenever that maybe.

Well everycreature, we are about at the Gala, which just as it was for Friendship is Magic, so two will it be the season finale of this fanfic. Which means that I will try to get it all done before January for you all (key word being try) but after it is done I will be taking a break from this to work on other stuff (unknown what that will be as on the one hand I feel like I should get back to my other stories, on the other I'm binge watching Lucifer right now and have noticed a lack of completed crossover fics on here that I wish to rectify) but either way I hope you all bear with me and enjoy whatever I write.

Thank you too Chi-Chi for her beautiful rendition of "Disobedient" I urge you all to check her out on YouTube.

Thank you all reading, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

Into the Gala We Must Go

"And after that Pinkie taught me how to play guitar for real and we're gonna play some songs at the Gala tonight and it's going to be so MUCH FUN!" said Spinel excitedly as she stood atop the therapy couch.

"That's great to hear Spinel, I can't wait to hear you two play together," said Starlight as Spinel beamed a smile back at her. Starlight then grabbed her notes as she scribbled some stuff down saying, "More importantly I'm happy that you managed to remember something good from your past and I agree with your theory that if you keep remembering things like this when the 'not fun' stuff eventually come back they won't be that won't seam as big."

Spinel smiled as she began repeating Starlight's advice saying, "And it's not a big deal, because it wasn't my fault and whatever it was won't happen again."

Starlight nodded as she said, "Exactly, wow you are making a lot of good progress after only a few sessions."

Spinel's grin grew as she said, "Thanks, what about you though. How has that dream with you and Trixie gone?"

Starlight blushed slightly as she said, "Well I haven't had another dream about her or anything." She briefly thought to herself, "Because I've been having night terrors again and have been getting headaches from the lack of sleep, and if the stuff moved around in my room is anything to go by I might also be sleep walking too... but she doesn't need to here that. She has her own problems, and I'm sure I can get over this myself... I mean how bad could it."

Starlight cleared her throat before she continued saying, "Though I don't know if it's because of the dream or what but lately hanging out with her has felt... different."

"How so?" asked Spinel confused.

"Well... I don't know just the way she looks at me and talks to me and just EVERYTHING feels like it's suddenly more than friendship... I'd say she that maybe she wants me to ask her out, but it feels like we've already been there done that and are just casually dating already!" said Starlight as she became somewhat unnerved saying all this because on the one hoof she thought it was weird.... but on the other she didn't think it was bad.

"I see," said Spinel, for real this time as she actually understood.... sort of. Not to long ago she had told Pinkie everything that had been going on with Trixie and Starlight and she said for now it would be best to watch and see what happens rather then interfere and things should just work out between them.

"Even when I asked her to the Gala tonight she acted happy sure but like.... it was in an odd way. It's like when someone finds out about a surprise party and they act like the distraction to get them out of the house while people set up is amazing to not let them know you know... you know?" said Starlight before blinking as even she realized that didn't fully make sense.

As expected Spinel said, "Not at all."

Starlight shrugged as she said, "Eh, that's OK... but I'm going to have to say something to her soon because she's even started to look different to me too. Like, when I saw her pulling her wagon I couldn't help but notice her flanks looked more," she briefly paused as blush came to her face and she fanned herself with her notes before saying, "toned then usual."

"Well I'm sure you'll figure out what to do," said Spinel, not really sure what that last part meant. "And if you need help I'll be right there at the Gala with you two."

Starlight let out a deep breath as her blush faded and she smiled saying, "Thanks Spinel, and you know if anything happens to you Pinkie and I will be there for you too."

"I know," said Spinel as she approached and hugged the mare, who soon hugged her back.

The tender moment between friends lasted for awhile as Spinel thought, "I know Spinels aren't supposed to have two best friends but if I could.... it would be Starlight."

Starlight thought to herself, "This girl seems to handling this ALOT better then I did... really wish I could've talked like this back then."

As the moment went on though Starlight glanced at the clock before letting go of Spinel as she said, "SHOOT! If we want to be ready in time to catch the train to Canterlot, we better start getting ready now."

"Oh gosh, you're right," said Spinel before she started heading out the door saying, "Thank's again Starlight I'll see you at the train station."

"No problem Spinel, I'll see you there," said Starlight.

She then trotted over to her desk as she opened the drawers and began putting everything in her saddlebag. "OK, makeup, keys, Rejuvinator, and wallet. That should be everything, just gotta go back to the castle to get changed and then pick up Trixie at her wagon." As ran to the door, failing to notice everything she just said, she suddenly felt a pressure behind her eyes as she tried to shake it off saying, "Come on head aches, your not going to ruin this night."

Meanwhile at Sugarcube corner

Thankfully Pinkie had already gotten herself dressed, and since Spinel simply needed to shape shift to change the only real task was them getting their instruments all put away and carrying them.

As they went out the door and began their way to train station, Spinel said, "Are you sure you don't want me to carry it all Pinkie?"

"I'm sure. I know you said you can handle heavy stuff but I'd still feel bad making you carry it all," said Pinkie.

"But isn't that what best friends are for?" asked Spinel slightly confused as manual labor was virtually rule one in her gems code.

"Sometimes but you can't do everything for me, I mean there's a difference between a friend and a servant," said Pinkie.

"Hmm," said Spinel slightly as she thought about that. She thought to herself, "Pinkie isn't really treating me like how Spinel's are usually treated between that and Starlight wanting to also be my best friend... maybe my Gem's code isn't actually that important here."

At Trixie's Wagon

As Starlight walked up to wagon she straightened up her dress and bag. It wasn't anything special, just the black gem studded dress Rarity had made for her when first became friends and a matching saddlebag. She knocked on the door saying, "Hey Trix, you almost ready?"

"I'LL BE OUT IN A MINUTE STAR!" came back a yell from inside.

Starlight nodded to herself as she began pacing in front of the door saying, "OK, Starlight. You are now realizing that this looks ALOT like a date, but it's not. It's just two friends hanging out. I don't have to talk about these possible feelings with her tonight... if I even REALLY have them."

Those thought disappeared though as the door opened and she saw Trixie in her dress

Trixie smiled at her as she said, "Do you like it? It was my moms when she was my age, in fact she actually wore it the first time she went to the Gala with my dad and..."

Trixie continued on like this, but Starlight didn't hear much more as the only thought going through her, some what throbbing, head was, "Which sounds better, Trixie and Starlight Lulamoon or Starlight and Trixie Glimmer?"

She was snapped back to reality though as she heard Trixie say, "So you ready to go?"

"Yes of... of course I am," said Starlight with a blush as two made their way to the train station, while Starlight tried to ignore her headache seemingly getting worse.

Before they knew it, the train had arrived and now Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Starlight, Trixie, and Spinel were making their way into the castle each very excited for the night ahead.

As Celestia and Luna glanced down at their guests though, Luna pointed a hoof down at Spinel saying, "There sister, that's her."

"Are you sure dear sister, from what Twilight's told me in her letters despite being somewhat strange this Spinel character is harmless," said Celestia.

"I am sure, though I wish I wasn't. These past few nights in the dream realm I have seen her do things... things I don't wish to recount to you unless I have too," said Luna with concern.

Celestia looked at her sister with reassurance saying, "But are you sure this means she is dangerous? I mean lots of creatures have bad dreams."

"I wish it was simply that, but I'm afraid that tonight they might be more than that. I can't pinpoint it in her now with so many creatures around, but the dreams seem to be growing in the creature's mind and if they aren't stopped... I'm afraid they could do these things in the real world," said Luna as her concern grew.

"I see," said Celestia.

"In any case I assure you sister that I am not judging her on actions she has yet to perform... for now I will simply watch her from the shadows as I watch over all our creatures," said Luna before dissapearing into tower behind her.

Celestia shuddered slightly before saying, "I hate when she does that," she then looked down at the creature entering as she said to herself, "I do hope Luna is wrong about this though."

Meanwhile Starlight's headache only seemed to bevgetting worse, as if it sensed something was near that could threaten it and began working faster.

Author's Note

So they are at the Gala and Luna knows something is up... unfortunetly she has her eyes on the wrong creature right now. How will this all unfold, find out next time whenever that may be.

Firstly thanks to AtomicMillenial for drawing that gorgeous image of Trixie, go check them out on DeviantArt

Secondly.. I'm not sure if I can get the season finale up before January like I said but I will do what I can. Anyway thanks for reading, I hope you liked this, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day

P.S. I'm sorry if this a little rough, what with the holidays my time has been cut significantly so I couldn't proof read it as much as I wanted

The Story You've Heard Over and Over Again

Once the process finished Spinel stood on stage and wiped her tears away as she looked down and saw her normal form as all the recalled memories fell into place. "Oh no no no! I can't let Pinkie see me like this," she said as she looked at the distorted shoes and dark clothes she now had on. As she looked and caught a glimpse of Pinkie bobbing and weaving through the crowd to catch Rainbow Dash, she briefly thought, "Or can I.... NO! She became friends with the old me.... there's no way she'd want to be friends with this me. And even if she did, this me doesn't deserve her." She then reached into her Gem to pull out the Rejuvinator and do this all again.... only to discover that it wasn't there anymore and she had no idea where it could be.

"Not good," said Spinel before she heard Pinkie say, "SPINEL!" with a voice full of concern at her sudden change.

"DOUBLE NOT GOOD!" said Spinel as her mind raced trying to figure out what to do. She thought about shape shifting to look like her old self, but despite her efforts she couldn't as she was unable to focus properly, and even if she could she doubted she could act like her old self. As she saw Pinkie now trotting her with her concern growing, all rational thought left her Gem as she simply dove beneath the incomplete stage like a child, and just like a child her hiding place was terrible as even if Pinkie hadn't seen her go into it, she still would have seen her in general.

As Pinkie approached the gap to below the stage, she said, "Spinel are you OK?.... Why do you look like that?"

Unable to think of anything to get her out of this, Spinel began to cry as she laughed and began saying, "No... I'm not sure if I've ever been OK. As for why I look like this.... it's because this is the real me."

"What do you?" began Pinkie before realizing what she must have meant by this as she slightly smiled saying, "You got your memories back."

"Yeah... and I remembered that Pink Diamond wasn't the only person who screwed up my past," said Spinel as she shucked through the tears once again.

Pinkie's concern returned as she slowly made her way below the stage saying, "Spinel, what are you saying?"

As Spinel saw her approaching she backed further below the stage as she said, "What I'm saying is... you deserve a better friend then me."

"What are you talking about... you'e my 'best friend Spinel' ," as she smiled again and continued to approach her panicking friend.

Spinel backed into the wall of the stage as she said, "Trust me Pinkie, if you knew what I've done you wouldn't want to be friends with me... no one should be friends with me...." her tears then increased as she made her way to a gap in the gap in the stage to run away.

Seeing this Pinkie started to go towards her faster as she said, "Look Spinel, I don't know what you did that you so scared of but I promise that you can I can get through it TOGETHER!" as she lept onto Spinel to try and grab her in a hug.

What happened though was something far more as their two bodies began to glow and melt into each other, as a hole burst furth in the top of the stage to make room for the much taller girl now standing their

As the girl looked at her strange new body, the long limbs that ended in glove like hands, the shorter limbs below them that looked like hooves with small glove fingers, the Gem which now had a string below it like a balloon, and finally the twin tails of thick puffy hair on either side of her head.

One voice came out of the girl saying, "What the... we?"

Before another voice, identical yet somehow different, said, "Fusion... we fused?"

"Fusion.... what-" began the one voice the two of them noticed what looked like a giant glowing butterfly iin front of them.

As the butterfly flapped it's wings, the second voice said, "NO! Don't look at that!"

But it was too late as the butterflies wings began to display an image

"Oh Spinel... I'm so sorry I-" began the first voice.

It was interrupted though as the second clenched the fists on the left of their body saying, "That's not the part I didn't want you to see."

As she looked back at the butterfly it showed several images of Spinel growing angry and mounting the Injector before eventually coming to this

"So their you have it...I tried to kill people who had nothing to do with Pink Diamond because she left me, a whole planet full of them," said the second voice as she gripped one arm with the other disheartened.

"Well... we all make mistakes... that doesn't mean you don't deserve friendship," said the first voice as she grabbed the arms in comfort.

"Yeah right, who would be friends with someone who's done stuff like that?" said the second voice.

"Well... me," said the first voice as it focused and made several ethereal balloons form around the.

As the second voice looked around the balloons began expanding as the images of what Luna, Discord, the Changelings, and even her best friend Sarlight came to light before showing how they all made up and have been friends ever since.

"I... wow," said the second voice as saw it all, "But this is.... are you sure you really can forgive me?"

"Of course I can," said the first voice as the right half of her face began to smile.

Before the second voice chuckled and the left half joined in on the smile.

As she smiled her body began to glow as Pinkie and Spinel split apart on to the stage.

As Pinkie looked around she said, "What... exactly was that?"

"That was fusion, it's more two or more Gems, or I guess they don't even have to be Gems, who are really close to each other can join their bodies together and become one," said Spinel.

"Wow, that's amazing," began Pinie before looking around and seeing... nopony looking at them, "But apparently not enough to get the attention of these stuck up ponies."

Spinel chuckled at this as she said, "Well then I guess our show will have to be even better.... that is if you still want to do it with me."

Pinkie smiled as she said, "Of course I do," as she approached Spinel who began smiling in return. "But first we should probably check on Starlight, besides I think she's going to happy to here about your little break through here."

"Ye-yeah," said Spinel as thought abut what she had just learned about Starlight... and how she was alot like her.

As Pinkie began walking away though Spinel took a moment to softly grin and say, "Today, right here, right now, I truly feel found," before following after her.

Meanwhile in the Canterlot Castle

As Luna finally managed to track the screaming down to Twilight's room she opened the door and the screaming abruptly stopped as she feared she was too late.

She trotted through the strangely dark room as she lit her horn saying, "Whoever you are I suggest you release your hold on my subjects mind and leave this place at once!"

To this Luna heard a chuckle in response as she turned to it's source and saw what kind of looked like Starlight only with matted twin tails and three black lines below each eye, "Starlight you-" said Luna before being interrupted as the creature before her ignited a rod she had gripped in her magic causing it to turn into a large glowing scythe.

It was then Luna gotta full look at the creature and realized that even if this was Starlight's body... it wasn't Starlight standing before her as she backed away in horror from the creatures huge unsettling grin. It then looked at her as it's vision distorted the person before someone else and she began saying, "Hmm, fancy seeing you here Blue, but I guess you wouldn't want to stray too far away from the new little Pink."

Before Luna could even ask what was going the creature bolted towards her and swung the scythe through her body. As Luna looked down in fear at what she would see she saw... nothing as her body looked totally fine.

This seemed to slightly stumble the creature as she said, "Hmm, guess you don't poof. Chalk that up to the list of things that are different about Diamonds. Guess I gotta go for plan B then." She then used her magic to twist the button on the Rejuvinator causing another rod with a metal ball to come out the other end of it.

She shown struck Luna in the gut with it knocking all the wind out of her, before a stream a magic came out of her back hoof as if it was stretching and kicked Luna into the wall. "You know you Diamonds think of everything, don't you. I mean, who would've thought of putting in a built in Shattering rod on a Rejuvinator."

As Luna struggled to breath again the creature formed a hand of pure magic on the end of one of her front hooves and lifted Luna's head up saying, "Don't worry though Blue, I'm not gonna shatter you... wouldn't want you missing out on the fun."

As her smile broadened she placed Luna in the bed and tied each of her hooves to each post before finally gagging her. She then positioned the bed so it was facing directly out the window as the creatures vision began to distort the tower above the garden into it's Injector. Her smile then widened as she hopped out the window towards it.

As Spinel and Pinkie began walking and laughing towards the entrance they noticed several ponies gasp and stare up as they too looked up and saw what appeared to a pony hop up on top holding something.

Both Pinkie and Spinel recognized what thing was though as Pinkie said, "Is that... Starlight?"

"Oh no," said Spinel as she remembered Starlight's spell and how she had been off since then.

The creature simply looked at the assembled crowd with a smile as it said, "Well well well, let me get a look at the menagerie."

Author's Note

So one Spinel is doing OK but the other isn't doing OK, but the other... not so much. What will happen next? Find out next chapter whenever that may be.

New and Improved art drawn by TheFreeWingedDrawer, and I would just like to thank them once again for such an amazing gift and I urge you all to check them out on DeviantArt

Anyway I hope you liked this, any constructive criticism is welcome have a great day.

An Apology 6000 Years in the Making

As the creature looked down at the gasping crowd it's mind began to twist the images of those before it. Some simply faded into the background, most of which didn't need to as many of them began running into the castle in fear, whereas others took on new appearances. It's eyes settled on Rainbow Dash as it said, "You must be Amethyst," then turned over Twilight saying, "You must be Garnet," and finally settled onto the actual Spinel as it said, "and... Pink Diamond's Pearl. She took YOU with her, isn't that just SWELL!"

As Pinkie and Spinel looked in horror at seeing this scene they where now both familiar with play out again, Twilight stepped forward saying, "Starlight, what are you talking about?"

This only seemed to make the creatures smile widen as she said, "Oh don't look so surprised. I'm sure you all knew I'd notice you're little 'happily ever after'," before rolling her eyes at them.

At this Pinkie stepped forward saying, "Starlight I don't know what's going on but..."

"OH OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH ME! Not when you're so busy hanging out with your new little friends and saving the galaxy!" said the creature.

Upon hearing this, Spinel became concerned as she realized exactly who Starlight thought Pinkie was right now and what that meant. She stepped forward saying, "STARLIGHT! You have to listen to me, this isn't Steven!"

Upon hearing this the creature became confused for a moment before it let out a large unsettling laugh saying, "Good one Pearl, but you seriously don't think I'd recognize him after having to watch his little 'message to the universe' on LOOP!"

At this point the general populous had been evacuated inside the castle leaving only Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Trixie, Pinkie, and Spinel as the creature looked down at all of them saying, "I just LOOOOVVVEEEDD that part, where Pink Diamond spends the rest of her days on this NOWHERE planet with a bunch of NOBODIES!" before leaping down to start her attack, and song.

(start at 1:02)

As the song went on she made more tendrils of magic to swing around the group as they all attempted to dodge. Twilight tried to use a restraint spell on her, only for her body to continuously and logic defyingly wriggle and stretch out of them before she eventually returned to the tower and looked down at all of them.

(Pause song at at 2:01)

Trixie looked up at the creature and worriedly whispered, "Star?" as one look into it's eyes told her that this wasn't the mare she loved.

As the others continued to stare in confusion at what was going on, Spinel prepared to jump in front to protect them and explain everything, that plan was interrupted as a very angry Rainbow Dash flew up next to creature saying, "Look Pal, I don't know if you're some kind of renegade Changeling or a Mirror Pool Clone or what, but whoever you are get the hay out of here and give us the real Starlight back!"

This resulted in the creature's sadistic smile totally leaving as it's face filled with rage and it pointed at itself before it continued singing.

(resume music)

As it sung it pulled the Rejuvinator from its saddle bag and activated it before hopping down and taking swings at each of them and while some managed to dodge, others where hit... to thankfully no result. Spinel recognized the potential danger though as she stretched her arms out and managed to scoop up the whole group and move them all into a bush with her to regroup.

The creature saw this saying, "So you want to play a little hide and seek then. Well that's fine.... I deserve to play an actually FUN game!"

"What the hay is going on and... why do you look different?" asked Applejack finally noticing that Spinel didn't look the same as when they got to the Gala.

Spinel opened her mouth to respond, only to be swiftly interrupted as Rarity said, "I must say it is a much better look for you darling, feels more fitting."

They briefly looked at her in annoyance resulting in Rarity saying, "What! I can't be the only one thinking it!?"

Spinel rolled her eyes before saying, "It's a big of a long story but basically I got my memories back and I used to kind of be... totally insane and Starlight just so happens to be possessed by that part of my memory."

"If that's the case then maybe I can use a memory spell to make her remember who she normally is," said Twilight.

"No, that's how this all started to begin with. Gem memories must work differently then pony memories and-" Spinel said before interrupting herself as she repeated, "Gem memories." She then had a realization struck her as she said, "We got to get the Rejuvinator from her!"

"The what?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The glowing scythe thing she has," said Spinel.

"But how are we going to do that?" asked Rarity.

The group paused for a moment before saying, "I guess we're going to have to fight her."

"But how, Twilight's magic didn't seem to even slow her down and you're the only one who can be actually be hurt by that thing," said Pinkie in concern.

Spinel was about to respond when she suddenly heard someone bolt out of the bush and they all looked to see Trixie stepping towards the creature.

"Starlight.... I don't know what this thing in your head is but I know you're stronger then it," said Trixie as the creature seemed to briefly shutter and lose it's composure at her words. "You're the one who picked herself up after screwing up so many times and became the best mare I've ever known... the one who helped me get past my mistakes and makes me a better mare everyday." Trxie finally was mere inches away from the creature as she let her tears flowing saying, "Please Star... come back to me."

The creature shuttered for a moment as it tried to choke out the word, "Tri-Trix-" but was promptly interrupted as it struck itself the head saying, "NO! NO! None of you can change the way I feel!" It then once again produced a magic tendril from it's hoof and backhooved Trixie over towards the bush, where she was thankfully caught by Spinel.

"WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT!?" berated Rainbow Dash as soon as Trixie was safely on the ground.

"I'm sorry.... I just couldn't bear the idea of you guys fighting her and I thought... maybe I could take to her and get her back," said Trixie as she looked down and cried both in apology for walking away like that, and sadness that she couldn't get through to Starlight.

Upon hearing these words though, Spinel realized something as she said, "Trixie... I think you got the right idea. You were just talking to the wrong person."

This resulted in looks of confusion from everyone, aside from Pinkie, who spoke up saying, "We can talk to the bit of you in her, just like Steven did."

"Yes... but unfortunately she won't talk to Steven right now," said Spinel.

"How do you know that!?" said Pinkie worriedly as she began to realize where this was going.

"Because I didn't... no there's only one person whom she's gonna let talk to her for more then a few seconds," said Spinel as she got up and prepared to move forward.

"Spinel, what do you mean?" asked Pinkie as her worry mounted.

Spinel let out a slight tear before turning to Pinkie with a smile as she said, "Pinkie... no matter what happens I want you to know that this time I spent with you was the best time of my life and that you are and always will be.... my best friend." She turned to the others as she said, "One way or another... this is gonna over soon, but only if none of you interrupt," she then subtly motioned to Twilight who got what she was saying as she nodded back.

Spinel took a nervous breath before her body began to glow as she started shape shifting. As she grew much taller and her became poofier she focused her voice ready to do the best impression she could as she said, "SPINEL STOP! I'M THE ONE YOU WANT!"

The creature looked over and saw the one person she never expected to see coming out of the bush and simple said, "Yooouuu." There she was the person who ruined her life, who promised her endless happiness and play and then ripped it all away like nothing. The one she wanted to focus her anger on from the beginning but never knew she could. "YOU!"

"Yes Spinel it's me.... Pink Diamond," said Spinel as she walked forward, her shapeshifting now done.

"YOU! YOU! How dare you!" said the creature as any hint of it's smile was now gone and was instead replaced by pure rage.

Spinel knew thought that this... was nothing more then a mask as she stepped forward and prepared for what was coming.

Pinkie began to worried at seeing this and tried to exit the bush, only to for something to stop her as she looked down and saw one of Twilight's restraint spells on her back hoof. She looked over at Twilight who had a crestfallen expression that seemed to simple say, "I'm sorry, but this is what has to be done."

"How dare you! How dare!" repeated the creature as Spinel finally got within arms length of her. Spinel braced herself as it happened within in an instant. The creature dropped the Rejuvinator as it went from anger to tears and wrapped it's front hooves around Spinel saying between sobs, "How dare you... how dare you still be alive?"

Spinel simply knelt down and hugged her back as she said, "I know."

The creature continued to cry though as it said, "The one comfort I had in all of this is knowing you were gone. That you couldn't come back for me even if you wanted to, but now... why didn't you come back... was I not good enough?"

The creature attempted to pull away upon saying this, but Spinel hugged her tighter saying, "No Spinel... you didn't do anything wrong. I was the one who was wrong."

"Wha-what?" said the creature.

"I was a bad... no a terrible friend to you and I'm sorry," said Spinel as she thought about what she had learned about Pink after leaving the Garden and what she would have wanted Pink to say... and deep down thought she would say. "I... was in a bad place when we were together. I was selfish and didn't really think about others like I should have and for that I'm sorry... I shouldn't have left you alone like I did but in the end I should have left you because... you deserve better then me."

"I... I..." started the creature before breaking down into a fit of sobs as it simply said, "Thank you, thank you."

Spinel tightened the hug as she thought about grabbing the Rejuvinator off the ground... but knew that it would only make things worse as she took her eyes from it and hoped that this would work instead. She then parted from the hug as she said, "Do you understand what I am saying Spinel?"

The creature sniffled abit as it backed away and gave a salute saying, "Yes my Diamond."

Spinel smiled at this as she said, "I'm not your Diamond anymore.... you're free to do whatever you want now and make new friends... better friends."

The creature for the first in its existence let out a full genuine smile at seeing this before in an instant... it was gone. The body collapsed on the ground as the tears moved to perfectly wipe away the lines on the face and the mane moved back to it's normal style. Once all that rage and fear was gone, so two was that peace of Spinel... as Starlight shakily got back up and said "Uhh, what happened I-"

She was swiftly interrupted as Trixie tackled her to the ground saying, "Oh my gosh I'm so glad you're back." Starlight attempted to ask followup questions about this before Trixie suddenly bent down and gave her a deep kiss causing any and all rational thought to leave her head as she leaned into the moment.

The others soon exited the bush and came forward as Spinel changed back to her normal form. Rainbow Dash briefly leaned towards Applejack as she said, "Do you have any clue what just happened?" resulting in the mare simply giving a shrug in return.

As Pinkie approached she ran to Spinel and gave her a large hug saying, "I'm so glad you're OK... I was worried she'd shatter you."

Spinel chuckled at this as she said, "Yeah... I was too."

"So wait... what just happened?" asked Twilight trying to make sense of this night.

"Well from Pinkie's shown me you should know... instead of solving a problem by fighting we beat it with the magic of friendship," said Spinel as she and Pinkie looked at the assembled mares with a smile.

"Yeah that um.... you know what good enough for now," said Twilight as she started to realize just how stressful this all is. Twilight then made her over the castle door yelling, "Typical Gala crisis over people, feel free to get back to... whatever the hay you where doing... I think I need a drink." She then made her way over to the punch bowl with Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity following soon after.

As Spinel and Pinkie looked at each other taking all this in, Pinkie smiled as she said, "So... you still want to put on our show?"

Spinel thought for a moment before saying, "I definitely think a show needs to be put on, but someone else should do it."

A few moments later

As Spinel and Pinkie looked out at the assembled crowd before them, they nodded to each other before they both strummed their guitars and moved closer and closer together. Just when it looked like they where about to bump into each other though, their bodies began to glow and melt together once again before the new girl stood before everyone now holding a single double necked guitar. The crowd cheered, partially in confusion at what just happened, as the girl looked at the crowd saying, "HELLO EVERYCREATURE! WE ARE um..... PINKEL!" The audience cheered further before the creature said, "And I'd just like you all to now that... it's a big universe out here and that may seem scary, but all that means is there are plenty of places to find a friend so you can all face it TOGETHER!" before they then started playing.

End of Part 1.

BONUS!

As Trixie and Starlight cuddled beneath a blanket they had found watching the show Trixie couldn't help but giddly lookd over at Starlight saying, "I still can't believe you're my marefriend now!"

"I'm having a bit of a time believing it myself... it certainly has started out in an interesting way," said Starlight as she smiled at the mare next to her.

"Well if you want we could find some place private to do the standard I like you, you like me we should be more then friends talk," said Trixie.

"Nah... I think we're well past that... besides where would we even talk?" said Starlight.

"We could go back to Twilight's room?" said Trixie.

Starlight thought about this for a moment before a stray memory came to mind and she bolted up right yelling, "OH MY GOSH LUNA!"

As Luna laid in the bed defeated she shied to herself saying, "And once again I am left out of the climactic finale... at least I have good music to listen to this time." She lightly bobbed her head, the only part of her she could move, to the concert she could thankfully hear and see out the window.

Author's Note

And so season 1 has ended and with that journey of Spinel and Pinkie takes a break. I'll probably end up posting a teaser chapter some time soon to hint at what the next arc will be, but beyond that expect a break before finding out what happens next

Beautiful covers of Other Friends and Independent Together done by Caleb Hyles and EilieMony respectively I urge you check them out on YouTube (and if anyone has an objection to me using Other Friends twice... DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THAT SONG!? I WOULD HAVE USED IT EVERY CHAPTER IF I COULD!)

Anyway as always hope you liked, it any constructive criticism is welcome, and have a great day.

P.S. I have now thought long and hard and decided what my next project will be and while I don't want to give anything away... I suggest you grab your Doughnut Holers and get ready for a train ride

Season 2 Teaser and Lapidot

Earth, The Barn

As Lapis laid on the couch watching this weeks episode of Camp Pining Hearts she couldn't help but snuggle her face into the pyramid shaped hair before her.

This resutled in her couch mate shuddering as she said, "You know I told you not to do that."

"And I told you, that you make too good a pillow," said Lapis as she ignored the girl and enjoyed that now slightly warmer feeling as Peridot began to blush.

Peridot groaned at this as she began to shift and grab her tablet.

This resulted in concern as Lapis said, "Is everything OK Peri?"

"It's fine Lapis," said Peridot sharply and suddenly as she continued scrolling through some files.

This resulted in Lapis suddenly setting up as she said, "OK, don't give me that."

"What do you mean?" said Peridot as she continued scrolling forward.

"What I mean is you're not acting like yourself. You never ignore Camp Pining Hearts, you always let me snuggle in your hair because despite your protests we both know you love it, and finally... you haven't called me Lapis since we...." said Lapis as she started blushing slightly.

This resulted in a blush from Peridot as she looked at the concerned girl before her and remembered all they've been through the past few years. All the shows they watched, all the Meep Morps they made, all the nights they stayed up talking about their insecurities, and most importantly the night when they both realized how they really felt about each other... the night they formed Turquoise for the first time.

Peridot sighed before smiling slightly as she said, "Should have known I can't keep any secrets from you Lapi."

Lapis smugly smiled at this as she said, "You really can't," which resulted in a slight giggle from the smaller green girl. "So what's bothering you?"

Peridot's smile instantly disappeared at that as she said, "Well... I was looking more into the files about planet Equis and well...." she began to trail off.

"Well what?" asked Lapis as her concern began to return.

"It turns out that Yellow kind of disobeyed White's orders about leaving the planet alone," said Peridot.

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Lapis.

"Well she sent a Gem to land on the planet in order to set up the Warp Pad... and so White wouldn't know about said Gem wasn't exactly a normal one," said Peridot as she began showing the files to Lapis.

Lapis began looking towards them, but didn't fully understand what they meant as she asked, "What do you mean by not normal?"

"It appears to have been some kind of experimental hybrid of an infiltration unit and a destroyer. Capable of generating a default form based on the creatures around it in order to blend in as well as mimicking any of their natural abilities, but also capable of doing things like generating stones from the ground to form weapons or structures, controlling lower life forms, and even... regenerating parts of it's Gem that have been cracked off," said Peridot as she turned to Lapis with a look of fear.

Lapis didn't blame her as she too gasped as such a feat of self repair was unheard of among Gemkind, even for a Diamond. As she imagined what such a monster could be capable of she wearily asked, "How... how can such a Gem exist?"

"Well, after taking a look further into this I discovered the reason for all this is because it has an absurd amount of energy in it's Spark. Which thankfully means that it is has a simple weakness. That if its physical form where to be poofed it would take roughly a thousand years or so to reform without any sort of outside assistance," said Peridot as she scrolled further through the files.

Lapis breathed a shy of relief at hearing that this Gem wasn't the invincible monster she thought it was, before saying, "So the planet we are going to land on may or not have a hostile Gem on it whom has abilities we've never dealt with before.... honestly pretty par for the course."

Peridot chuckled at that as she couldn't help but agree given how they had once charged towards Homeworld to fight the strongest Gems in the known universe. "True... but I'm just worried about telling Steven about this. He JUST started calming down about all this and the last thing we need is to give him a reason to freak out again."

"True," said Lapis as she thought about this before saying, "Well he can't freak out about what he doesn't know about."

"Hmm?" asked Peridot confused.

"Well I mean... it's not like telling him would really do anything OTHER then stress him out. Besides, for all we know that Gem is poofed right now and we won't even see it," said Lapis.

Peridot thought about this for a moment, before she smiled slightly saying, "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," said Lapis as she led Peridot back towards the couch.

As the two of them returned to their snuggle positions, Peridot spoke up saying, "You're a bad influence on me, you know that?"

"Yup, and that's why you love me," said Lapis as she returned to her yellow pyramid shaped pillow and the two sat for a moment in sheer affection and comfort trying to relax and not think about what was just discussed.

For a few moments it seemed to work, before Lapis had a question suddenly began to nag at her mind as she said, "Out of curiosity what's the name of this Gem we might have to fight?"

"Let's see," said Peridot as she shifted her arms and grabbed the tablet. She scrolled through the files once more before saying, "It's called the... Synthetic Onyx Military Biological Replicant Attacker."

"That's a mouth full," said Lapis flatly.

"Indeed, which is why," she scrolled through the file before saying, "It was mainly referred to by it's initials S.O.M.B.R.A." She then felt a moment of dread creep up again as she saw an image of the razor sharp Gem Stone that looked like some kind of small curved blade. She moved her head further back to allow Lapis to snuggle further as she tried to calm down and thought, "I seriously hope we don't have to fight this thing."

Author's Note

Well as you can see I put another ship I like in this story (and casually slipped in a new fusion that might be relevant later). More importantly though it appears as though Spinel isn't the only Gem on Equis. What will happen next, find out in season 2 whenever that may be

So yeah... I realize making Sombra a Gem is a bit of an odd choice but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense given how his body cracked apart leaving his horn intact (of course I did have to explain away his horn getting cut in half earlier in the episode, but what are you gonna do)

Anyway thanks for reading, hope you like it, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

Living the Dream

As the morning sun rose Spinel felt the light tickle at her eyelids before waking up with a slight yawn. She rose up and stretched her arms and legs to about double there length with another yawn before returning to normal and jumping from bed with a quick shake. She smiled to herself excitedly saying, "Ready for another great day," before looking at the empty bed on the adjacent side of the room saying, "looks like Pinkie's already up."

As she started moving downstairs she thought to herself, "You know... it wasn't too long ago that waking up alone like this would have freaked me out, but ever since the Gala a few weeks ago.... every things been just... " as she reached the ground floor and entered the kitchen she smiled at Pinkie as she thought, "Perfect."

She waved the mare saying, "Morning Pinks, how's the breakfast rush coming along?"

Pinkie smiled back at her as she said, "Pretty good, just finishing up a few more batches of pan cakes."

"Do you need any help?" asked Spinel.

"Meh, I should be fine. Cider season is just around the corner so most ponies are avoiding eating out to save enough bits to get a few barrels," said Pinkie.

"Well if you're sure, I guess I'll head over to the school then," said Spinel.

"Oh that's right, didn't Starlight say she wanted to talk to you about something today?" said Pinkie as she looked at her friend in mild concern.

"Yeah but... I'm not sure what about though...." said Spinel as she stroked her chin in thought.

As Pinkie thought about it herself she gasped before saying, "What if she and Trixie are having problems and she wants your advice!"

Spinel thought about that for a moment before saying, "Nah, you saw how happy they make each other.... besides why would she go to me for dating advice?"

Pinkie thought about this for a moment before saying, "Fair point... well whatever it is I hope you two have a good day," before smiling and waving.

Spinel did the same as she said, "Same to you," before heading out the door.

As she walking through the streets she smiled and waved to several passers by as she thought, "Ah, this really is the life, not only are Pinkie and Starlight the best best friends a Gem could ask for, but I'm starting to make friend all over Ponyville."

As if to confirm this a green unicorn mare saw her and approached saying, "Oh Spinel I was meaning to talk to you, do you think you could stop by me and Bon Bon's place later to tell her all the stuff you told me about humans? She still doesn't believe me."

Spinel chuckled at that saying, "Sure thing Lyra."

This resulted in a mare jumping in joy for a bit as she said, "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU! Not only is my novel on humans coming along much smoother thanks to you but if you can get Bon Bon to admit that the're real that would just be so AMAZING!"

"Happy to help," said Spinel with a smile as the mare pranced away.

Soon Spinel entered the school and as she looked around she couldn't help but notice a group of fillies and colts sitting around and looking bored out of their tiny skulls. Spinel decided she couldn't just walk past this as she thought for a moment about what could cheer them up before it came to her. She stretched her finger into a horn before blowing a tune into her thumb.

The kids all perked up at this and began following her and giggling like she was some kind of pied piper.

As Starlight was filling out some paper work she heard the commotion from outside her office, and smiled as she said, "Sounds like she's here," before making her way to the door. She opened it was greeted to the sight of Spinel marching along with several foals happily following behind. Starlight smiled wider as she thought, "Yup, she's definitely the right choice."

As Spinel happily played she soon caught sight of her friend and let the song fade about before saying, "Alright kiddos, looks like we'll have to pick this back up again another time," resulting in several groans of disappointment before they walked away.

Starlight smiled saying, "They sure do like it when you visit."

"Eh, what can I say, I'm good at making friends with everyone whether the're old or young," said Spinel with a shrug before she entered into the office.

Starlight chuckled at this as she said, "Man, you and Pinkie really are allot alike."

"Well of course the best Gem around is like the best mare around," said Spinel with a teasing smile.

"Oh, the best mare around you say," said Starlight feigning offense.

"Well... maybe tied for best," said Spinel before the two of them broke out into a laugh before taking their places on the therapy couch and chair respectively.

As the laughter died down Spinel took in her surroundings as she said, "I didn't think I'd be sitting in here again after my
'big breakthrough' at the Gala."

"Honestly neither did I but... somethings come up," said Starlight as she struggled to approach this subject.

"Oh," said Spinel in sudden concern.

"Don't worry it's nothing bad or anything," said Starlight as she raised her hooves in defense.

"Oh good," said Spinel breathing a sigh of relief. "Pinkie was worried you and Trixie where having problems or something."

"Well actually..." said Starlight as she trailed off.

"Wait what!?" said Spinel as her concern returned.

"Well it's not so much a problem with us, in fact things have been going really well so far or as well they can anyway... the thing is between me working five days a week at the school and her having gigs all the time we haven't gotten much time to spend together," said Starlight with a sigh.

"Oh no," responded Spinel.

"So we talked about it and after briefly thinking about living together, before both agreeing it's too soon for that, we decided to just try and get our schedules more lined up instead," said Starlight.

"Makes sense," said Spinel.

"So she's talking to all her usual hires and trying to work out what days she can and can't work and I talked to Twilight about it and of course she was totally understanding and more then happy to give me less days," said Starlight.

"Well that's good," added Spinel.

"Yeah, but the problem is we can't just have no guidance counselor those days so we need to hire another one," said Starlight.

"Oh, who'd you have in mind?" asked Spinel.

Starlight smiled at this as she said, "Well firstly it would have to be someone who's good with kids, to handle all the little ones who just started this semester."

"Naturally," said Spinel.

"More then that though... the reason I'm a good counselor is because I've been through some of the same things these kids go through and can understand how they feel. So I would really need someone like that to help out," said Starlight.

"I see," said Spinel in thought before saying, "So, you got anyone in mind?"

Starlight's eyes widened, genuinely surprised that Spinel hadn't picked up where she was going, before simply gesturing to the girl with her hoof.

"Wha-me!" said Spinel in surprise.

"You do fit the job description," said Starlight with a chuckle.

"Well... I guess but... me! Really?" said Spinel.

"Look Spinel, I understand you're reluctance but as someone who's not only been through a similar experience as you, but has LITERALLY felt what your experience was like I have to tell you that you have handled everything very well and have made more progress then I did when Twilight first took me in," said Starlight with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you... but still I," said Spinel as kept worriedly thinking about all this.

"Of course it wouldn't start right this second or anything, we'll need a few weeks to go over all the paper work as well as for me to teach you all the actually therapeutic techniques involved," said Starlight.

"Yeah I just...." said Spinel as she trailed off once more in thought.

Starlight picked up on this as she said, "Of course this is just an offer and if you don't want to do it that's totally fine."

"I... I'll think about it," said Spinel as she soon got up and made her way towards the door.

"Of course, take all the time you need," said Starlight with a reassuring smile.

Spinel smiled back before saying, "Well... thanks for the offer and it was good seeing you Star."

"Same to you," said Starlight before the two parted ways.

The rest of Spinel's day went by in a haze as she couldn't stop thinking about the offer on the table until eventually the night came and she and Pinkie where getting ready for bed.

"Well I think you should take the offer," said Pinkie with a smile. "You like making ponies smile just like me and this might be a good way for you to do that."

"I guess... it's just... after all the help I needed to get to the place I am now, from Steven, Starlight, and of course you Pinkie... I just never thought anyone would ask me to help someone else like that," said Spinel as she continued to think on this.

"Well... I still think you'd be good at it but for now maybe we should just get some sleep and it will be easier to think about in the morning," said Pinkie.

"I hope so," thought Spinel as she simply nodded before Pinkie cut off the light and the two laid down in their separate beds.

"Goodnight Spinel," said Pinkie with a yawn.

"Goodnight Pinkie," responded Spinel with her head still swirling over all this as she closed her eyes.

Spinel found herself pacing through a foggy cave as she said, "I suppose Starlight is right, I do understand things like loneliness better then pretty much anyone else and could help others deal with it... but I'm not cut out for helping others... am I?"

"Yes you are," said a voice from behind her. She turned and looked in shock as where there was once nothing now stood a large tree that seemed to be made of some kind of blue and white crystals. As she looked around at it surprised she briefly noticed several gem stones in the branches shaped like Pinkie and her friend cutie marks before her observations were interrupted as what looked like a very sparkly Princess Twilight stepped out of the tree saying, "After all, that's why I brought you here in the first place."

"Twi-Twilight?," said Spinel in confusion before noticing the blank look on the mares face and the lack of emotion in her voice. She stiffened up saying, "You're not Twilight... who are you?"

The strange mare didn't seem to hear the question as she said, "There is someone here who knows your pain... the pain of being abandoned by their Diamond."

"Wha-what are you talking about?" asked Spinel in greater concern before suddenly the world appeared to collapse around her.

The mare didn't seem concerned about this as she said, "Only you can help him heal."

Suddenly Spinel woke up in a cold sweat as she tried to catch her breath.

"Oh good Spinel you're awake," said a voice that for a moment made her think she was still dreaming.

As Spinel looked up she confirmed, that yes Princess Twilight was indeed in the room and looking rather concerned as Spinel slowly got herself back to reality saying, "Twilight, what are you doing here?"

Twilight's concern only seemed to grow as she levitated a letter over saying, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna just sent over an urgent letter asking me and my friends to come to Canterlot immediately!"

"Oh no," said Spinel as she quickly read through the letter.

"Pinkie's in the bathroom getting ready, you should come too. If this is as bad as it looks we need all hooves, claws, and hands on deck," said Twilight.

"Of course," said Spinel as she followed Twilight out the door thinking, "That weird dream must have been because I heard Twilight's voice in my sleep... right?"

Author's Note

Well everycreature, welcome to the next arc of the story which is as you can see is basically the season 9 premiere with some differences. What will those differences be? How will the others react when Spinel tells them about her dream? What will Sombra think when he sees another Gem for the first time in thousands of years? Find out all this and more in the next chapter whenever that may be.

Thank you too Paranoid Trumpet for doing that amazing cover the Green Hill theme and I urge to check them out on YouTube (and to those who think that was an odd choice of song, DID YOU SEE SPINEL DOING THE FIGURE 8 RUN AND THE SPIN DASH IN STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE!?")

Also I decided to start putting thought's in italics to deferentiate them, (a little piece of advice I've been using in my story "Equestrian Battle Tendancy" which I hope you'll all give a chance to as well, especially if you like JoJo)

Anyway, thank you all for reading any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

Earth Interlude 3: Launch or Lunch?

As Peridot stood before the now fully assembled ship she punched the last few commands in her tablet and waited a moment before getting a green check mark as a response. She looked at the assembled crowd before her as she smiled saying, "Alright everyone the Legs are fully operational, fully tested and ready to go!"

This got a cheer from the assembled crowd as Peridot beamed with pride and Lapis gave her a little tap on the shoulder that made her sigh and say, "And of course I couldn't have done it without all of your help."

This resulted in another cheer from the assembled crowd before Steven stepped forward saying, "Alright everyone, I know we've all been anxious about this coming."

Connie gave a fake cough at that as Steven scratched his head nervously saying, "OK me more then anyone else, thanks for helping me calm down by the way."

"No problem big guy," said Connie as she blushed slightly.

Steven continued saying, "Now then, just to double check the ones coming are of course me, Peridot, Lapis, Pearl, and Amethyst. While staying behind to keep tabs on Little Homeworld are Bismuth, Lion, and Garnet," he then turned to Garnet saying, "Are you sure you don't want to come with? It would feel weird having an adventure without you, no offense Bismuth, it's just Garnet's been with us from the beginning and all."

"No arguments here," said Bismuth with a shrug.

Garnet simply smiled as she said, "Oh don't worry, you have everyone you need for this trip," and moved her sunglasses a bit causing them to sparkle. "Besides someone forget to water this last time," she said as she lifted up her cat and looked over at Greg.

"I already said I was sorry, besides I'd remember this time," said Greg defensively.

"No you wouldn't," said Garnet flatly.

Greg rolled his eyes as he realized there was no use arguing with someone who could see the future before saying, "Good luck Stew Ball," as he moved over and gave Steven a hug saying, "You be careful out there."

"I will dad," said Steven as he hugged back tightly before letting go. He quickly wiped a slight tear from his eye before saying, "Alright people if that's all taken care of then lets head out."

Before they could they Peridot raised her hand saying, "Wait, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Ah... not that I know of?" asked Steven confused.

"Shouldn't you make sure you have plenty of food and water for you and Connie?" said Peridot.

"Oh.. uh, I got a few granoloa bars and some some little bottles in my classic Cheeseburger backpack," said Steven as he patted the familiar tote.

Peridot simple chuckled as she said, "No way that's enough, you're gonna need a cooler full at least."

Steven looked at her confused as he said, "What do you mean... won't we be there in just a few hours?"

Peridot's smirk quickly fell as she said, "Oh no... did I forget to tell you?"

"Tell me what," asked Steven as his face twisted in concern.

Peridot scratched her head nervously as she said, "Well you see... the reason why it was so hard to make a colony on Equis in the first place is because it's in sector 389."

This resulted in a gasp from Lapis and confusion from the others as Lapis said, "You seriously think we can fly something this big through 389! It would be hard enough to fly there myself!"

"Hold on, what's wrong with 389?" said Steven.

"It uh... well it doesn't make any sense," said Peridot. "Somehow it behaves like no other known section of the universe. Stars revolve around planets, moons generate their own light through an unknown radiation, which is why they couldn't establish a moon base like usual, and all sorts of other crazy stuff."

Lapis nodded at that as she said, "We Lapis's call it the Crushing Sector."

Steven became nervous as he said, "So how long will it take for us to get there?"

Peridot pulled out her tablet as she said, "Well we can still use the gravity engine to get most of the way there, we'll just need to slow down and be VERY careful on final approach. So it would be about... a week."

Steven let out a calming sigh as he said, "OK... that's not too bad." He then turned back to group and nervously smiled saying, "Well then... I guess we're going to the grocery store to stock up, meet back here in an hour to take off."

Author's Note

And so Steven and crew and on their way, it's just gonna take a little longer then expected. What will happen when they get there? How will the events with Sombra go while the're on their way? Find out next chapter whenever that maybe.

Sorry how short this chapter is there just wasn't really much I had to get out.

Especially sorry for the lack of updates recently, I'm gonna being trying to update not only this story, but all my stories soon so please bear with me

Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you liked it, have a great day

Princess Meeting and Villain Meeting

As Spinel sat next to Pinkie on the train she couldn't help but feel the tension in the air as she looked at the worried faces of her friends. She leaned over to Pinkie and whispered, "So what exactly do you think is happening?"

"I'm not sure, the princesses have never called us out of the blue like this before," said Pinkie.

Spinel sat back as she looked around thinking, "I hope whatever is going isn't too bad, in the mean time everyone being stressed out like this probably isn't helping... not sure if I can really do anything though. This is a big deal and it's not like the're little kids who can be distracted with a silly song or something." She then looked down as she noticed the little dragon in the seat across from her before she thought, "Well one of them is a kid anyway, and maybe the others will get distracted listening to us talk at least," as she smiled and said, "So Spike, you and I have never really gotten a chance to talk have we?"

Spike then looked forward as he said, "Hum, I guess not," recalling that any time he and Spinel were in the same room it was always with the whole group. He then smiled as he said, "So what do you want to talk about?"

Spinel thought on this for a moment before saying, "Let's start with something light and easy, what's your favorite food?"

Spike smiled wider at this as he began to say, "Oh that's easy it would have to be gem stoooonnneeesss...." he then trailed off as he realized what he just said and more specifically to whom he said. He then began stammering saying things like, "Of course those gems couldn't talk and none of them were spinels not that I'm opposed to spinels but I,"

As Spike began to stammer the others turned to him and began to snicker and giggle as Spinel let out a chuckle of her own saying, "It's fine kid, I get what you're trying to say," as she leaned back thinking, "Well this isn't how I thought things would go but it definitely worked."

In an instant Sombra found himself reforming as he glanced down at his body and the cave around him. He said to himself, "Odd, one moment my spark is still collecting energy to reform, the next it has it all, which can only mean someone helped me... so maybe." He then allowed himself to feel a sense of hope he had not felt in some time as he closed his eyes and ignited his horn feeling the energies around him. That hope was quickly dashed aside as he sighed saying, "I should have known Yellow would never dare to set foot on such a miserable planet, not until I've finished readying it and contacted her at least... there is a rather odd energy nearby though... and another that seems vaguely familiar." He tried to focus more on the familiar energy but clicked his tongue in annoyance as he said, "It's too far away and moving further... oh well I guess the odd one it is," as he began to journey deeper into the cave.

One hour later

Spinel giggled as she walked alongside Spike saying, "She seriously freaked out that much over missing one assignment."

Spike raised a hand as he said, "Swear to Celestia, went on a full rampage around town that ended in casting a dangerous spell on her foalhood doll."

Spinel let out another laugh that was shared by everything else, everyone except Twilight that is who seemed very unamused as she cleared her throat to gain attention as she said, "Well if you all are done talking about my embarrassing moments, we're at the throne room."

Spinel quieted down as she said, "Sorry about that."

Applejack then stepped forward saying, "It was mighty good of her and Spike to settle out nerves though."

"Indeed darlings, especially by reminding us about sometimes you might have... overreacted just a touch with talking to princesses," said Rarity.

"I..." began Twilight as she let out a sigh before smiling as she said, "I guess you're right... I should have learned by now that Celestia is a very reasonable mare and if she had something important to tell me she would just tell me instead of sending a vague letter." She then looked at the throne door as she said, "She probably just wants our help with a parade or something and there we where thinking it was the end of the world." She then turned around as she said, "Thank you Spinel, I feel a lot better now."

Spinel shrugged as she said, "It's cool, what are friends for."

"I know, but it still means a lot," said Twilight as she turned back to the door.

Pinkie nudged Spinel as she whispered, "See, you'd make a great counselor."

Spinel nervously chuckled at that as she whispered back, "Yeah maybe."

Pinkie did her best to give a reasurring smile as Twilight said, "Here goes," before pushing the door open as they all entered the throne room.

Celestia and Luna looked down as they saw and heard the doors open. Celestia smiled at the group approaching as she said, "Hello everycreature, I'm sorry to have summoned you all so abruptly."

"Oh it's no trouble Celestia," said Twilight as she and the others approached.

Celestia smiled somewhat wider as she said, "I can see that, after I sent the message I was a little worried you might become concerned about the lack of detail but I can see you have matured a great deal in such a short amount of time."

Twilight smirked as she said, "I admit I was a little stressed at first but I have some good friends to help me with that." She then turned to the assembled group who all smiled and nodded in response.

Luna then spoke up saying, "Speaking of which it is good to see you again Spinel and once again thank you for sorting out that mess at the Gala."

Spinel shrugged as she said, "Ah it was no big deal, it was indirectly my fault anyway."

"Nevertheless it was appreciated," said Luna.

"Indeed as is the work of all of you that has led to the overwhelming levels of peace and friendship this land has experienced since you all took up the Elements of Harmony," said Celestia.

"Oh shoot, we're just doing our part your highness," said Applejack.

"Indeed darling, after all we wouldn't be proper citizens of Equestria if we weren't willing to help our home," said Rarity.

"We're just doing what's right," added Fluttershy.

"Well fighting villains is awesome, so you know I'd have to be a part of that," added Rainbow with a cocky smile.

Spike scratched his head awkwardly as he said, "I don't always feel like I do enough, so it's really nice to hear this."

Spinel then placed a caring hand on his shoulder as she gave him a small smirk that seemed to visibly make him feel better, causing her to think, "Maybe being a counselor would be right for me."

Pinkie then stepped next to her saying, "Whether it's a party or saving the world we just want to make everycreature smile."

"Darn right," said Spinel as she put her arm around the mare.

Celestia smirked as she said, "And after all you have done still so humble," she then glanced briefly at Rainbow before saying, "Mostly," which resulted in slight giggles from all as Rainbow rolled her eyes before shrugging in agreement. Celestia then cleared her throat before she continued saying, "And it is for that reason that we have brought you all here to make a rather big announcement."

"You see Celestia and I originally took the throne of Equestria to defend the land, a task that has been quite the hefty burden, that is until you came along and began shouldering it for us," said Luna.

"And it is for that reason that Luna and I have decided to step down from the throne," said Celestia.

The assembled group barely had time to process that statement before the room was suddenly filled in a flash of light as a familiar being of chaos suddenly stood between them all wearing a gray vest, white shirt, suspenders, a red tie and finally having a small mustache in addition to his usual goatee as he said in a grough voice, "Hold it hold it stop the presses, this is an even bigger headline then pictures of that menace Spider-Mare!" He then leaned over towards Celestia as he suddenly pointed a cigar he had in his hand at her saying, "Now Sun-Butt tell me, after keeping this kingdom together for over a thousand years how can you just walk away from it," he then pointed towards Luna saying, "And you, you recently had what I'd call a rather big vacation to a nearby heavenly body, what makes you think you can walk away without putting in as much work?"

Luna glared at that as she said, "Well inspite of me not being directly I still had to monitor the dream realm during my banishment, a task that even a single night of well test the patience and sanity of any creature."

Celestia raised her hoof saying, "I can agree to that, one night of it was certainly more then enough for me, as for why we feel we are able to walk away it is because we have a rather worthy successor."

"Oh," said Discord dropping the cigar. "Well I'm very flattered but I don't know if I'd have the time-"

Luna then chuckled saying, "Sorry JJ, maybe if you spent a little less time reading comics you would have made the cut."

"Ah," said Discord before snapping his fingers and turning back to his usual self. "In that case I've lost interest, besides I got my things to do anyway." He then walked over to Fluttershy as he said, "See you back at the cottage hon."

Fluttershy nodded as she said, "Just be safe Dissy," as he leaned over and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek causing his eyes to turn to hearts and smoke to come out of his ears.

He then cleared his throat as he stood back up somewhat embarrassed saying, "Well then I..." he paused as he looked towards her saying, "Oh, you must be the Spinel I've heard so much about," he then looked her up and down as he said, "You don't look that entertaining."

Spinel smirked as she said, "Same to you Discord, what do you say to a friendly goof off then to set the record straight?"

Discord chuckled at that as he said, "A direct challenge, I like you. Unfortunately I have a rather busy schedule. People to see chaos to cause, so some other time then." He then snapped his fingers and dissipated as quickly as he had come.

Luna sighed as she said, "Fluttershy not that I'm questioning your choice of partners but sometimes I think you must be the Element of Patience to be able to stand him all day."

Fluttershy blushed as she said, "He's not so bad once you really get to know him."

Celestia chuckled as she said, "Well regardless the one we have picked to take our place on the throne is you Twilight."

"M-ME!" said Twilight as she flapped her wings in bewilderment.

"Well officially you, but we know you'll have plenty of help of course," said Luna gesturing towards everyone else.

"Yes Twilight we do believe that-" began Celestia but she instantly stopped as she saw Twilight begin to hyperventilate as she used her magic to make a bag to breathe into. "Maybe I should have been a little more detailed in the letter to prepare her for this."

As Sombra found himself entering the cavern he was greeted by Queen Chrysalis as she yelled out, "King Sombra, you've returned!?"

He simply sighed at them thinking, "Ah the organics who think the're on my level and brand me as simple a 'villian'" before saying, "Indeed I have Chrysalis and it seems you have as well," he then looked around as he said, "as have you Tirek and... I'm sorry little one but who are you?"

The small pegasus smiled as she said, "I'm Cozy Glow, Tirek's BFF," resulting in a groan of annoyance from Tirek.

Sombra slightly chuckled as he thought, "A child accompanying them, and yet they still think themselves powerful." They where then interrupted as smoke began to fill the room as Sombra thought, "And now that I'm next to it I know who that odd energy belongs to, after all out of all the creatures in this universe none is odder then-"

But before he could finish that thought the smoke cleared to reveal a large blue goat-like creature as he looked down on the group saying, "I am Grogar and I am the one who brought you all here."

Sombra raised his eyebrows in surprise but decided to keep quiet for now.

"For what reason have you done this?" asked Chrysalis.

Grogar chuckled as he said, "Why it's simple, tell me why do you think you all have lost in your efforts to take Equestria?"

"Because these organics broke into my castle and turned one of my own geo-weapons against me!" thought Sombra as he remembered the burn of the Crystal Heart.

He decided not to voice this though as Grogar said, "Because you have worked alone, whereas the ponies work together... well I say it's about time we work together."

"That's what I've been saying too but Tirek is too much of a grump to agree," said Cozy as she beamed in excitement.

Grogar opened his mouth to respond but Sombra simply thought, "Alright, I've indulged this enough," before teleporting in front of him. He then smirked as he said, "I don't know about the rest of this lot, but I guarantee my goals don't exactly line up with team work."

"You dare speak against Grogar, the true master of Darkness you tiny pretender to the throne," said Grogar as flame began to boil in his eyes.

Sombra simply chuckled at that as he said, "Oh I absolutely do, now then get me back to my Empire and away from all of this pettiness," he then leaned in and whispered, "Before I have to ruin whatever little game it is you're playing Discord."

'Grogar's' eyes went wide at that before he cleared his throat saying, "Very well if you want to be a practical example as to why we need teamwork then be my guest," he then raised his hoof as he wrapped Sombra in magic teleporting him away before turning back to the others thinking, "I hope none of them are so perceptive."

Author's Note

Well then I hadn't expected to be updating anything any time soon, and must certainly not this but I rewatched the Steven Universe movie and one thing led to another. So yeah I'm trying to get back into updating this story for a while (both because I have a hyper focus going toward it and it is actually closer to the end then you think so finger crossed I can get that far during this session)

Anyway thanks for reading hope you liked it, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day

Return of The King

As Twilight breathed into the bag everyone came in close to try and comfort her. She noticed this and eventually took the bag away saying, "I'm good I'm good just.... you both retiring and putting me in charge... that was a lot to take in."

Celestia muttered to herself, "Definitely should have told her more in the letter."

Luna rolled her eyes at that then stepped forward saying, "Of course you realize that we're not asking you to take the throne now Twilight."

Twilight then visibly calmed down as she said, "You're not?"

"Well of course not, I admit I may fail to take your anxieties into account from time to time but I know enough not to just slap a crown on you and call it a day," said Celestia as she chuckled somewhat.

"Debatable," said Luna with a fake cough.

"Oh... of course," said Twilight somewhat blushing.

"So when exactly is it going to go down then?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well between all the paperwork we'd need to fill out for the official transfer of power, briefing you and all our delegates about everything, and just attending to personal affairs both allowing for yours and our own since we don't exactly want to be homeless when we leave the castle, I'd say about a year, year and a half maybe," said Luna.

"Oh.... hum," said Twilight as she looked down in thought.

"We just thought it would be best to tell you as soon as we decided on it," said Celestia.

"Thank you for that your highnesses," said Twilight as she fully regained her composer.

This resulted in a somewhat awkward silence that was eventually broken as Spinel said, "So... do we just go home now?"

Celestia blinked at that as she laughed saying, "I suppose so... there isn't really anything we need to do about this right now, nor do we have anything else to fill you in on right now."

"Definitely should have told her this in a letter," said Luna before letting out a yawn before she got off her throne saying, "I'm going back to bed."

Celestia chuckled at that before saying, "Sorry to keep you sister, sometimes I forget you're nocturnal."

Luna chuckled herself before letting out a yawn as she said, "Oh it's fine, just as long as you don't mind how I 'forget' that you're diurnal from time to time and ask you to join me in a binge watching a few movies.... firstly the original Spider-Mare trilogy as frankly I'm disappointed you didn't call Discord on his bit."

Celestia winched slightly before saying, "Fair enough."

Luna then exited with a little more pep in her step as she began clapping her front hooves and pointing at the nearby guards, humming to herself, and muttering, "Drive that funky soul!"

Celestia muttered, "No doubt I'll find out what that is in the next few nights." She then looked down to see the assembled group giggling before she cleared her throat saying, "Yes well... I'll arrange your tickets on the next train back to Ponyville."

As Sombra found himself standing at the gates of the Crystal Emperor he smiled before cracking his neck as he said, "Alright, time to get to work." He then began strolling the street almost casually waiting to be challenged, a challenge that came rather quickly as he soon found citizens screaming and running from him as guards came running towards him. "Like clockwork," said Sombra as he ignited his horn spreading a wave of red outward that got the civilians to stop screaming as they turned towards him with green eyes and began to fall in line behind him. The guards on the other hand simply fell to the ground as Sombra said, "Hum, a little stronger then last time, and Crystal Pony's too at that," he groaned as he began muttering, "Gonna need to get the Crystal Heart back to its proper place before these clods undo all my work... in the mean time," he then reached down to the ground as he manifested several dark crystals to form into the shape of a helmet as he began teleporting onto the guards saying, "This should squash any kind of resistance you've built up."

Soon the eyes of the helmets began to glow green as the guards came in step around Sombra.

As Shining Armor watched in horror at the seen outside the castle window he said, "I can't just sit here, I have to do something," as he gazed towards his old armor from when he was Captain of the Royal Guard.

"And what do you think you can do against that!?" said Cadence as she finished writing a letter before igniting her horn as the letter duplicated itself before it dissapeared and she said, "I just messaged Twilight and Celestia so help should be here soon, in the mean time we need to focus on keeping Flurry Heart safe."

At this Shining Armor's eyes widened as he said, "Wait where is Flurry Heart?!"

In an instant their hearts dropped as Shining dained a glance out the window and saw that Sombra was nowhere to be seen. They both felt a cold chill of terror as they bolted towards her room.

As Sombra came in through the secret passage be put his hoof back on the panel, interfacing his gem with it and making it close as he thought, "Backwater organic clods couldn't even find the obvious systems in the castle," before he took in the room he was in saying, "Toys, coloring books, cartoon posters... what exactly have they done to my emergency evac chamber?" It was then that he heard a cry and looked over to see a crib as he smiled saying, "Unexpected but I've never been one to shy away from manipulating sentimentality," as he began to levitate the now screaming infant Alicorn from her crib just as Shining and Cadence came in.

"Nah ah ah," said Sombra as he moved Flurry Heart closer to his chest. "If you want your heir returned to you in one piece now you are going to do exactly as I say."

Cadence and Shining both ignited their horns about to do something but they quickly stopped as the tearful filly managed to squeak out, "Mama, papa," as she reached her hooves towards them in vain. With gritted their teeth they allowed the light of their horns to fade.

Sombra smiled as he said, "Good, now then take me to my throne room," before they all began marching along. Soon they reached their destination as Sombra watched one of his newly reacquired soldiers approach him with the Crystal Heart. His smirk grew even wider as he clumsily dropped the filly and moved the heart back into its proper place above his thrones as the energy spikes latched onto it and he began to hear the soft hum of countless machines hidden throughout the castles walls revving up. Paying little attention to the royal couple who where now comforting Flurry as two of Sombra's guards now flanked them, he then sat atop the throne as he placed his hoof on the side of the arm rest, activating the panel with a soft glow and causing a holographic keyboard to form above his lap. His smile briefly faded as he made his hooves glow for a moment before shape shifting fingers off of them as he began to type muttering, "No wonder these creatures haven't invented anything worth while yet, how would they even be able to use them with hooves."

"What is he doing?" asked Shining as he leaned over to Cadence.

She didn't have time to respond as Sombra said, "Oh, almost forget about you all, regardless the castles defenses won't," said Sombra as he clicked a button causing crystalline chains to shoot up from up from the floor binding the three ponies by their legs, wings in two cases, and horns before putting muzzles over their mouths.

Sombra paid little mind to it as he attempted to open a communication line only to be greeted with a message saying, "ERROR OUT OF RANGE" he sighed before saying, "Well I guess it was too much to ask that the Empire had expanded to this part of space since last time I had formed. Regardless if I'm going to get anything done I need more numbers, time to run a diagnostic. I need to make sure these organic clods didn't do anything to the Injector before I attempt to reactivate the Kindergarden, or at least the sad excuse for one this polluted planet can muster." He glanced over at the royal family staring up at him in a mix of anger and confusion as he chuckled saying, "I almost forgot how amusing it was to see these creatures struggle to understand as I talk about things above their comprehension... I only wish I had a chance to do it last time before they damaged my form."

As Spinel and Pinkie walked back through the doors of Sugar Cube Corner Spinel commented, "Well that wasn't all that eventful."

Pinkie shrugged as she said, "I mean yeah but also not, I'm not really sure what I'd call it... either way it's nice we're home so early, it gives us plenty of time to play and-"

Before she could continue Twilight suddenly burst through the door as she said, "Pinkie, Spinel, we gotta go, it's an emergency!"

Spinel briefly chuckled saying, "What now, Celestia gonna ask you to raise the sun in five years?" But upon turning around and seeing the look on Twilight's face she realized that whatever this was was no laughing matter.

"It's Cadence, Shining, and Flurry.... Sombra's got them," said Twilight as she hung her face in worry.

"WHAT!?" asked Pinkie as she jumped up in shock.

"Sombra..." said Spinel as she thought, "Why does that name sound... familiar?"

Twilight snapped her head up saying, "Oh, I forgot you wouldn't really know about him, we'll fill you in back at the castle we gotta get the others," as she ran out the door.

"R-right," said Pinkie as she followed after.

Spinel came running soon after as she thought, "Pinkie actually looked... scared. Just who is this Sombra guy... and why do I feel like the answers on the tip of my tongue?"

Author's Note

And so Sombra has begun his takeover and Spinel might know something about this conqueror just what is that exactly, and how will he react upon seeing her, find out all this and more around this time next.

Thanks for reading, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day, and in the meantime enjoy imagining Luna doing one of the greatest dances in cinematic history

Meeting of The Gems

As the group assembled around the map table Rarity was the first to speak up saying, "I still don't understand how Sombra could come back, with how his body cracked apart I thought he was..." she paused for a moment reluctant to say it directly as she simply said, "Gone."

"Maybe he was, he is a master of dark magic after all and that would include Necromancy," said Twilight as she looked down trying not to think about how her family was being held captive by him.

"Shoot, if he can do something like that then how in the name of Equestria can we stop him?" said Applejack.

Spinel sat in thought at this as she said, "So you fought this Sombra guy before... so how did you beat him then?"

"We used the Crystal Heart, an artifact of the Crystal Empire," responded Fluttershy.

"But I'm sure Sombra has already taken control of it... who knows what that fiend plans to use it for," said Rarity.

Twilight gulped at the thought, struggling to figure out what to do. "So wait... you didn't use your Element things Pinkie told me about?" asked Spinel as she cocked her head in confusion.

In an instant Twilight blinked as her worries began to fade away as she smirked saying, "Of course why didn't I think of that!" She then stood up saying, "Come on girls, let's get to the Tree of Harmony!"

As she stood up though she was briefly puzzled to see Discord standing in her doorway as he said, "Hold on a moment there, are you sure the Elements are the right course of action here?"

"The heck do you mean?" asked Rainbow Dash as she flew up to him angry.

"Um well... maybe you should try friendship?" asked Discord with somewhat of a nervous sweat as he continued saying, "After all it worked on me and Luna."

"Well yeah, AFTER we hit both of yall with the Elements," said Applejack flatly.

"Yes well I..." said Discord, only to stop as he felt Fluttershy nuzzling him.

She looked up at him saying, "I get what you're saying and if King Sombra is willing to accept friendship you know we'd gladly do it, but right now he is holding Twilight's brother, Cadence, and even poor little Flurry hostage... so for now at least we need to fight back."

Discord stammered a bit before sighing in defeat as he looked down at Fluttershy saying, "You're absolutely right... I suppose I should leave this to you all like usual," before snapping his fingers and disappearing.

"Well he could have at least offered to help before he left," said Rainbow pouting.

"Never mind that, let's just get to the tree," said Twilight as she once again started towards the door as everyone followed after her... everyone except one.

Pinkie looked behind her as she raised her eyebrows in confusion saying, "Aren't you coming to Spinel?"

Spinel sat at the seat of the table as she blinked saying, "Huh... no I think I'll wait here for you all to get back with the Elements."

"Well OK... you know if you'd feel better at Sugar Cube Corner you can go back home, I think we all have this handled now," said Pinkie.

Spinel shook her head as she said, "No it's not that, I'm definitely going with you to deal with this Sombra guy, I just figured since I didn't have to go to the tree and all..."

Pinkie nodded at that as she said, "Well OK, see you in a bit then," before she headed out the door.

As Spinel sat alone she breathed out a sigh of relief as she said to herself, "I probably could have told Pinkie what I was thinking about but I didn't want to interrupt her now that she doesn't look so scared." She then looked down at the table and said, "Discord had a point though... I mean if I can be redeemed after everything I did then whoever this Sombra guy can be too," as she mentally added "I just wish I knew why his name sounded so familiar." As she thought on this she briefly remembered the dream she had the night before as the words, "Only you can help him heal," echoed in her mind. She shook her head before looking up determined as she said, "I gotta try, just like how Steven tried for me."

Sometime later

Sombra continued typing away at his keyboard as he said, "Bunch of useless clods turned my fabrication room into a dance hall, the hangar into a dining room, and hung up Hearth's Warming Decorations on my Injector... two months early I might add!"

At that point the muzzled Cadence gave Shining Armor a look that said, "I told you it was too early to hang those!" As Shining looked away somewhat sheepishly.

Sombra sighed as he looked around at the soldiers now patrolling the throne room before glancing at the camera feeds saying, "Well at least they never made it into the circuity chambers, power reactor and incubators are untouched, and I finally got all these half formed mutants back under my control," he then looked to a feed of a cage containing several ponies as he said, "And what few non altered organics where near have already been captured... I wonder if I should even bother bringing them under my control or just leave them while I focus on more important issues."

Before he could think on this further he was suddenly greeted with a red warning from his security perimeter. He qued up the proper camera feed as he briefly glanced at the royal family saying, "So it looks like your 'rescuers' have finally arrived." He then looked down to the feed as he began saying, "Let's see how far they can get past-" suddenly he stopped as he caught sight of someone accompanying the ponies. "It... can't be," said Sombra as his eyes widened in disbelief before he closed them instantly feeling that familiar energy from before as he hurriedly opened them and opened a communication line to all his forces saying, "All forces stand down, allow them into the throne room unharmed!" As he watched his forces obey, much to the intruders surprise as they ran towards the castle he felt almost giddy as he said, "At last... at sweet last, they've come for me, granted I wasn't expecting someone from her court but Yellow was always good at delegation."

As the group burst into the throne room, Twilight stepped forward saying, "Alright Sombra it's time we-"

But before she could finish Sombra suddenly hopped from his throne as he looked over at Spinel in glee saying, "Oh how wonderful it is to see you again, oh representative of the great Pink Diamond's Court!"

The others stopped in confusion as Spinel stepped forward saying, "You um... know me?"

"Why of course I..." he then stopped as he looked down at himself saying, "Oh forgive my impermanence, I should have known even a high ranking official such as you wouldn't be able to recognize me like this." Suddenly Sombra's body began to glow as his horn, his gem, began to move and his body took on a buff bipedal shape as the assembled group watched.

Sombra then put his hands in the traditional Diamond salute as he said, "Synthetic Onyx Biological Military Replicant Attacker, designation Sombra." He then awkwardly moved his hands to do a small wave at her saying, "Hi."

And upon seeing this gesture and hearing the full name Spinel finally realized why it was so familiar.

8000 years ago

As Pink Diamond sat on the throne at the Ball she watched as countless gems came up to her and said, "Pink Diamond it's wonderful to be in your presence."

She sighed slightly before saying, "Thank you very much."

The gems didn't seem to mind her lack of enthusiasm as they said, "Wow so radiant and sparkling," before taking their leave.

Her lack of enthusiasm was noticed by the little Gem to her left as she stretched up her hands to just above the armrests of Pink's throne as she moved one of them in a fake poss voice saying, "Pink Diamond it's wonderful to be in your presence." She then moved the other hand as she said, "Thanks... now watch me juggle," she then tossed around several small balls on that hand as the other said, "Wow such radiant and sparkling juggling!"

Pink snorted as she held back a laugh at that saying, "I'm so glad I brought you to this boring Ball Spinel."

The gem on the right side of her throne though looked serious as she said, "My Diamond are you sure it's wise to bring this... play thing to such an important event."

Pink scoffed at that as she said, "It's not like I have anything to say here, since I don't even have my own colonies to report on," she then looked up at the two Diamonds above her as she said, "Besides Blue and White haven't even looked at me this whole time and Yellow's in back ready to unveil her new pet project."

"Of course my Diamond," said Pearl as she moved back to her proper place.

Pink rolled her eyes as she thought, "When is she going to lighten up already" before briefly winching as she thought, "If only White had let me keep my old Pearl, so what if her form got banged up... it shows character... and it's not like I meant to do it."

As Pink thought on this though the dancing suddenly came to an end as White Diamond spoke up saying, "Now then, now that traditional dances and greetings have been completed, Yellow Diamond has an announcement to make."

As this was happening a transport bubble suddenly entered through the floor as Yellow Diamond stepped out of it. She looked over the assembled crowd before glancing up at the other Diamonds, briefly stifling a gulp at seeing White and her always perfect smile. She then cleared her throat as she said, "Thank you all for giving me your attention." She then stepped forward as she began saying, "As you know I pride myself on geo-weapon experimentation, looking at ways to improve existing gems so that they can better do their jobs as well as researching ways to make the next era of gems even more efficient. However not even this is enough as our latest breakthrough has yielded something unexpected."

Yellow then reached into her pocket as she pulled out a small pointed cylindrical red Gem before tossing it next to her as it began to glow and take form. She began saying, "Behold an entirely new type of gem with abilities entirely unique to him, the Synthetic Onyx Biological Military Replicant Attacker or as I like to call him Sombra."

The gem fully took form as he flared his cape behind himself before giving a salute as he looked up at the Pink, Blue, and White saying, "My Diamonds, it has been an honor to be created to serve you all and I promise to give all I can to help spread your glorious Empire."

Yellow smiled at that as she looked towards White, and was simply greeted by silence. Spinel smiled as she waved down to the new gem mouthing "Hi."

Sombra looked at her somewhat awkwardly as he mimicked the gesture back at her as Spinel giggled.

Yellow cleared her throat as she said, "I've already sent you a list of his abilities and chemical makeup as well as plans to create an entire Kindergarden worth of them, plans that can be enacted at any time-"

White Diamond then interrupted her as she said, "That won't be necessary."

"Why... what ever do you mean?" asked Yellow as she backed away slightly.

"You cannot mass produce this Gem," said White simply, her smile never leaving her face.

"Bu-but why?" asked Yellow.

"Firstly the amount of energy you put in his spark is simply too much, we are already beginning to feel the resource shortage due to lack of imperial expansion," said White.

"Which is why we need to take a risk and make such strong soldiers," said Yellow as she started to become angry.

White then titled her head down slightly as she said, "I wasn't finished talking now was I."

"I..." began Yellow as she looked over to Blue and Pink for comfort only to see them shrink slightly into their thrones as her anger quickly was replaced by fear as said, "I am sorry White."

"As I was saying, he requires far too much energy to make, in addition this seems to have negatively affected the data you put into him. According to this he passed all the tests about how to make and operate heavy equipment but failed to answer basic questions about the gem hierarchy," said White.

"I... I can learn my Diamonds, whatever it takes, however long it takes I promise I can do something to make you proud," interrupted Sombra.

"Why, he even speaks when not spoken too, dare I say you might be trying to pass a defective Gem off as progress," said White.

"I... of course I would never," began Yellow but she began to sweat before sighing and saying, "I'm sorry for wasting your time White, and I respect your judgement." She then bowed as the travel bubble reformed around her and a now fearful looking Sombra before taking the two away.

White then looked at the assembled audience as she said, "Thank you all for being here to indulge Yellow's little hobby, this concludes this Diamond Ball."

Spinel awkwardly looked at him as she said, "Sombra... hi, it's been a while."

"Indeed it has and... forgive me but... my knowledge of the hierarchy is limited, I understand that you are high ranking given how you are not a Pearl and yet you where permitted to stand so close to a Diamond but I do not know your designation," said Sombra as he cocked his head in confusion.

"I'm Spinel," she said awkwardly before winching as she worried that he might know what that means upon hearing it.

He didn't seem to as his smile didn't waver and he said, "Spinel it is an honor to have you here and I am pleased to announce that I am just about to resume my work on this colony and... oh, I failed to ask why do you have these organics accompanying you?"

Spinel turned around to see the ponies and dragon staring at all this with dropped jaws as Spinel stammered saying, "Oh um... well they are rather interesting unique specimens and I'm sure you've heard of Pink's fondness for organics," as she mouthed to them, "Go along with this."

Sombra blinked as he said, "Oh, of course I believe I remember Yellow mentioning that, I am not overly fond of them myself but I have seen how useful they can be, so Ido not question her judgement. Would she like them to accompany you on the tour?"

Spinel nodded as she began pushing them out the door saying, "Of course... would you mind if we talked in private I forgot to brief them on certain pieces of etiquette."

"Oh but of course, take all the time you need my Spinel," said Sombra as he gave her a salute and they headed out the door.

"Thank you," she said as she went through the door thinking, "We're going to have a lot to talk about."

As Spinel made sure to close the door behind them she looked at the group ready to talk as she opened her mouth and began to speak.

But was quickly interrupted as Twilight pulled out a quill and paper saying, "An alien, this whole time Sombra was an alien and nocreature knew! The historical implications of this are just immersible!"

"Um Twilight... you do realize he's still holding your family hostage right?" asked Applejack.

"Oh... of course," said Twilight as she teleported the paper away before clearing her throat.

"More importantly, why did you lie to him and say you still work for Pink Diamond?" asked Pinkie.

"Well it seemed to be the direction things were going, and this way we get a chance to talk to him," said Spinel with a smile.

"Well it's fine by me, I say if he thinks you're his boss make him let everycreature go and stop whatever the hay he's doing," said Rainbow Dash.

"Even if he'd agree to that, he'd find out the truth eventually and who knows what he'd do then," said Rarity.

Fluttershy thought for a moment before saying, "Well if he's willing to talk we could try friendship like Discord said."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," said Spinel as she jumped excitedly.

The others stood for a moment as Twilight said, "I need to get a message to the princesses about this, come on Spike."

"Right," said the young dragon as he followed down the hall a bit.

"Well I guess this could work, but the minute he acts funny bam, it's Element time," said Rainbow as she gestured towards her necklace.

"I'm not sure about this but if you all think it's a good idea, then I guess it is," said Applejack with a sigh.

"Well, I suppose it's worth a shot, after all anyone with such good taste in capes can't be all bad," said Rarity.

Pinkie looked at Spinel worriedly saying, "I don't know, I mean it would be great to be his friend but basing friendship on a lie like this feels wrong."

"It will be fine," said Spinel as she thought, "After all Steven lied and let me think I was his new best friend."

"Do you got all that Spike?" asked Twilight

"Yeah," responded Spike.

"Good," said Twilight before glancing back at the others and speaking quietly to make sure they couldn't hear as she said, "And... do you remember that device Spinel had, the Rejuvinator she called it?"

"Um yeah, why?" asked Spike.

"Tell Celestia that it's in my lab at our castle, sitting on my desk and that she should send it to us with her reply," said Twilight.

"What, but aren't we gonna try and befriend him?" asked Spike.

"We are," said Twilight as she looked back at the throne room and remembered the brief image she saw of her family in chains as she said, "But I'm not taking any chances."

Author's Note

And So Sombra and Spinel have finally come from face to face... and yeah it is certainly interesting. How will this turn out, what will Twilight's decision yield? Find out all this and more next chapter around this time next week

Art made by REDXBACON you can find them on Twitter.

Also for any of you wondering why Sombra is a male Gem I've just always had the head canon that there are male Gems since he/him didn't seem to be foreign words to them or anything like that but they simply aren't as common (similar to how in Transformers the vast majority of them are male but there still are females)

Thank you so much for reading, hope you liked it, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day

The Tour Begins

Sombra watched the door waiting patiently with a smile for everyone to return as he thought, "At last the day has come, finally, FINALLY! I can show Yellow Diamond that she was right to give me this chance, that I can earn the respect of her and the other Diamonds that I... I no longer have to be alone." As those thoughts danced through his head the others came back through the door as he said, "Ah, my Spinel. So then shall we begin?"

Spinel looked over the royal trio in their chains as she said, "Before we do, do you think you could let those three go?"

"Not to question your judgement, but these organic clods have been locked up due to them being a threat. The last time I had taken form the large pink was directly linked to poofing me, and her husband and child can rival her abilities," said Sombra.

Spinel faked a chuckle as she said, "Fair enough, but as you can see I am rather skilled at taming these creatures," she then gestured to those behind her before she continued saying, "And I believe Pink Diamond would consider them unique specimens as well."

Sombra looked at the ponies and dragon as he said, "I see your point... very well I will release them, but I insist that you allow me to suppress their minds at least for safety's sake," said Sombra as he ignited his gem and moved towards the trio.

"NO!" yelled Twilight as she stepped forward.

Sombra raised an eyebrow as he turned towards Twilight saying, "Forgive me my Spinel but it seems that these creatures are not as in line as they seem... perhaps I can help you with that."

Spinel then pushed Twilight back a bit as she said, "That won't be necessary, Pink Diamond's training simply takes time... isn't that right girls?"

She then turned the others as Rairty stepped forward saying, "Why of course my Spinel... I'm sure Twilight simply forgot how generous you all are being," as she took her friend back.

Sombra smirked at that saying, "Impressive, I was a little cautious given how these ones have at least shown a small level of threat but I should have never questioned the will of Pink Diamond."

Spinel shuttered slightly as she thought, "Hearing him complement Pink so much honestly might be the hardest part of this lie." She then stepped forward as she looked at the royal family silently mouthing, "We'll get you out," before turning to Sombra and saying, "You know what, just leave them here for now, we don't want to have to keep track of too many of these guys on our tour."

"Of course my Spinel, well then," said Sombra before placing his hand on a nearby wall and causing a door to open before saying, "Shall we begin?"

Spinel briefly glanced behind her as the others nodded one by one before getting to Twilight who simply stared at her family before Spike patted her shoulder and the two of them nodded. "Let's," said Spinel simply as they moved into the hall he opened.

The group began moving down the hall as Sombra explained, "Thankfully the passages containing the circuitry and data farms for the castles systems where sealed so none of these organic clods where able to do anything to them beyond superficial damage or alterations, all of which my servants are remedying." At this point a green crystal pony began walking towards him as he smiled saying, "Speaking of which, Peridot class unit."

The pony stopped dead in her tracks and quickly raised her front hooves in a semi successful attempt at a Diamond salute as she said, "Unit P0-N3 reporting King Sombra."

Sombra then had somewhat of a cold sweat as he turned back to Spinel saying, "Forgive the title, it was needed to help over ride the minds of some organics but I assure you I still know my place in the Empire is far below that of yours."

"It's... um, it's cool, I get it," said Spinel somewhat awkwardly as she thought, "Man this guy's really got it bad with the Diamond worship... of course I stood in one spot for 6000 years because of a Diamond so hindsight is 20 20."

Twilight sighed as she looked around thinking, "Well at the very least I should try and learn more about all this while I can, to help take my mind off my worries." "What do you mean by Peridot class?" she asked.

Sombra briefly glanced back at her without saying anything before Spinel spoke up saying, "Since Pink Diamond wants to keep these organics as pets it's important to answer their questions and help them understand Gem Society."

"Pets," grumbled Rainbow Dash before getting a nudge from Applejack that said, "Be quiet."

Sombra turned around saying, "Of course my Spinel, I should have known," Sombra looked down at Twilight in a very condescending manner as he said, "Well in our society we have different Gems for different jobs and Peridots function in various fields of science, and unfortunately this planet can not form a proper Kindergarten due to the unique radiation you refer to as 'magic' so instead I've had to infuse these ponies with Peridot data, hence the green glow they emit."

"Wait... you did what to them?" asked Rarity as she looked at the mare standing at attention in greater concern.

Sombra groaned slightly before saying, "I'll try to explain it in ways you can understand later, but for now," he then turned back to the green mare saying, "What is your status?"

"All systems have been triple checked and obstructions are cleared, the Injector is ready for deployment whenever you are ready," said P0-N3.

"Very good, you are dismissed," said Sombra as the green mare continued past them. They continued down the hall before they came to a large chamber with a large glowing yellow sphere that seemed to have what looked like countless squares moving around inside it as he said, "On our first official stop we have the reactor, where the primitive energies of the Crystal Heart can be refined and amplified in order to power all the equipment."

"So you're saying you didn't make the Crystal Heart then?" asked Fluttershy.

"No, it was actually made by the original royal of this land, Princess Amore. The first impediment of my rule here, she along with her student... Radiant Hope I believe her name was. It has been so long," said Sombra in brief thought. "They took me in when I first arrived on this planet, foolish as it was. I claimed that I was here to help the advancement of their society and thus they shared with me the secrets of the Crystal Heart and allowed me to... modify their castle." Sombra sighed as he placed a hand over of his face saying, "Forgive me... but at one time I did share Pink Diamond's sentimentality for organics... I had hoped to keep those two by my side well into the colonization efforts but they sadly failed to see the true glory of the Diamonds... once they knew what was going on they tried to stop me... defeating them was the hardest thing I had to do."

"You... you killed ponies who took you in!" said Twilight as her horn threatened to ignite from her rage as the others tried to restrain her.

Sombra looked down at her and chuckled saying, "No no no... far from it in fact... hang on," said Sombra as he then placed his hand on a panel causing two pillars to rise from the floor.

In an instant Twilight expression went from anger to horror as they saw resting inside each of the pillars suspended in liquid was a unicorn mare. One small and purple with a blue mane, the other a light shade of pink with darker pink hair and being roughly the same size as Princess Celestia. "They were in fact the first ponies I modified, and the greatest at that, I had to keep them near the reactor to cook off the reserve energy," said Sombra. He then glanced at a screen and smiled wider saying, "Thankfully it seems they are ready to come out if you would like to meet them," said Sombra as he didn't even bother to wait for the answer and began tapping away at the screen.

The pillars soon began to open as the liquid leaked on the floor, Rarity stepped away gagging slightly as the others simply watched as the unicorns remained still as statues before suddenly opening their eyes as the liquid instantly stopped in its tracks. As the two mares began to walk out the liquid started flowing off the ground and through the air collecting on their backs. Finally as they reached the group the liquid took the form of wings on each of their backs.

"You.... made them alicorns?" asked Pinkie as she cocked her head in confusion.

"Not quite, though I admit the comparison is somewhat amusing," said Sombra with a warm smile as he looked upon the mares thinking, "In the end I was able to give you what you deserved."

The two mares then flexed their watery wings before forming them into a diamond salute as they said in unison, "Lapis units reporting for duty King Sombra."

Instantly the group was unnerved by the soulless symetry the two displayed, at the lack of any spark in their cold unfeeling eyes that seemed to be staring at both nothing and everything at the same time.

"How... could you do this to them?" asked Applejack in horror.

"To them," asked Sombra as he cocked her head at her saying, "I did this for them." He then approached the group as they began to back away as his face began to twist in anger and he said, "I increased their power, allowed them to live far longer then anyone else in their species, gave them a place in the Empire more important then even my own so that nothing can happen to them!" Sombra then slammed his fist on a wall to try and make his point, the two mares simply standing as if nothing was happening.

All this caused the more timid Fluttershy to move further back then the others causing her to bump into the reactor core, causing a bolt of pink lighting to go from her Element to the reactor making it glow brighter, which intern scared her making her move away from it.

Sombra looked at them before breathing out and smoothing his hair as he said, "Fascinating it appears as though these Elements of yours can also fuel the reactor, I'll have to look into that later... with caution of course, too much energy could overload it and ruin everything..." He then trailed off before looking at Spinel with a salute as he said, "Forgive me for my outburst my Spinel, I'm not sure what came over me."

"Well um... just make sure it doesn't happen again," said Spinel with a fake angry look.

"Of course," said Sombra with a slight bow before he continued saying, "Now then, as I was saying I have combined these two with the code of Lapis Lazulis, once the opposition has been removed they shall be deployed to terraform this planet to better suit Gem needs, with any luck once this magic is cleared away the land will be fit for proper Kindergartens giving the Empire double the forces and resources that was estimated, now then let us continue."

As the group began to move again Twilight lingered staring at the two mares simply standing like statues thinking, "He cares about them... in his own sick and twisted way he cares about them and it made him do this to them... if Spinel can make him care about us, who's to say it won't be just like this." A vision of Shining, Cadence, and Flurry standing stock still and silent like this suddenly entered her mind before she shook in clear.

As she thought on this Spike briefly came back saying, "Hey Twilight you gotta keep up-" before suddenly stopping as he belched flame revealing a scroll that clattered to the ground with a clang that clearly showed something was wrapped inside it.

Twilight fast approached the scroll not even bothering to read it as she unfurled it confirming the Rejuvinator was tucked inside before slipping it and the scroll into her saddle bag as she simply looked at Spike saying, "Let's go."

Spike gulped as he said, "Hey Twi... I know you're worried about your family and some of the stuff we've seen so far isn't exactly great... but you got to remember this isn't even the worst we've ever seen, I mean first off the brainwashing was done by Starlight-"

Spike continued on but Twilight didn't hear him as she thought, "If he even thinks about turning my family into things like that, I'm putting a stop it no matter what!"

Author's Note

And so the tour is underway and Twilight is not liking it, what will happen next, find out around this time next week

Thanks for reading, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day

Tour Concluded

As the group continued along their way Sombra went on explaining a few things, all of which was ignored by the stewing Twilight, that is until they saw daylight as they soon found themselves outside the castle as Sombra said, "And now we have reached the peak of the tour, behold," he then gestured with wide arms at the castle as the others looked on in confusion.

"Um... what exactly are we supposed to be beholding?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Sombra looked at them before bowing slightly as he chuckled and said, "Oh, forgive me, sometime I forget how it blends in with the other castle towers," he then stood back up as his hand began to glow as it shifted into an ocarina like shape before he used his other hand to form a note on it and raised it to his mouth playing it.

This resulted in one of the towers of the castle detaching from the rest as it floated through the air as robotic legs came off of it and a drill took shape at the bottom.

Spinel's eyes widened as she said, "So... that's your Injector then."

"Correct, and now we can get into the nitty gritty of what makes this colony so fascinating," said Sombra. He then faced the group as his Gem began to glow before it projected an image of the Injector burrowing into the ground as he said, "Normally an Injector would pump the raw material and data to form a Gem into the ground, said material would absorb the nutrients and resources from the land around it, at which point the data would coalesce into what we refer to as a Spark, and then the Gem would burst forth from the ground.... however something curious happened when I deployed it on this planet." Sombra then made the image move as a red liquid came out of the Injector and colored the whole ground red. "At first I thought I had made some mistake in the formula, but after repeated attempts I realized what was going on, the 'magic' as you creatures call it, of this planet somehow prevents the Gem from forming, at first I thought this planet might just be a waste of time... that is until," he said before turning back to the projection as the silhouettes of ponies stepped onto the ground and the red liquid began to leach up from the ground into them. "The 'magic' within ponies acts as a magnet, pulling in the data and material from the ground into them giving them knowledge and abilities of whatever class of Gem the Injector was currently trying to make, resulting in them becoming what they refer to as Crystal Ponies."

"So wait... you're saying that Crystal Ponies are part Gem?" asked Pinkie.

"Exactly," said Sombra excitedly. "I mean who would have thought an organic Gem hybrid was even possible?"

Spinel somewhat awkwardly laughed at that as she said, "I'm sure not many would have believed in one."

"So then... you plan to do this to every creature in Equestria then?" asked Twilight as she clenched a wing on her saddle bag.

"Well... most anyway, I have yet to fully test how the process works on creatures besides ponies," said Sombra as he scratched his chin thinking, "I suppose I could try it on the nearby Griffonstone next, would make for a great test and if successfully will be a great boon to my forces."

Twilight's wing began to flex at that as Spike put his hand on her shoulder to try and calm her, it seemed to barely work as her wing lowered.

Sombra then turned back to the group saying, "Regardless, now is the time we must bid you organics adieu as I show Spinel my command center where we might discuss the next phase of the colony."

"Oh... but can't we hear it too?" asked Pinkie.

"Um quite right darling, we've come so far and seen so much of your plan already," added Rarity.

"Yeah, you can't just jip us out of the end," added Rainbow Dash.

"We would like to come with you... if it's not too much trouble," said Fluttershy.

Sombra chuckled as he said, "I appreciate your enthusiasm but I insist on this being a private Gem to Gem exchange, I need to make sure everything is approved of before I can properly instruct you all, I do hope you'll understand."

"Oh I understand alright," said Twilight as she began to step forward.

Again Spike put his hand on her as Spinel cocked her eyebrow thinking, "Twilight seems a bit more... impulsive then usual, it's a good thing Spike still has a good head on his shoulders," as she tried to brush it aside saying, "Alright you heard the guy huddle up." They then moved towards Spinel as she whispered saying, "Alright guys, I'm gonna go with him and see if I can't talk him out of all this."

"Are you sure you'll be OK alone with him?" asked Pinkie, worry showing on her face.

Spinel smirked as she waved her off and said, "It's fine, he thinks I'm his superior so he's probably more scared of me then we are of him."

"I doubt that," said Twilight as she rolled her eyes.

Spinel looked at her thinking, "Should I say something.... I'm sure it's fine, Steven let Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all do their things while he tried to help out after all."

"Well, is there anything we can do?" asked Applejack.

Spinel thought about this for a moment before saying, "Well... hopefully it doesn't come to it but if that Injector starts moving try to find a way to stop it."

"How in the hey can we do that!?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not sure, but I know you'll figure something out," said Spinel with a smile.

At this point Twilight briefly snapped out of her rage as she thought, "Should I tell her about the Rejuvenator, she might know of a way to use it to stop all this... but then again she might take it away since we're trying friendship."

Before Twilight could think on this further Sombra touched a panel causing a hole to open up in the ground revealing a stair case as he said, "Not to rush you my Spinel but I do hope we can get to work soon."

"Coming," said Spinel before turning back to the others saying, "You guys just trust me to try and win him over and I'll trust you to do the right thing if it doesn't work," as she gave them all a thumbs up before running towards Sombra.

The two then descended the staircase as the floor closed back up behind them.

Pinkie's ears fell slightly as she said, "I hope she knows what she's doing."

"I'm sure she does," said Fluttershy as she placed a reassuring hoof on Pinkie's shoulder causing her to perk up a bit.

Twilight lowered her head as she thought, "Am I really doing the right thing... I thought it was fine since I was just thinking about saving my family... but then again I was just thinking about saving Equestria when I tried to steal the Hippogriffs Pearl... why didn't I tell her about the Rejuvinator and how can we stop the Injector if things go wrong?"

As she thought on this Rainbow Dash griped saying, "I'm just mad we can't hit him with the Elements now."

And that's when it clicked as Twilight said, "Too much energy in the reactor... I think I have a plan."

As Spinel reached the ground floor she looked around the table projecting a hologram of the Injector as Sombra was typing away at a nearby console as he said, "From here I can control and monitor every function of the castle," he then gestured to the screen above it as he said, "As you can see all readings are nominal and we should be ready to deploy in the nearest village within the hour."

"That's really good Sombra... in the meantime, how about you tell me about yourself?" asked Spinel as she sat down at the table.

Sombra cocked his head in confusion as he said, "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh... I just mean, I would like a report of everything that you've been through since last we spoke on home world," said Spinel.

Sombra winched at that as he said, "Oh... you don't want to hear that, after all I already told you the broad strokes."

Spinel thought, "Definetly getting somewhere, between that and his outburst earlier something defiantly happened between him and those ponies from earlier, I just gotta find out what." Spinel then cleared her throat as she said, "I asked for a report, that's an order."

Instantly Sombra stood up straight and gave a salute as he said, "Yes my Spinel."

She slightly smirked at that thinking, "Hum, so this is what it feels like to be a Diamond... it's not for me," as she then sighed saying, "At ease," as she gestured for him to sit next to her.

He did so but was still somewhat stiff as he said, "Where exactly should I begin?"

"At the beginning, right after you and Yellow left the Ball," said Spinel

"Of course," said Sombra as he let out a sigh and began to recall it all.

Author's Note

And so Twilight is somewhat calmer, but is still doing her own thing, will it ruin everything, what is Sombra's full past, find out all this and more around this time next week.

Thanks for reading, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day

Days of the Past Part 2

Hope and Amore watched as the unconscious stranger rested on a bed as Amore said, "I've done every sort of health spell and healing spell I can think of, and I can't even tell if they've had any effect... there's nothing we can do but wait."

Hope nodded as she moved over to a nearby desk as she said, "What do you suppose he is my lady?"

Amore thought on this before moving over as she said, "I have a few thoughts but I am curious to see what you think first."

Hope nodded as she flipped through her notes saying, "To be honest I'm not sure, his body almost looks like that of a miniature, yet he has one horn on his forehead like us rather than two... perhaps he is a previously unknown variety."

"Perhaps... though I don't think that is the case," said Amore as she sighed and sat down. "Though I fear that if I say what I am thinking you might accuse me of going mad in this cold."

Hope gasped at that as she said, "My lady I would never do such a thing!"

Amore chuckled as she said, "Very well then... tell me, how has your studies of astronomy been going?"

Hope cocked her head at that as she said, "I suppose they are fine... but I fail to see how that relates."

"Tell me... the strange craft he arrived in, where do you suppose it came from?"

"I hadn't given it too much thought... must be quite the place to have such odd airships, I couldn't even see the balloon though I suppose it may have been ruined in the crash," said Hope.

"Perhaps... or perhaps not," said Amore before she sighed and said, "Consider this... we have never seen such a craft or even any of the materials that make it up, as you noted the glass seems astoundingly durable, not even cracking in the crash."

Hope cocked her head again as she said, "It does seem marvelously constructed but where is this going?"

Amore let out one more sigh before saying, "The entire time we watched it, it seemed to come from straight down never turning until we slowed it down, meaning that it didn't take off from anywhere on the ground..."

"So then," began Hope before gasping as she said, "My lady, surely you can't be suggesting-"

"If you truly have been keeping up in your astronomy you know that there are other planets out there... who's to say those planets are not teaming with life like ours," said Amore.

"But... that's absurd!" said Hope.

"That is as I thought too, but tell me my pupil... do you have any other explanations for this?" said Amore.

"I...." began Hope trying to figure out something, anything that made more sense, only to shy in defeat.

Amore simply nodded at that as she smiled saying, "Well we did wish to unite the races of our world together, perhaps it is only right that we are the ones to try and do the same with the races of other worlds as well."

Before Hope could respond they suddenly heard a groan as they turned to see their other worldly guest sit up.

Immediatly Amore ran over as she placed her hoof on his arm saying, "Are you alright?"

Sombra let out another groan as he nodded and blinked his eyes as he tried to unblur his vision thinking, "My head what happened... am I back at the lab?"

Hope soon approached as well as she asked, "Can you tell us your name?"

Sombra wearily did a salute and began saying, "Synthetic-" only to stop as his vision cleared up as he saw the creatures before him. Instantly he put his hands back down as he said, "Um, Sombra."

"Well Sombra, welcome to Equis, my name is Amore and this is my student Radiant Hope," said Amore with a smile.

"Charmed to meet you," said Hope with a slight bow.

Sombra turned his head to look at the odd creatures as he thought, "Nothing like them in the data I have active on other worlds, nore in any of the things I have learned from 3XF," he briefly paused at his thoughts turning to her but shook his head as he thought, "Have to remain focused though, need to be careful with these creatures... for now." He began to get up as he said, "I thank you for your hospitality, now if you'll kindly direct me to my ship I will leave you."

At this Hope stepped next to him as she said, "Hold on now, you just woke up, surely you need to rest."

"Indeed, besides a blizzard is starting out there," said Amore as she gestured to the heavy snow fall and wind out the window as she said, "No creature could make it in such a storm."

Sombra looked at the snow undeterred as he said, "Perhaps that would stop organic creatures like you, but I can assure you I am made of sterner stuff."

Hope blinked at that as she said, "So then... you truly are from another world."

Sombra glanced at her and gave a simple nod as he continued along, this caused Amore to teleport in front of him as she said, "I do not claim to know what your people or your world is like, but I do know that as long I am the ruler of this land I am responsible for your safety while you are here just as I am responsible for the safety of everycreature else."

Sombra cocked his head slightly as he thought, "Royalty... and she seems genuinely concerned for my safety despite not knowing me? Yellow would never..." Sombra shook his head at that as he thought, "Yellow would never do such a thing because it is unwise, after all she is trying to help me and I intend to conquer her world... never the less royalty commands respect." He then gave her a salute as he said, "Once again I am grateful for your help your highness but as you said, you know nothing of me or my world, and I can assure you I am not a creature who needs protecting."

Amore sighed at that as she said, "Well if that is how you feel I suppose I can't stop you."

Hope however gulped before teleporting alongside her mentor as she said, "If you will not wait for yourself at least wait so that we can join you."

Sombra was taken aback by that as he asked, "And why would I wait for that?"

"Because despite your claims, we were the ones who stopped your ship from crashing and we can help move it and provide a place for you to repair it," said Hope before turning to her mentor as she said, "If that is alright with you my lady."

Amore looked to her student and smiled as she said, "Of course it is, what a splendid idea my student." Amore then turned to Sombra as she said, "Even if you claim to not be bothered by the snow, I'm sure whatever repairs you will need to do will be easier away from it, and with assistance no doubt."

Sombra looked at them before asking, "And what would you like in exchange for this assistance?"

"Nothing... as I said while you are in my kingdom you are my responsibility," said Amore with a smile.

"Though, if you are comfortable with it we would like to hear about your world and the astounding technology that has allowed you to travel the stars to reach ours," said Hope with a smile.

Amore chuckled at that as she said, "You'll have to excuse my pupil, she has always had a great appetite for knowledge... though I admit to a curiosity about that information myself."

Sombra rubbed his chin thinking, "That's all they want... well I suppose I can give them that at the very least, though I doubt they well be willing to help me if I tell them my true reason for being here so some deception is in order." He then sighed as he said, "Very well, I was planning on sharing this information with you anyway," he then went over to the bed and sat back down.

"I beg your parden?" asked Hope.

Sombra smiled as he said, "I come as an envoy of the Diamond Empire, the greatest power in the known universe, and I was sent you to share with your world information and technology so that you might advance to the point of joining us in the stars."

"Really now?" asked Amore in excitement.

"Well you certainly picked the right part of our planet to crash into then," said Hope with a chuckle before she continued saying, "Many creatures on this world aren't exactly interested in a united Empire."

Sombra cocked his head as he said, "How odd," as he thought, "I knew that organics could be illogical, but one would think that if a royal figured out a crude imitation of the Gem Empire the others would gravitate towards it."

"Which is why it is good that you are here, if you can truly help us advance to such a point as you describe I doubt any of them will be able to argue against cooperation," said Amore with a smile.

Sombra jerked slightly at that as he said, "Yes indeed... I'm sure that is the case," as he thought, "These creatures are much to trusting." He then looked over at Hope as he noticed her eyes were nearly closed as she suddenly struggled to stand.

Amore chuckled before letting a yawn of her own as she said, "You'll have to forgive us but it is a rather late hour and unlike you we haven't gotten any sleep lately."

Sombra cocked his head as he said, "Sleep?" thinking, "I think I remember hearing that word during the study of organics but... what did it mean again?"

Amore cocked her head at that as she said, "You don't know what..." before stopping as she shook her head and smiled as she said, "I suppose you are quite right about us not knowing what your people are like then... sleep is something we do, typically at night, where we lose consciousness in order to reinvigorate our bodies."

"I see," said Sombra as he stroked his chin thinking, "Yes I remember now.... seems rather inconvenient, would leave one vulnerable for some time."

Hope nodded as she let out a yawn before crawling into the bed Sombra had been laying as she said, "Indeed, and I don't believe I can continue without sleep so I wish you good night Sombra, and a good night to you my mentor."

Amore chuckled at that as she got into the bed as well saying, "I am right behind you my dear student."

Hope blushed slightly as she said, "My lady, you do not need to share a bed with me."

Amore chuckled at Hope's reluctance as she said, "Come now, there is no need for me to return to my chambers if you are going to be here... besides when you were a filly you used to insist on sleeping next to me quite often."

"I suppose," said Hope retreating somewhat under the blanket.

Amore once again chuckled as she turned to Sombra saying, "Terribly sorry about this, but you are free to wake us when you see the storm let up."

Sombra sighed as he said, "Very well," as the two settled in. As Sombra glanced around he thought, "I suppose this mission won't be that hard with their assistance, even if they have to take regular breaks in order to maintain their fragile organic bodies," he then looked over at them as he thought, "Sleep really does seem impractical." Suddenly the two moved a bit closer in their sleep as Sombra suddenly had the image of himself and 3XF laying together like that as he turned away blushing and thought, "Though I suppose their are some benefits to it."

Sombra watched as Amore and Hope levitated his ship into the large space as he said, "Once again I thank you... you know this room would make for a great commited hanger if you wouldn't mind."

Hope looked over at him as she said, "Well we had planned on this being a dining room but...."

Amore sighed as the two of them sat the ship down saying, "Unfortunately we haven't had much reason to have a formal meal with our subjects yet, or even the food to do such a thing."

"Which is why your help will be greatly appreciated," said Hope with a smile.

Sombra lurched as she smiled back saying, "Yes indeed-" he then approached the ship as went under it saying, "Now let's take a look at-" suddenly he stopped as his eyes went wide and he said, "No no no no no!"

Amore soon joined his side as she said, "What's wrong?"

"The main float disk is cracked beyond repair, and I doubt I will be able to get a new one on this planet," said Sombra with gritted teeth.

"And what does that mean?" asked Hope.

Sombra glanched at them before sighing as he said, "It means that this ship isn't leaving the planet again any time soon... it should be able to use the thrusters to fly short in atmosphere trips, with a few repairs of course, but as it stands the ship is completely grounded."

"Oh my... is there anyway you can contact your people for help?" asked Amore.

Sombra looked at the side as he said, "Not immediately, the long range security antenna while not intended for communication could have potentially been modified to do so.... if it was still attached to the ship and not buried in the snow somewhere. The actual communicator isn't powerful enough to reach the Empire from here... not yet anyway, once we incorporate and modify this for your aid it might be possible."

"I see," said Amore as she lowered her head in thought.

Hope leaned over as she said, "My lady did you really understand all that?"

"For the most part I believe," said Amore.

Sombra let a slight chuckle as he said, "Sorry, it is kind of amusing to see you not understand these concepts."

Hope houghed at that as she said, "How dare you say such a rude thing."

Sombra cocked his head as he said, "It was not intended to be rude."

Hope opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Amore saying, "So you're saying that your people are too far away to communicate with your machines... but pray tell, didn't you bring any stones or potions to augment your magic?"

"My... what?" asked Sombra taken aback by that.

Hope let out a laugh at that as she said, "I see now what you meant by it being amusing."

Amore rolled her eyes but couldn't help out a giggle of her own as Sombra sighed before having a smirk as he said, "It would seem that we both have things to teach each other."

"Quite right," said Amore with a smile.

Sombra then opened a hatch as he said, "Well in the mean time I can get some equipment set up, and teach you a few things."

As they said this the snow suddenly began to whip up again as Hope said, "I don't suppose you can do anything about the weather, can you?"

Sombra thought on this as he said, "I assume you just mean around here and not full on terraforming, and no nothing immediate. I suppose we could attempt to build an atmospheric alteration tower later but that could take months."

"Well we already have the Crystal Heart protecting our settlement from the brunt of the storms, perhaps you can do something to make it more effective," said Amore.

"Crystal... Heart?" asked Sombra as he thought, "The ceremonial apparatus's for temples? It has to just be a coincidence."

"I had spent years forging it, it is meant to absorb the love and friendship of those around it in order to create a protective magic barrier that in theory could keep out both threats of invasion and things like poor weather, however I fear I may have made a mistake in its construction as despite our land being the most unified in the world, it is not doing as much as I'd hoped," said Amore.

"Ah definitely coincidence and mention of magic again... could that be what they call the radiation?" thought Sombra before he nodded saying, "I suppose I won't know for sure until I get a look at it."

"Right this way then," began Amore but she was stopped as Hope stood in front of them.

"Hold on my lady, up until now we have only led Sombra through the outskirts but the Crystal Heart is right in the center of the settlement, and I fear that the citizenry might not react the best to our... visitor," said Hope pointing towards Sombra.

Amore sighed as she said, "I'm sorry Sombra but I fear she is right since as much as we are committed to a united empire of creatures, we have never seen anything like you on our world and I fear that many would react to you with fear or the very least trepidation."

"Oh, that won't be a problem," said Sombra before thinking, "I am an infiltrator after all, I would have done this sooner if I had not lost consciousness in the crash." Before they ask what he meant he closed his eyes as his Gem began to glow, before his entire body glowed and shrunk down to a pony shape. He then opened his eyes and looked down at himself as he said, "Walking on all fours will take some getting used to, and I'll absolutely have to change back to operate my equipment but I suppose we can do that in private."

He then looked over as he saw Amore and Hope staring at him mouth agape as Hope suddenly began stuttering as she said, "Cha-cha-changeling! My lady get back!" as she tried to stand between her and Sombra.

Amore then pushed her back saying, "Hope calm down, why would a Changeling arrive in a vehicle from beyond the stars, or fake it at the very least."

Hope then looked back at her before sighing as she said, "I suppose you are right, forgive me my lady but... this is just unexpected."

"Indeed," said Amore before turning to Sombra as she said, "Forgive her, it's just shape shifting is a rare ability on our world and while we'd be willing to offer friendship if they accepted, the Changelings we have encountered thus far have not been very receptive, perhaps that is simply the influence or their Queen but that is a topic for another day."

"I... understand," said Sombra filing that information away for later.

"Now then, shall we," said Amore as she led the way out.

Soon they arrived as Sombra looked at the Crystal Heart floating above the ground as Amore explained, "As I said it collects the love of our citizenry and turns it into magic that is sent up the tower to form a barrier... it is simply rather weak now."

Sombra rubbed his chin at that as he said, "I suppose a first instinct would be to put some more conductive crystals around it to better channel this radiation."

"Radiation?" asked Hope.

"Forgive me, the magic as you call it," said Sombra.

"Such an odd term," said Amore.

Sombra then closed his eyes as he focused on the tower before him thinking, "Just a simple conductive stone will likely do the trick," as spikes began to grow the top and bottom of the tower before meeting the Crystal Heart in the middle.

Before Hope or Amore could even comment on this the effect began. Suddenly the heart began to spin faster as they could feel its energy radiate out of it and for a brief moment they stared in awe as the snow around it began to melt away into a beautiful grassy field as the effect began spread outward and as soon it touched their hooves they instantly felt better as it took away all the fatigue and worry they had experienced during this time and even seemed to make their coats shinier.

"My word this is marvelous," said Hope looking down at her self.

"Indeed," said Amore before turning as she said, "Thank you Som-" only to instantly stop as the magic seemed to have quite a different effect on him as he was groaning in pain as his body looked like it was cracking apart. In an instant Amore leaped upon the Crystal Heart knocking it from between the spikes causing the magic to fade as snow began to land over the green field.

Sombra heaved as he looked down at his body as the cracks began to fade, he then looked up at Amore above him as they blushed before parting as Sombra coughed before saying, "Forgive me, I failed to account for how the radiation might affect my form."

"Your form?" asked Hope.

Sombra thought on this for a moment before saying, "My body as it where, is simply something my Gem," he then gestured to the curved red horn atop his head, "makes out of light to carry it around, and unfortunately the radiation this outputs in large doses seems to be on the opposite end of the light spectrum and thus disrupts it."

Amore looked down as she said, "I believe I understand.... is there anyway you can do to combat it?"

Sombra raised his hoof to his chin in thought as he said, "If I were to reform while the radiation was active I could adjust to it... but such a process could take over a thousand years."

"Well then that's certainly not an option then, unless you can make us Alicorns," said Hope.

"Alicorns?" asked Sombra.

Amore sighed as she said, "It's nothing just... supposedly they are immortal ponies with both wings and horns and Hope seems to believe her and I might become them some day."

"You read the legends my lady, a pony can ascend into being an Alicorn if they prove they are truely dedicated to harmony and I can not imagine anyone is more so then you are... and perhaps myself, but you at the very least are worthy of such an honor," said Hope.

Amore sighed once again as she said, "Yes I read the legends, but that's what they are legends... moving on though what else can we do Sombra?"

"I suppose we can attempt to build a reactor to convert the radiation of the Heart into a more conventional energy, this would allow us to not only improve the weather but a number of other technological advancements as well," said Sombra.

"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's return to your ship and get to work," said Hope excitedly.

"Let's," said Amore with a giggle.

Sombra let out a chuckle of his own as he followed after them.

Several months later

As Amore looked at the various view screens around her she turned to Hope saying, "Energy levels appear stable, the reactor seems nominal."

Hope nodded as she said, "And the energy to the Heart Tower as well as the castle's system is flowing normally, meaning that this new device has been successfully integrated into the system."

"Indeed, so tell us Sombra what is this process we have been working on," said Amore as she gestured to the large drill like device that had detached from the Castle and now floated above a nearby field.

Sombra smiled as he levitated up a parchment saying, "It's rather simple really."

"Simple as levitation seems to be for you, you've made some good progress in learning to control your magic, I mean radiation," said Amore with a smile.

"As have you two become very well acquainted with my technology," said Sombra before he continued saying, "Now then, I think we can all agree that life in the settlement proper has become rather good for you and your citizenry."

"Can't argue there, from the better weather and indoor heating to the near limitless applications of holo pads for work and entertainment I dare say it's become perfect," said Hope.

"Perhaps close, but if we are to turn this settlement into the proper Empire you all deserve then we need greater numbers which is why... well I'll just show you," said Sombra as he shifted his hoof into an ocarina and played a note causing the drill to burrow into the ground as they all watched as a line of grill trailed along the drill head into the ground causing the ground itself to begin to turn green. The three watched in awe as... that appeared to be the only change that took place.

"What!?" said Sombra as he moved over to the view screens thinking, "I don't understand, could the mixture have been wrong, did I rush it too much, the formula for Peridots is a bit complex too start with but we need more scientists and" he then glanced at the green of the field as it reminded him of certain smiling green face as he thought, "Even if I can't see her it would have been nice to see someone like her."

Amore soon walked up as she said, "Is something wrong Sombra?"

"Is this perhaps something to make the soil more fertile?"asked Hope.

Sombra's ears perked up that as he thought, "The soil should still have plenty of nutrients for planting, and it would be a good way to cover my failure until I can figure out what went wrong," before he smiled as he said, "But of course, can't have the Empire expanding without proper food to feed its citizens."

Amore clapped her hooves at that as she said, "Absolutely and we're in luck," she turned to a nearby brown Earth Pony mare as she said, "Daisy is right nearby."

Upon hearing her name Daisy's ears perked up as she walked over saying, "Did you need something your majesty?"

"Yes, as you can see by the healthy green color Sombra has made another improvement to our lives with this soil, and I would like you and your team to begin working on it as soon as possible," said Amore.

"Of course your highness, I'll get everyone right away," said Daisy as she ran off

An hour later

Sombra looked over the diagrams as he said to himself, "The formula looks correct in all the diagrams... perhaps my mixing equipment is off." Sombra glanced at a screen hooked to an orb containing a sample of the green soil as he said, "And yet the soil seems to have the right measurements in it, so why is it-"

Before he could think on this further he suddenly heard the door to his lab burst open as he turned to see Hope looking at him in fear as she said, "Sombra, something has gone wrong!"

Sombra soon went towards the mare as he said, "What happened?"

"It's the new field we made, the ponies who worked on it have contracted some kind of illness," said Hope.

"Illness?" asked Sombra, as he thought, "That shouldn't be, the chemicals in their raw state are not harmful to organics."

Hope nodded as she said, "Amore doesn't seem to think it's life threatening but we could use your expertise."

"Of course," said Sombra as he followed her to the castle infirmary.

Upon arriving Sombra's eyes widened as all the mare's and stallions lay in beds and every single one of them now had a shade of green on their coats and yellow mains and tails in shades all too familiar as he thought, "It... can't be," as he walked to Amore saying, "What happened?"

"They were working on the new field when all of a sudden they suddenly looked like this," said Amore.

Daisy sat up saying, "Don't mind the new colors too much, but this splitting headache that came with them is positively awful."

"Splitting headache?" asked Sombra.

"I've checked them over with every spell I have and I can't even find anything wrong with them," said Amore.

Sombra looked at Daisy as he thought, "It couldn't be could it?" Before nodding as he said, "I'm going to try something... what is your name?"

"Daisy," she said.

"And what do you do for a living?" asked Sombra

"I'm a farmer at the moment... though once the Empire is properly formed I would like to become a florist," said Daisy as she smiled slightly at that dream.

"I see," said Sombra before igniting his Gem as he thought, "I was hoping not to use this ability given how friendly the locals are, but if this works how I think it does." He touched his Gem to her head as instantly he was greeted to a sea of data brewing in her subconscious, which he brought to the surface.

As he leaned back Amore and Hope blinked as they saw Daisy's smile had faded, as well as any concern in her eyes at her state as she now stared outward with a neutral and blank look.

"What's happened to her?" asked Amore.

Sombra didn't respond as he asked, "Now then, what is your name?"

Instantly she raised her hooves in a vague imitation of the Diamond salute as she said, "Peridot class unit P0-N3."

"Sombra... what is she saying?" asked Hope as she looked at him in concern.

"What is your job?" asked Sombra.

"Science officer, and potential Kindergartener if ordered so," said P0-N3.

"Hum... OK then if you desire to be a Kingderartener then tell me the proper spacing between Injection holes?" asked Sombra.

P0-N3 chuckeldd as she said, "Please, any clod could answer that one, exactly 3.8 meters on each side."

Sombra chuckled at that as she said, "Yes of course!" before he began pacing around as he said, "How did I not think of it, of course the radiation would interfere with the data and spark, but it being rerouted into nearby organics is beyond comprehension this could lead to so many new advances."

Amore and Hope looked at Sombra before turning back to the mare on the bed as Amore said, "Daisy what in the world are you saying?"

"Yes, and what's all this about a Kindergarten, what about being a florist?" asked Hope.

P0-N3 turned to them as she let out a belly laugh saying, "Seriously, why would I waste my time with organic plants like some useless Pearl when I can create the future of the Diamond Empire."

"Diamond Empire..." said Amore as she lowered her head thinking, "Sombra only ever mentioned that to us so how could.... oh dear," as her eyes began to widen.

"Sombra what is she talking about?!" asked Hope as she turned to the pacing excited Gem.

He didn't seem to respond though as he continued discussing this to himself. That is until Amore suddenly yelled out, "SOMBRA!" at which point he and everyone else in the room turned towards her as she gave him a stern look saying, "You will turn Daisy back to normal and then come with us to the lab to... discuss these events."

Sombra mulled this over before saying, "Of course Princess," as he touched his Gem to Daisy again as suddenly she blinked her eyes bewildered.

"Oh my... what just happened?" asked Daisy.

"Do not worry about it," said Sombra before raising his voice as he said, "None of you have anything to fear the color change is perfectly harmless and the headaches will subside after a good nights sleep where the data may fully integrate into your subconscious."

This resulted in several confused murmurs as Sombra, Amore, and Hope exited the room.

They soon found themselves back in the lab as Hope was the first to speak up saying, "What is going on with them Sombra, what is all that stuff she was saying?"

Sombra opened his mouth to respond but what was interrupted as Amore said, "I hope you can tell us the whole truth this time."

Hope looked at her in confusion as she said, "My lady what do you mean?"

Instantly Amore was gesturing for Hope to stand behind her as she said, "I fear we may have made a mistake in allowing this man in our kingdom so openly."

Hope instantly went behind her mentor as Sombra spoke up saying, "I assure you that was the wisest course of action-"

"Enough!" said Amore as she looked back at her student before saying, "No more words until I get the full story... now then, why are you really here and what is the true goal of the Diamond Empire?"

Sombra looked at them both before sighing as he said, "Well I suppose it was bound to come to light eventually... if anything now is a good time for it as these recent developments have both modified and improved the time table of the conquest."

"Conquest!?" asked Hope.

"Yes... you see," said Sombra as he began projecting the hologram of ships landing on a planet from his horn as he said, "Normally Gems land on a planet and then use Injectors," he then changed the hologram to an Injector drilling into the ground, "the tower we deployed earlier, in order plant the chemicals and data necessary to create new Gems be absorbing nutrients from the ground.

"So that's how your species reproduces?" asked Hope.

"Correct, this allows for Gems with the function the Empire needs at the given time to be made in great numbers," said Sombra.

"And what of the organic inhabitants of these planets?" asked Amore. "Surely they have some objection to your people using their land like this."

"Yes well... unfortunately a side effect of Kindergartens is the destruction of a planet's biosphere as without plants to produce oxygen the air begins to thin and... simply put there aren't any organics able to object for long," said Sombra.

Suddenly Hope's eyes widened in horror as she said, "You... you were about to kick off our extinction and we... sat there helping you.."

"Well yes... but not anymore," said Sombra excitedly as he displayed a new hologram depicting several green ponies as he said, "Thanks to the radiation in your bodies you can safely absorb the energy and data of a Gem all it need is a quick activation from me, and if my new theories are right this will intern mean you will have our ability to survive in low atmosphere environments meaning that when this radiation is cleared away and proper Kindergartens can be formed you may assist in such a thing. When the Diamond's set foot on this planet you shall be welcomed with open arms and your world will become the new Jewel of the Empire delivering resources and troops beyond anything seen before!" as he thought, "Then White will respect me."

For a moment they sat in silence, a silence that was broken in a very unexpected way when Amore chuckled as she said, "You truly think that is a life we want?"

Sombra blinked in surprise as he said, "I beg your pardon?"

"You didn't notice how Daisy changed entirely when you 'activated' her?" asked Amore.

"I mean... I suppose but it was better, she's going to serve a purpose to the Empire," said Sombra.

"Yes... but she wasn't her anymore," said Hope.

At this 3XF's voice suddenly echoed through Sombra's head saying, "He wouldn't be him anymore."

He tried to shake this thought to the side as Amore stepped forward saying, "I want to believe... no, I do believe that these few months we have spent together weren't a rouse, that you truly are our friend and as our friend I ask that you understand that there must be another way for our people to coexist."

Sombra looked down in thought, images of these past few months going through his mind, at how helpful and good natured these two had been, at how willing and eager to learn about his technology they where, and how they where equally eager to teach him magic. All this and more went through his mind, only to quickly be wiped away at the memory of the pain Yellow had caused him, and the image of what she or White would do not just to him but this whole planet if he even attempted to abandon the plan. Sombra sighed before igniting his Gem as he said, "You are my friends... and as such I'm sorry, but there is no other way." At which point large stones formed in front of the exit as Sombra turned to them saying, "Now... let me save you."

Hope gasped as Sombra began to slowly approach them, before suddenly she found herself being held by her mentor as she teleported the two of them to her royal chambers.

She then ran to her desk as she said, "Now then I have to act quickly."

Hope blinked before saying, "What are you doing my lady?"

"I'm sending a note to my sister telling her to put the Crystal Heart below the tower... that should stop him," said Amore.

"But Platinum knows nothing of what is going on, she would not understand or believe any of it," said Hope.

"Which is why I'm not telling her the whole truth... I'm writing that Sombra in an Unbrum, a pony of shadow that only the unbridled light and love of the Crystal Heart can dispell," said Amore before lifting up the letter and igniting it as it whisked away.

Hope shook as she said, "I do not know what is worse... how ridiculous such a story is or how I would have readily believed it if I hadn't spent so long working with Sombra on Gem technology."

"Indeed," said Amore.

"But my lady, what are we too in the meantime, surely we should contact the royal guard... or engage the castle's defenses," said Hope.

"You know as well as I that Sombra has total control of those defenses," said Amore and as she spoke they both shuddered as they heard a crashing sound in the distance as she said, "And by the sounds of it he's just breached this wing, and I dare not risk our soldiers against someone who can break down our walls so easily."

"So... what then, are we simply going to allow him to turn us into those... things!?" asked Hope in panic.

"I'm afraid we have little choice in the matter... that said," said Amore as she opened a chest revealing two sets of armor perfectly sized for herself and Hope as she said, "We will not go down without a fight."

As Sombra broke down the door he looked at the two ponies he called his friend now clad in armor, their horns glowing ready to blast him. He sighed saying, "This could all be so easy you know.... Hope you told me of your dream of being an Alicorn with wings and immortality, I could make you both Lapis units giving you all that and more, and if it's your free will you're worried about, I believe encasing you in the Lapis formula rather then simply absorbing it through the ground could allow the data to better integrate in your minds."

"And if it doesn't?" asked Hope.

Sombra simply stared quietly at that as Amore said, "That's what we thought," before they both fired a salvo of beams at Sombra, the Gem simply raising crystal from the ground to block it.

He sighed as he lifted it from the ground and levitated it in front of himself, blocking shots as he approached them. Once he was standing right in front of them he simply shook his head saying, "It didn't have to be this way."

Suddenly Amore teleported behind him as she said, "Yes it did," before letting out a blast right into his back.

The blast caused his body to crack slightly triggering a memory of Yellow doing the same to him, briefly releasing primal rage he didn't even know he had as he sifted back to his normal upright form yelling, "ENOUGH!" before letting a blast from his horn knocking both Amore and Hope into the wall, something he deep down wished he could do to Yellow and Aquamarine so many times. He quickly squashed that thought as he glanced around the room snarling in anger, only for that anger to dissipate as he saw the unconscious mares with bloody gashed in their heads from the blow.

Instantly he found himself carrying the two over his shoulders as he said, "I'm so sorry but don't worry once I get you in the incubation tanks those wounds will heal and the process will begin I," he then looked at the forms laying limp on him, their soft breathing the only thing telling him they where still with him as he marched forward saying, "I'm so so sorry."

Sombra then looked up at Spinel with a sigh as he said, "And that's pretty much it... of course Platinum's forces did try and fight back but they were little match for my might and were forced to retreat. Over the years I had a few dealing with other creatures who thought themselves on my level including that nasty Changeling queen Amore had mentioned. Eventually though Platinum's descendants Celestia and Luna came and used to Crystal Heart to poof me, if those fools are truly 'worthy' of being Alicorn's then Hope and Amore should have ascended long ago," he then noticed the rage in his voice before clearing his throat before saying, "Forgive me... regardless those where the significant encounters I had on this planet and I see no point to recount any others."

"I see," said Spinel as she thought on all this.

"I did try to find the Warp Pad, and even forge a new one but no luck... it's just as well, I ended up using several pieces of the repair kit for other projects," said Sombra as he pointed to the container leaning against a wall saying, "There's only enough repair gel and signal aligners left to guarantee a one way trip either to or from the pad. But enough talk of the past, now we move towards the future of this colony, and it begins with restarting the Kindergarten," said Sombra as he got up and started moving towards the panel.

"Wait," cried out Spinel as she stood up saying, "There's something you don't know."

Sombra blinked as he said, "And what is that?"

Spinel thought on this for a moment before letting out a gulp saying, "Pink Diamond has... declared several planets as organic preserves for life forms she finds interesting, and she wants to do the same with this one," meanwhile she thought, "What am I saying, this lie is going too deep!"

Sombra cocked his head at that as he said, "But.. this planet is a territory of Yellow, surely she wouldn't let it go without a fight."

Unable to stop herself Spinel said, "Yes well.... Pink had actually started forming her own colonies after you left and... they were more profitable than anyone dare dream, she's actually become White's favorite and I'm sure she'd be happy to have you join her court."

Sombra approached her saying, "Really but..." he then thought saying, "To transfer to another court... could I really, after all this time this work, and... her."

Without thinking Spinel found the words, "3XF has already transferred, in fact she's the one who sent me to talk to you," tumbling out of her mouth.

At this Sombra blushed and smiled as he said, "She did she...." he then perked up as he said, "Of course, I'll gladly transfer."

"That... that's great," said Spinel with an awkward smile as she thought, "Well I guess this works for now, it is is the kind of thing Steven did after all," as she remembered reading about how he tricked those Ruby scouts... several times.

Sombra then went back to the console as he said, "I'll free all the organics currently under my control, a significant energy pulse should do the trick," he then shook for a second as he said, "I can't wait to tell Hope and Amore this once they've regained their senses.... first things first though I should deactivate the Injector."

As Spike watched in fear the giant drill before him began to move as he used the communication stone Twilight gave him to say to her, "It's moving!"

Twilight nodded as she said, "You heard him girls," before she turned towards the reactor in front of her.

Fluttershy spoke up saying, "Are you sure this is right?"

"Do you want to risk him turning all of Ponyville into things like that?" asked Applejack as she pointed to the two mares with watery wings who didn't even turn to greet them when they walked in.

"Enough talk, it's Element Time," said Rainbow excitedly as the girls raised into the air and began firing into the reactor causing it to turn from yellow to red as alarms began to go off.

Sombra watched as several error messages came on screen as Spinel asked, "What's happening?"

"Unexpected power surge, I'll have to interface directly," said Sombra as he placed his hand through the console letting it interface with his Gem as lines of code began to fill his eyes.

Spinel watches as the error message played out, before a message that filled her with even greater fear popped up as the display said, "COMMUNICATIONS POWER AT MAX, CONNECTION REESTABLISHED" followed by a smaller message that said, "Beginning system update... update complete commencing playback of the most recent Empire wide announcement."

Spinel watched as the error messages dissapeared and instead an all too familiar announcement began as she yelled out, "No.. stop!" but it was too late.

Before the screen went black.

Spinel watched as Sombra stood their mouth agape, now bathed in the red emergency lights of the room. She let out a nervous laugh as she said, "Well it may not be the way I said, but the Gem Empire has changed and-"

At this Sombra let out a laugh of his own as he said, "Oh it's changed alright, they've forgotten all about me!"

"No they haven't... well maybe they have but," began Spinel only to be interrupted.

"Of course they have, what need is there for a conqueror when they don't conquer anymore... well if they don't conquer anymore then I will! I will, I'll use the creatures of this planet to invade Homeworld," he then laughed as he said, "If the Diamond's will not praise me then they will bow before me... before they're shattered that is, like they did to her."

Spinel stepped back as she said, "Did to who?"

Sombra then approached her saying, "That message wasn't the only thing I saw, I saw the court manifests and 3XF wasn't on Pink's of course... but neither was she so on Yellow's or Blue's or even White's!"

"That... that doesn't mean she was shattered, Gems are allowed to retire and change jobs now so maybe she," said Spinel.

"ENOUGH LIES!" said Sombra as he suddenly picked her up by the neck and held her to the wall. "All you've done is lie about why you're here, about what you can do, about what you are."

Spinel looked at him in a mix of fear and sadness as he said, "That's right, I saw notes on the hierarchy," he then chuckled as he said, "To think I spent all this time bowing before a Court Jester!"

"Sombra please... we can still... make a promise, make a change," said Spinel.

"Please Jester," said Sombra as he began squeezing Spinel with all his might as he soon felt her body give way to smoke as her Gem clattered to the ground before he said, "No more jokes." He then moved over to the console as he tapped it back on saying, "Emergency power... will have to pilot the Injector directly." He then began going up the stairs as he waved his cape saying, "Time for the King to form his Kingdom."

Author's Note

And so... the lies have very much backfired. What will happen next? Is 3XF really shattered? Find out all this and more next chapter whenever that maybe

Sorry if the pacing of this feels a little weird, I basically had to condense what was worth a whole other fanfiction into this chapter and I hope it worked out

Any constructive criticism is welcome, hope you liked this and have a great day.

The Present We Live In

As Twilight and her friends lowered to the ground they saw all but a few of the lights around them had gone out, but more importantly they noticed the two ponies that previously had stood stock still had now collapsed onto the ground.

"Oh my goodness!" called out Fluttershy as she was the first to run over to them.

As she was running though they both shakily got to their hooves as the taller one said, "Oh my aching head," before blinking to clear her vision as she looked to the other saying, "Are you alright Hope?"

Radiant Hope then blinked herself as she said, "Well... I share your head pain my lady," she then shook her head in surprise at seeing her teacher before looking down at herself as she continued saying, "We don't seem to have turned a different color like the ones in the field... although my back feels a little odd."

"As does mine," said Amore as she flexed her muscles and caused the water wings to fold out as she said, "Well then, it seems Sombra fulfilled his promise after all."

Hope flexed her own wings before saying, "Indeed," as she noticed the other ponies standing before as she said, "What has become of Sombra? Do you all work for him?"

Rainbow snorted at that as she said, "Hardly!"

"Actually we're here to stop him and rescue you all," said Applejack.

"Oh, then we are eternally grateful and shall provide any help you need," said Amore before bowing as she continued saying, "Tell me did my sister Platinum send you?"

"About that..." said Twilight as she stepped forward saying, "This is a bit a long story."

"My lady! She's.. she's!" said Hope in disbelief and excitement at seeing both the horn and feathery wings on Twilight.

Amore blinked before simply smirking as she said, "So there really was something to that legend after all," she then looked at Twilight as she said, "Well Princess I gather we have been away for some time, but for now we should focus on the present and hurry to stop Sombra."

"Agreed," said Twilight as she ran forward with the others following after.

Pinkie gulped as she thought, "I just hope you're OK Spinel."

As Sombra exited to the surface he was greeted to the site of Spike standing before him as the small dragon gulped and attempted to stand his ground. "Hey big guy, if you want to get to my friends then you gotta get through," said Spike shakily.

Sombra groaned as he continued on towards his Injector paying the dragon very little mind, even as he felt the green fire lick at his cape he said, "I have little time for you organic clod." Before he could get much further though he suddenly felt a more intense flame go through his cape and scorch his back. He looked down at it and quickly repaired the hole before turning to face a now coughing overexerted Spike as he said, "Though I suppose I might spare a few moments."

Before he could get to him though he heard a yell saying, "Do you have time for some old friends then?!"

Sombra's eyes instantly went wide as he recognized that voice and said, "It can't be." He didn't notice Spike running over to the group as he turned to see Radiant Hope and Princess Amore being followed by the others. Sombra blinked before chuckling as he said, "Of course, that power surge must have reset all of your minds and returned your programming to the subconscious, it's good that I know that before I attempted to call any of you for assistance."

"We are here to give you assistance Sombra... assistance in ending this madness," said Amore.

"Please, it's not too late Sombra," said Hope.

Sombra chuckled at that before turning away as he said, "Oh but it is too late... far far too late. Homeworld has changed much since I have been gone and the only way for me to have a proper place in it again is to restore it by force!" He then gestured to the tunnel he just came out of as he said, "Just ask that lowly Court Jester when she wakes up."

"What did you do to her!?" asked Pinkie as her eyes shrunk down to pinpricks in fear.

Sombra thought for a moment before gesturing over his shoulder as he said, "Nothing permanent but you are welcome to see for yourself." Pinkie instantly booked it past him and down the tunnel as he said, "See, I'm not a totally cruel king, and in time you will all come to enjoy my rule."

"Yeah right," said Rainbow with a huff.

"We won't let that happen," said Twilight as she stepped forward and reached into her saddle bag.

As soon as Sombra saw what she had, all of his confidence and bluster melted away. At seeing the very object that himself and 3XF had been threatened with so many times in the past his anger rose higher than it ever had before. Twilight didn't even get to ignite the Rejuvinator as Sombra's eyes turned green and purple as he let out a yell sending a dome of dark magic out of at them knocking them all to the ground and breaking the Rejuvinator in the process. As they all groaned he wasted little time as he hopped on top of the Injector and called out, "I see now I am wasting my time with all of you, and that words will not convince you. So enjoy what little time you have left to yourselves for when I return you shall see an army of your strongest under my command!"

Before they could respond Sombra once again shifted his hand into an ocarina as he blew into it making the Injector rocket away.

They all watched as Rainbow said, "Dang, didn't think something that big could go that fast."

"But where is it going?" asked Rarity.

Amore quickly pointed at the tunnel as she said, "As long as back up power is still online we should be able to track it from the control room."

"And we should check on Pinkie and Spinel," added Fluttershy as the group ran down.

Upon reaching the bottom though they all stopped and stared in silence as Pinkie was looking down at Spinel's Gem with tears in her eyes.

The others looked at the scene not particularly knowing what to say as Fluttershy stepped up saying, "Is she-" but being unable to bring herself to finish the sentence.

"No... her Gem is fine and she should reform, I just don't know how long it will take," said Pinkie as she stared down at the pink heart shaped Gem between her hooves.

"Oh dear," said Rarity.

The group simply stood in silence for a moment before Twilight broke it saying, "Pinkie we-"

She quickly interrupted her with a raised hoof as she said, "I know, Sombra's still out there and we got to keep moving to stop him... I just.. can I just stay with her for a little while?"

Twilight looked down at the barely held back tears Pinkie had as she simply nodded before going over to the panel Hope and Amore were currently working at.

"So where is he going?" asked Twilight.

"We can't get an exact location, but judging by the speed and trajectory he should be going roughly... here," said Amore as she pulled up a map showing a mountain range.

"That must be a mistake, why pray tell would he be going there?" asked Hope.

The others stared at the map for some time before it finally clicked as Rarity was the first to gasp and say, "Oh my."

"So that's what he meant when he said he'd meet us with an army of our strongest," said Applejack as she gulped.

"What do you mean?" asked Amore.

Twilight stepped towards her saying, "I'm afraid that is Mount Canter and while in your time when this map was made it was barren, now though it's home to Canterlot the capital of Equestria and home to not only the other Princesses but a School for Gifted Unicorns which has some of the strongest magic users alive today."

"Oh my," said Hope.

"So... that's what he's after then, well we need to find a way to stop him before he can get there," said Amore.

Twilight turned to Spike as she said, "Spike quick, we need to get a letter to the Princesses, we need to evacuate the city immediately!"

Spike coughed as he said, "Wish I could, but I burnt out my flame slowing Sombra down."

Fluttershy then placed a reasurring hoof on him saying, "Well if you hadn't we might not have made it in time and wouldn't be tracking him now."

"I guess so," said Spike in thought.

"Can you hack his systems, make him crash or something?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The wireless control is down," said Hope.

"Maybe we can figure something out, comb through the other systems," said Amore as she said that though the screen started to blink as she quickly added, "And reroute all power you can to this control room, we need it active as long as we can."

Spinel sat in the mindspace of her Gem, watching as energy built up in her like sand in an hourglass, slowly but surely allowing her to reform. She sighed as she curled up into herself saying, "I just don't get it, how could I have screwed this up so bad... I just did everything I thought Steven would do."

"I didn't bring Steven to help him," said a voice as Spinel looked up to once again see the strange sparkly Twilight he stared at her saying, "I brought you."

Spinel lurched at the figure that had somehow invaded her mindspace as she said, "Who... who are you?"

"I am Harmony," said the figure simply.

"Wha- you mean like the Elements... the tree?" asked Spinel.

"Neither, they are simply extensions, making it easier for me to act my will on this world," said Harmony, continuing to stare at her blankly.

"Your will... what do you think you are some kind of god?" asked Spinel as she stood up.

"I have been called that," said Harmony as her eyes never left Spinel.

Spinel walked closer to her as she said, "And so what, in your 'infinite wisdom' you brought me here to fix this problem for you?"

"Correct, though I see it has not gone as expected," said Harmony.

Spinel laughed at that as she said, "Oh that's for sure, what did you seriously think I could fix all this on my own?"

"You have been through something so similar to him, I thought that-" began Harmony before being interrupted.

"Yeah I have, and guess what it left me screwed up bad for thousands of years. I'm only now starting to pick the pieces back up and already everyone is leaning on me and expecting me to be able to help others with this stuff and I just can't! You're no better than the Diamonds asking us to do things no matter how much it might hurt us!" said Spinel venting a frustration that she didn't even realize she was carrying.

Harmony actually paused for a moment, showing emotion on her face for the first time as her muzzle fell in slight sorrow as Spinel instantly regretted her outburst. Harmony sighed as she said, "Perhaps... forgive me, I am not used to interacting so directly with creatures."

Spinel paused before chuckling slightly as she said, "I could have guessed that, well some advice for later, firstly try not to be so cryptic like you where in that first dream, secondly what's with stealing Twilight's look?"

Harmony looked up at her saying, "I lack a true physical form, her form was already ingrained in the memory of the Elements and seemed fitting."

"Well you might want to work on making a form of your own, maybe it will help get your point across better," said Spinel.

"I... shall consider that," said Harmony.

Spinel smiled at that before sighing as she said, "Too bad I won't be making a form of my own... at least not for a few hours, I hope Pinkie and the others can manage that long."

A deep silence echoed in the mindspace for a bit before Harmony spoke up saying, "If you could reform now... what would you do?"

Spinel shrugged as she said, "I'm not sure... acting like Steven didn't work, which I get that's why you didn't bring Steven here but... I'm not sure what I can do to help."

"Well... what have you done for him when you weren't acting like Steven?" asked Harmony.

"Well... not much I listened to his story, but Steven listened to mine," said Spinel.

"Did he?" asked Harmony as she tilted her head in curiosity.

At that Spinel's eyebrows raised as she remembered reaching out a hand in friendship only for it to be callously ignored as she said, "No... he just kept going, trying to save his friends.... just like Sombra refused to listen and is still going for-" At that she paused before lurching up as she said, "I know what to do!" Before groaning as she said, "But there's no way Sombra's backup power will last long enough to make it work after I reform..."

At this Harmony walked over to her and looked up with a smile as she said, "I thank you for this talk Spinel, I'm glad I could help you find the solution... and that you intern have given me a few things to think about. I wish you luck in saving your friends."

Before Spinel could ask what she could mean Harmony's horn suddenly glowed brighter than any Spinel had seen before as she felt the energy around her intensify. What once was the slow drip of an hourglass suddenly became an intense flow of a fire hose as before she could even process it she found herself leaving the mindspace.

As Pinkie stared at the Gem on the floor, barely hearing the others she quickly called out as it started to glow and float in the air as Spinel took shape.

As Spinel lowered back down she and Pinkie hugged as Pinkie cried into her saying, "I was so worried about you."

"I was worried about you too," said Spinel before she broke off the hug saying, "We don't have time to worry right now."

She then ran over to the controls as Rarity said, "Why Spinel, your new look is-"

"Nailed it I know, moving on," she then got to work on the panel as she said, "Why is there no power to the Communications Array?"

"We had to keep monitoring Sombra's Injector," said Amore.

"Well route it back now," said Spinel.

"How dare you speak to my lady like-" began Hope only to be interrupted as Amore said, "Right away, come on Hope."

Hope nodded slightly before they got to work, Spinel looked at the system coming back online as she said, "Come on, come on," before being greeted with a 'connection established' message. "Yes, the connection to Homeworld is still active."

"Yes but, whatever you're doing you're only getting one shot at it, power levels are fading fast," said Amore.

"Then we better split up if we're going to make this work, Hope and Amore right?" asked Spinel

The two nodded as Spinel continued saying, "That Warp Pad repair module in the corner, can you operate it?"

"I do believe so yes," said Amore.

"But we never found the Warp Pad?" asked Hope.

Spinel chuckled as she typed saying, "How do you think I got here, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, the pad is in the lake you found me at in the Everfree Forest, do you remember where it is?"

"I mean.. I'd know it I saw it again," said Applejack.

"I do believe I know about how far away it was from Ponyville at least," said Rarity.

"I... I think between the three of us we can find it," said Twilight.

"Good, you need to take Hope and Amore there," said Spinel.

"Wait, but how are we going to get there so fast!?" asked Applejack.

"I thought of that, Amore, Hope I just opened up the hangar," said Spinel.

The twos eyes widened at that before Hope said, "Understood, well girls who's up for a short in atmosphere flight," with a slight chuckle.

"Never mind the fact the fact your pilots have only ever flown simulated before," said Amore as they started moving.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," said Spike as he ran up after them.

"Before you go Spike, give that communication stone to Dash, she and Fluttershy will need it since they'll need to fly ahead to keep visual contact on Sombra while we work," said Spinel as she furiously typed.

Spike nodded as she said, "Gotcha," before giving Dash the stone as she nodded to Fluttershy before the two of them flew out of the room.

"You all good to go?" asked Spinel as the others agreed before heading out just leaving her and Pinkie.

"What about me Spinel?" asked Pinkie.

"Pinkie well... that's the tricky part," said Spinel. "After I send this message we're going to need to try and slow Sombra down until she gets here and judging by how he is now, the only thing that could slow him down is well... a fight."

"Oh, well I don't know much about fighting but," said Pinkie as she trailed off.

"I don't mean just you... or just me she may not be much of an experienced fighter but she's definitely stronger than either of us," Spinel with a smile.

"I-" began Pinkie before catching on as she said, "Sounds good to me, but who are you sending a message too?"

"The one girl in the whole universe he'll listen to right now," said Spinel before hitting send as she watched the message go through before the screen and room as a whole went dark. A darkness that was soon broken as the glowing light of fusion took hold as Pinkel emerged to the surface. She looked off in the direction the Injector had gone as she said, "Too far away to run," before reaching into her Gem as she pulled out a huge party cannon as she quickly loaded herself inside saying, "Looks like I'm gonna have to travel in style," before rocketing out.

3XF sat at the console saying, "Is it up yet?"

1XF sighed as she said, "You know we're not supposed to be in the lab after hours let alone hacking into a restricted view."

"I don't care! I just want to make sure he lands safely!" said 3XF as she watched at the screen.

2XF soon placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she said, "I'm sure he will, after all I triple checked everything."

"WE triple checked everything," said 1XF before tapping away as she said, "Image coming online," as they were soon greeted to the site of Sombra behind the controls of his ship.

"Sombra!" said 3XF beaming at seeing his face.

"He can't hear you, and... for the love of, I still can't believe no clod has approved of improving the security cameras in shuttles yet, I mean look at that poor resolution even with the long range transmitter," said 2XF as she glared at how pixely the picture was.

Before anyone could respond to that suddenly the image shook as they saw Sombra violently pull on the yoke as he said, "What is going on!" They all watched in sheer silence as he quickly said, "Energy levels off the scale, target vectors missed by miles, speed," suddenly they where greeted to an explosion that made the sound cut out.

"No... No!" said 3XF as she quickly ran to the controls, trying in vain to assist him.

"There's nothing we can do," said 1XF as she tried to calm her down.

"It's that radiation again, it's overloading the circuits," said 2XF.

Suddenly the sound cut back in as they heard Sombra say, "I'm sorry 3XF but it looks like Aquamarine was right about me after all," before complete static and blackness.

3XF couldn't contain her scream of sorrow as the tears flowed down her face. Even as she felt 1XF ripping her from the chair and pushing her out of the room before any security could come while 2XF quickly wiped the traced of their visit off the computer, she couldn't help but cry and scream as Sombra's last words kept replaying through her mind.

A knock at the door suddenly caused 3XF to wake up from that recurring dream as she sat up with a cold sweat saying simple, "Come in," as she already knew who it was.

1XF and 2XF slowly entered and sat down next to their friend as she 1XF said, "You were doing that 'sleeping' thing again weren't you?"

"So what if I was," said 3XF staring blankly at the floor in front of her, making an effort to avoid eye contact.

"You had the dream again," said 1XF.

"Just like every time... at least I get to see him again," said 3XF.

"Would he want you seeing him like that though?" asked 2XF.

3XF turned towards her, but quickly turned away saying, "What is this about?"

"It's about the fact that you've been in your quarters 'dreaming' ever since you quit the lab," said 1XF.

"And so what, we're free to do whatever we want with our time now, 2XF quit the lab too," said 3XF

"Yeah but, I did it to focus on my other art, you..." said 2XF before trailing off.

The group sat for a moment in silence before the pad by the bed suddenly lit up with a message as 3XF quickly picked it up to try and get away from all this. Once she opened it though, her eyes widened in disbelief as she read and re-read the message unsure if it was real before going as far as to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't still dreaming.

"What the heck did you do that for?!" asked 2XF and was greeted by 3XF tossing the pad to her as she got out of bed with a start grabbing equipment off her desk.

1XF leaned over as together she and 2XF read,

"Dear 3XF, I don't have a lot of time to explain but Sombra's alive and he needs you the same way I'm sure you still need him. I have a plan to get you here but we're tight on time so I need you to get to the nearest Warp Pad and the second you see Equis pop up in the destination list hit it... please he's hurting bad and only you can help, signed a friendly Spinel" followed by a destination code for Equis confirming that this wasn't a sick joke.

2XF and 1XF looked to each other before nodding as they ran over to 3XF saying, "We're coming with you!"

3XF looked to them as 2XF said, "You need someone more logical to keep tabs on you anyway."

"And besides I would be remise if I didn't help our greatest scientific achievement when he was in trouble anyway," said 1XF.

3XF beamed as she grabbed a few things and headed for the door as the door followed, excited to see that smile for the first time in 8000 years.

Author's Note

Well everycreature things are coming to a head what will happen? Find out next chapter hopefully soon.

Fanart by ErmineDev check them out on DeviantArt

That's right I'm back. My eye surgery went fine and now I'm gonna try and get this to a season finale (just 2 more chapters) hopefully by January and then I can get back onto a proper schedule for my other writing

Anyway thanks for reading, any constructive is welcome, and have a great day

Towards The Future

As Sombra stood atop his Injector eyeing the horizon he finally caught his breath as the anger began to subside slightly. "Cool your temper old fool, you won't get far as the future Emperor of the Universe if you launch headlong into decisions. Now then, turning the citizens of Canterlot into servants was thankfully the right call but the question is... what kind of servants." He stroked his chin in thought mumbling, "Right now I need muscle so Jasper, Amethyst... too much free will and intelligence, no I need something that won't question orders and probably won't think for itself very much so," suddenly it came to him as he said, "Like a Ruby, not very intelligent, good fighters, they way not be as good at calming their tempers as I but as long as that impulsiveness can be aimed in the right direction it shall serve a fine purpose." He then nodded to himself before playing a slight tune that made the Injector go to work on the red mixture.

'Grogar' gulped as he looked into his crystal ball and saw Sombra riding towards Canterlot. He thought to himself, "Should I... should I intervene? Twilight and her friends might still be able to pull this off but."

Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted as Cozy flew up right against the ball as she said, "Golly, that thing he's riding sure is big."

"Yes... but what is it exactly?" said Tirek.

"Who cares, whatever it is it's definitely going to do some damage to those pesky little ponies and I want to be their to see it," said Chrysalis as she began making her way to the cave exit.

Grogar regained his composer as he growled saying, "I did not give you permission to leave!"

Chrysalis laughed at that as she said, "As I recall you let Sombra leave as a demonstration for us, all I'm doing is getting a better look at it."

Tirek nodded before saying, "Yes if you really believe that Sombra will fail, then what's the harm of watching it in person?"

Cozy flew in front of him as she put on her best puppy dog eyes saying, "Please Mr. Grogar we promise we'll come right back if Sombra fails."

Grogar winched at the face and how it reminded him of a certain yellow mare back home before saying, "Very well, I'll teleport you relatively close, but stay out of sight. I don't want Twilight and the others going for you after they finish with that fool Sombra."

"Oh don't worry, disguises are my specialty after all I'm sure my magic will be enough to hide even these idiots," said Chrysalis as the two glared at her before Grogar raised a hoof sending them all away.

Once they where gone, Discord dropped the disguise as he looked back at the ball in concern saying, "Whatever you girls have planned you better do it quick," before muttering, "Please be OK Fluttershy."

As the ship shuttered Spike gulped saying, "Um... are you sure you two really know what you're doing?"

"Of course," said Hope as she tapped the controls, only to have the ship rock further.

"Fairly sure anyway," said Amore trying to inject some levity into the situation as she did her best to hold the yoke straight, only to have the ship continue to wobble. "Either the repairs didn't take or the years of sitting simply have not been kind to this old thing."

Twilight then pointed forward saying, "The Everfree is just up ahead so it only has to hold on for a little longer."

"And for the trip back," said Applejack leaning over to Rarity.

Rarity leaned over to her saying, "Hopefully whoever we're here to get knows a bit more about flying."

Sombra stared forward, eyes focused on his goal ahead as he felt nothing but rage and determination pushing forward. That wall of emotion was suddenly cracked though as he heard an echoing voice call out "YOOOHOOO!" as he turned towards it he was greeted to the brief image of something rocketing towards him before he felt a large gloved fist go across his jaw and knock him back. As he turned towards the offender he was further taken out of his anger as he was thoroughly confused by the four armed purple, pink, and white creature before him as he stammered out, "Who... what are you?"

The girl laughed in two voices as she said, "We are neither Pinkie or Spinel, we are Pinkel and it's over Sombra we've come to stop you!"

At hearing that Sombra let out a chuckle of his own as he regained his composer saying, "So then a fusion, curious I wonder if fusion is possible between all Gems and ponies or if this Pinkie is perhaps a descendant of one my hybrids... I'm sure a thorough examination after I beat you will answer that."

"Don't be so sure you're going to win, it's two on one after all," said Pinkel as she assumed a boxing stance.

"You're right, it's not particularly fair," said Sombra as he fanned out his cape and reached towards his horn with his right hand.

"Well if you really feel that way it's not too late for you to surrender," said Pinkel with a cocky smile.

Sombra had a toothy sadistic grin of his own as his Gem glowed materializing a long black rapier in his hand as he swung it out before saying, "I meant unfair for you!" as he soon rocketed towards Pinkel as she barely managed to step to the side.

Pinkel huffed from the exertion before punching out with her top right hand, a punch that was dodged by Sombra with a smug smile... a smile that quickly removed as he found himself dodging right into her bottom left fist.

It quickly returned though as he said, "Is that all you got," before striking out with his sword forcing her on the back step again.

Pinkel hopped almost to the edge of the Injector as she thought, "Come on girls hurry up, I'm not sure how long I can keep this distraction going."

As 3XF made it to the Warp Pad she instantly opened the directory as she said, "Equis isn't on the list right now... I hope we didn't miss our chance."

1XF instantly went to work on a side panel as she said, "I'm checking the history and... it looks like we're good."

2XF looked down at her as she said, "Can you boost the signal on this end?"

1XF looked through the sub menus as she said, "Maybe... but if that Spinel doesn't get it functioning on her end it won't do any good."

"Yeah but," said 2XF before briefly gesturing back at the worried look on 3XFs face as she stared intently at the Warp list.

1XF simply nodded as she said, "Right, whatever we can do to help," before getting to work.

"Well it may have been a little rough, but I'd still call it a successful landing," said Hope as she looked at the ship.

Applejack on the other hand looked at the trail of upturned trees behind it as she said, "I'm not so sure about that."

"Let's just move on darlings... before Zecora gets home and sees what was once her yard. There's the lake," said Rarity as she pointed her hoof toward the water before them.

Hope ran up to the waters edge as she looked down before saying, "I see the Warp Pad!"

Amore ran up to join her as she said, "As do I... my word it is much deeper than I had thought. We're going to need to clear all this water away for the Repair Gel."

"Wait really?!" said Twilight as Rarity groaned behind her.

Applejack cocked her head saying, "What's wrong, can't yall just use your magic to clear it away lickity split?"

Rarity sighed as she said, "Actually darling, moving liquids with magic is rather.... complicated."

"And water is especially difficult, it's so fluid and with no viscosity. There's nothing to really grab onto," said Twilight.

Hope thought about this as she said, "I suppose.... if the four of us together focus we can hold the water back while talking Applejack through fixing the Warp Pad."

"Wa-me!? Hold on now, I may be good at fixing stuff around the farm but I'm not so sure about this Gem tech stuff," said Applejack as she looked down at the alien object in worry.

"Oh don't worry, it's much more intuitive then it looks," said Hope placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

Amore sighed before saying, "We better hurry and get this along," she then closed her eyes and ignited her horn as she pushed with all her might. She groaned saying, "So how much am I getting a few litters?" After a while she grew frustrated as she opened her eyes and turned to the others saying, "You should just tell me if I'm not moving any, my pride is not so big that I'd be offended."

She then paused though as she saw the others staring in awe. Hope was the first to speak up as she said, "Um... my lady," before pointing to the lake behind her, as Amore turned and saw there no longer was a lake behind her.

Amore blinked in surprise as she said, "Wha- where is the-" her gaze turned upward as she saw a bubble of water floating in the air directly above her. Unfortunately the shock of seeing this caused her concentration to break as her horn stopped glowing and the water began falling down towards her.

"My lady!" called out Hope as her own horn ignited making the water instantly stop. Hope stared up at it in amazement as she slowly lowered the water next to her as she began stretching and squishing it into different shapes as she said, "How... this is easier than any other magic I've ever done! It doesn't even feel like magic!"

"Well... maybe it isn't," said Twilight.

"What do you mean?" asked Amore.

"Well... you do have those wings made of water," added Applejack.

"So then, you're saying this is a result of whatever Sombra has done to us then," said Hope in thought.

"Well then, we can worry about later, for now Hope just get rid of that water so we can get to work," said Amore.

"R-right," said Hope as she carefully moved the water bubble away and lowered it to soak into the ground.

Soon the group made their way down as Amore and Hope opened up the repair kit and got to work.

Pinkel circled around going for another fake out with her top right arm and punch from her bottom left, only for Sombra to jump back as he said, "That's not gonna work again," as he thrust forward with his sword. Pinkel jumped back just a second too late as she felt the sword graze her cheek, followed by the warmth of a drop of blood flowing down. Sombra blinked at that saying, "So your body seems more organic then Gem, perhaps a full dissection is in order!"

He leaped towards her for another strike as Pinkel jumped over him circling back around, this time trying to keep light on her feet as she sifted to be on the defense.

"Oh bugger all!" said Amore as she looked down at the still cracked up Warp Pad. "There isn't enough Repair Gel to get fully restore it... how do to the signal amplifiers look?"

Hope finished adjusting the final satellite structure around the Warp Pad as she looked at the screen saying, "They're helping expand the range alright but not far enough... and even if they where I don't think the safety functions would allow for a transport with it in this state."

"Can you override them?" asked Twilight.

"Maybe, but it's too risky. Whoever we're trying to bring here might poof in the trip or worse," said Hope.

"Perhaps... but what other choice do we have?" asked Amore as she looked down in thought.

Before anyone could comment they suddenly heard an unknown voice say, "I could help," as they watched what appeared to be crystalline tree roots come out of the ground and begin to fill the cracks of the Warp Pad.

"What the hey?" asked Applejack.

"Is this you all?" asked Rarity looking towards Amore and Hope.

"No, I don't know what this is," said Amore.

"And who was that voice?" asked Hope.

"It... looks like the Tree of Harmony," said Twilight.

"Correct," said the voice again before they where suddenly greeted by a light as a strange alicorn appeared over the Warp Pad.

"My tree, for I am Harmony," she said as she smiled at them. They all stared at her in shock as she smiled down saying, "Tell Spinel that I took her advice and that I'm sorry, and Twilight... I'm sorry to you too, I realize now that perhaps I shouldn't have leaned so heavily on you and your friends and from here on out I shall take a more... active roll in assisting you all."

Before anyone could respond she dissipated as the tree roots finished filling the cracks as the screen said, "Warp Restored, Connection Reestablished"

3XF stared intently at the screen as Equis suddenly popped up and selected it without even saying a word she selected her and her unprepared friends off.

The Warp Pad suddenly glowed with a beam of light as the three landed, 3XF being the only one upright as 1XF fell on her side from leaning to look at a monitor and 2XF was laying down still holding a now detached cable from the Warp Pad she had been working on as she sighed saying, "Well that ones going to be needing some maintenance now."

1XF groaned as she got up saying, "Could have warned us you where about to warp and um," she then looked at the group of ponies and dragon before them.

"Um... hi," said Spike as the first to speak.

"Hi," said 2XF studying the group.

This was quickly interrupted though as 3XF ran towards them saying, "Where's Sombra!?"

"We'll take you too him in his ship," said Amore.

"That thing still flies?!" asked 1XF in shock.

"Well... kind of," said Applejack awkwardly.

"It just has to make one more trip," said Hope as she and the others began running towards it.

As they ran 2XF asked, "So what's going on with Sombra?"

Amore sighed as she said, "It's kind of a long story but basically he's gone on a rampage to try and finish his mission to conquer the planet, and we need your help to stop him."

"After all this time," said 1XF.

"Well... apparently he saw something when he reconnected with Homeworld... said something about his place there being gone," said Hope.

At this 3XF suddenly stopped as she shook saying, "It... it must have been the court manifest, he saw I wasn't on it anymore and must have thought I was shattered... my poor Sombra," she then looked up determined as she said, "He must be hurting as bad as I was, we need to hurry."

The others nodded, the ponies and dragon now catching on to her relationship to Sombra, as they soon boarded the ship.

1XF ran to the control panel and glanced back at Applejack as she said, "Woah, you weren't kidding when you said it 'kind of' flies the main floater is cracked and it's been rigged to go off only retro rockets."

2XF followed after that as she said, "The time it's sat without regular maintenance hasn't helped either but...." she then tapped a few buttons before the ship began to rise up as she said, "If we only need to go to one place then overclocking them to keep as fast and steady shouldn't hurt."

Hope ran up to her instantly as she said, "You can do that!?"

"I thought the regulators couldn't be bypassed without an external Data Spike," said Amore.

"A Data Spike is mainly just a system to upload the code, if you've memorized it can write it from scratch it's unnecessary," said 1XF.

"Fascinating," said Hope as she and Amore leaned in to watch the more experienced pilot.

As the ship moved forward Rarity moved to 3XF saying, "So um... you and Sombra then?"

"Yeah... he's the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful Gem I've ever known," said 3XF with a smile.

"We'll... take your word for it," said Spike.

While the others talked Twilight moved up to the front as she pulled out her Communication Stone saying, "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, we're on our way now, how are things looking?"

Rainbow looked as Pinkel could only run from Sombra's attacks as she gulped saying, "It um... could be better."

As Pinkel found herself against the edge of the Injector once again Sombra laughed saying, "It's hopeless you can't dodge forever."

Pinkel chuckled as she said, "You're right I can't... I guess it's time I pulled out my secret weapon." At which point she reached into her Gem and pulled out the large cannon again. Sombra actually flinched before putting up a magic shield... a shield that proved entirely unnecessary as the cannon fired only confetti. Pinkel chuckled again as she said, "Yeah that was a bluff."

Sombra watched the confetti rain down as he let out a laugh of his own saying, "You, truly are nothing more than a simple Court Jester." He then marched up to her saying, "What made you think that you had any chance of defeating me?"

As Pinkel began to hear the noise of an engine approaching she smiled saying, "I didn't need to defeat you," before looking to the side as she said, "Just distract you until she got here."

Sombra looked in the direction she was facing as his eyes widened at seeing his ship approaching. He then smiled as he said, "Please, that ship has no weapons system, and if your aim is to crash it into my Injector well I'll just end that now." He then raised his arm forward as he began to charge a beam of dark magic.

"No wait," said Pinkel only to be interrupted by Sombra's boot on her throat. She coughed before saying, "You don't understand, 3XF is on board."

At hearing this his rage spiked as he said, "I've had enough of your lie-" suddenly his voice caught in his throat as the ship got closer and he saw that familiar green face through the windshield. Unfortunately it was too late to stop his beam as he vainly tried to move his arm down as it launched it causing it to only graze the ships bottom, but in doing so taking out most of the retro rockets.

"Sombra," said 3XF softly feeling unbelievable joy at seeing him after so long. That joy could not even be ruined as his beam knocked their rockets off and put a small hole in the back floor of the ship.

"You weren't kidding about the rampage part," said 1XF as she vainly tapped controls for rockets that weren't there.

2XF ran through programs as she said, "We still have function in 10% of the rockets, I should be able to reroute enough power for a landing... but only if I can get enough height with which to work with."

"Understood," said Amore. "Come on Hope, time for us to put this water wings to the test."

"Right," said Hope as she followed her to the hole in the floor.

"I'm coming to," said Twilight as she followed after them. The three of them flew outside the ship, albeit somewhat shakily from Amore and Hope, as they focused their magic on the ship managing to move it higher.

1XF looked at the levels as she said, "It's still not enough we still need a little more."

As they all looked around Spike quickly ran to the hole in the floor as Rarity called out, "Spikey Wikey, what are you doing!?"

Spike did little to answer as he looked at down at the quickly approaching ground and grabbed onto the edge saying, "Come on man just a little fire." He then coughed a small flame come as he said, "You can do it," he said as a somewhat bigger flame came came out. "You... can... do it!" he cried before letting out a large puff of flame that sent the ship even higher.

"We've gotten higher... not as much as I'd like but it will have to do," said 2XF.

"Oh good job my Spike I," began Rarity before seeing Spike begin to fall out the hole.

Quickly Applejack pulled the rope out from under her hat and caught him lasso as she pulled over saying, "Easy their partner," she then glanced at the currently unconscious dragon as she said, "Poor little pushed himself too far. Too big flames in one day is probably more than he's ever done."

"Oh my little Spikey," said Rarity as she moved to comfort him.

Sombra watched in horror for only a moment as he began analyzing what was happening.

"Sombra we-" began Pinkel only to be interrupted

"Quite, I need to focus," said Sombra as he said, "The telemetry the're coming at and speed... it's not enough, they need just one more bump to slow them down and get them higher they.." he then looked at Pinkel saying, "Get off," as he once again formed the ocarina and moved the Injector right on the edge of the ships path of travel.

Once Sombra was done Pinkel said, "I'm getting down," before tackling him as she said, "Once I make sure you're safe too."

As the two began falling Sombra said, "But after everything I've done... why try and save me too?"

At this point Pinkel's grip turned from a tackle to a hug as she simply said, "Because that's what friends do."

Without thinking Sombra hugged back as Pinkel inflated all four of her gloved hands on Sombra's back into crash pads around them as the two soon found themselves landing softly on the ground. Once landed the two, became three as Pinkie and Spinel split up as they looked up just in time to see the ship skid across the Injector putting a huge crack in it as it began to leak red fluid all over the seemingly empty field beneath it.

2XF smiled as she said, "That did it!" as she pulled hard on the ships yoke bringing them to a stop as she fired the last of the fuel bringing them to a descendant that just managed to slow down to a near stop before touching the ground.

Everyone together approached the ship as they all watched its occupants slowly exited. Sombra soon pushed to the front of the crowd as he said, "3XF!"

She too pushed to the front of her group as she called out, "Sombra!" The two ran to each other for a long overdue reunion as were soon in each other's arms.

"I... I thought you where gone," said Sombra.

"I thought the same about you... I," said 3XF before giving in and going for a kiss.

The group watched with... mixed reactions as while most where happy to see the touching scene, Rainbow groaned as she said, "So um... we seriously going to let him make out his girlfriend and pretend the rest of this day didn't just happen!?"

As the two parted Sombra coughed before saying, "Yes um.... I am sorry to all of you, there is no excuse for all the damage I have done, and if you would like I would willingly leave this planet and never return... if however you are OK with it, I would like to stay in order to undo the damage I have done," and then looked down at Hope, Amore, Pinkie, and Spinel as he said, "Maybe introduce my new friends, to my old ones," he then looked back at 1XF and 2XF as they smiled back at him. "And of course to my lovely 3XF!"

"I..." said 3XF before grabbing Sombra's hand as she looked at the crowd saying, "I honestly don't have much of a clue of what's going on but I will help out in any way I can."

Spinel stepped up next to her as she said, "You've already helped plenty, especially for the day," she then looked at the others saying, "Anyone else think this has been a long day and are willing to just say by gones are by gones and head back to Ponyville."

"I sure am," said Fluttershy.

"Same here," said Applejack.

"I should probably get Spike to bed," said Twilight holding the little guy.

"I certainly need a fair bit of beauty sleep after this," said Rarity.

"We'll be heading back to the Crystal Empire to make sure everything's OK there first," said Hope.

"But if there are ponies like you all there, I'm sure they've already gotten everything back to normal so we'll probably be there to see you all tonight," said Amore.

Rainbow pouted slightly before being nudged by Fluttershy as she sighed saying, "Fine... I could use a cloud nap anyway.

"Wait... really, I nearly destroyed your world and you are forgiving me that fast!?" said Sombra in shock.

Pinkie shrugged as she said, "Meh, that's just how we role."

Spinel giggled at that as she said, "You'll get used to it."

Sombra chuckled at that as 3XF went back to her friends saying, "So um... it's obvious I'm staying here but now that everything is OK, I'd understand if you all wanted to go back to Homeworld."

1XF simply shrugged as she said, "Eh this place seems fine, I'm willing to stay here awhile."

2XF nodded as she said, "After 8000 years of speculation it would be nice to finally study this planet's radiation myself."

3XF simply hugged them in response as the group began walking towards their new lives.

Discord breathed a sigh of relief as he said, "So it all worked out," he then shifted back into Grogar form as he raised a hoof for a teleport spell saying, "Let's just hope it works out for with them too." He cleared his throat and put on the gruff Grogar voice as he locked on and teleported the three back saying, "Well I hope you've seen that-" only to stop as he got a good look at them.

The three tried in vain to wipe the red fluid off of themselves as Tirek said, "I see that you need to pick better hiding places!" as he yelled at Chrysalis.

"And what are you winning about, you're already red!" said Chrysalis trying to comb it out of her main.

"Says the mare who can just shapeshift the spot off herself!" said Cozy as she tried to flutter her stock together wings. She then looked at Grogar as she demanded, "You better have a shower around here!"

Grogar was somewhat taken aback at the anger they were all displaying as he said, "Um.. down that cave I have private quarters for each of you, each one has its own private bath yes."

"So we are getting something good out of this deal," said Chrysalis as they all headed towards the cave.

Grogar put his persona back on as he said, "So I'm guessing you see my point and are going to work together now?"

"Yeah sure," said Tirek before turning back as he said, "Ones things for sure, I have too much rage against those ponies to simply become their friend like that weakling Sombra."

"Oh trust me, your rage is nothing compared to mine," said Chrysalis.

"Oh please, I'm an eternal flame of rage against those jerks!" said Cozy as she and the others walking away, failing to notice how the red had soaked into them.

Author's Note

Well then we have reached the season 2 finale (barring a quick epilogue chapter, just like last season) So then Sombra is reformed, the Peridot trio has a new home, and the Villianous Trio are going through some changes. What will happen next season? Find out whenever that may be

Also real quick, I noticed a few times I mixed up one 1XF and 2XF, I think I got them squared away but just to clarify. 2XF is the analytical and scientific one, whereas 1XF is the more emotional and somewhat self absorbed one... might have to have the ponies give them nicknames to make it less confusing on myself, any suggestions for them in the comments are welcome

Artwork by Katsuforov-Chan go check them out on DeviantArt

Thank you all for reading, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day

Pinkie's Present

"Wait here Spinel, I'll be right back," said Steven before taking off towards his friends, only to turn back and say, "Really," and taking off again.

Spinel chuckled at that as she watched him, no doubt in her mind that he would come back... but every doubt that she didn't deserve to see him come back. "All the things I've done to him, to his friends, to his planet," she said as she gazed at the complete wreckage caused by her Injector before continuing saying, "even if they will forgive me, I can't forgive myself." As she took one last glance at Steven, who had had already begun slowly but surely repairing the damage she'd done, she smiled and said, "You really are as great as the legends say.... which is why I don't deserve you." She then took off back towards the Steven's home, and the Galaxy Warp it contained.

She thought she heard Steven call her name as she ran, with tears in her eyes as she put out her right foot and stretched it all the way to the front step of the Warp Pad, where she then took her left foot off the ground and snapped all the way to it like a rubber band. She brought up the Warps map and as it loaded she started saying, "OK, just got to make a choice and WOOOAAHHHOO!" Once the map had finished she saw that Blue, Yellow, and White had expanded their empires quite a bit since she last looked at them with Pink. "So many worlds to choose from," she said with a smile before continuing saying, "Full of gems who've never seen me." That smile faded though as a revelation hit her and she said, "Gems who love Steven Universe and everything he did for them.... and will hate me for everything I've done to him." As she gazed at the map not knowing what to do she noticed something odd happened. A part of space became pixelated before a new world popped up for her to select. "Hmmm, Equis," she said in confusion as she read the world name. "Now where have I heard that name before and-" she said before suddenly cutting herself off as she remembered.

8000 years ago in The Garden

As Spinel juggled she glanced at her best friend only to see her frown holding solid, so she used her power to stretch out her neck and add her head to the mix. She juggled fast and faster before eventually failing on purpose and letting her face fall on the ground hoping a little physical comedy could cheer her up. When she picked her head up off the ground though, she was only greeted by a slight smirk before the frown returned. At seeing this Spinel had new emotions flood her that she didn't fully understand as for the first time she could remember a frown came to her face and she said, "What's wrong Pink?"

Pink Diamond looked at the little gem and was slightly off put by how she was currently expressing a level or seriousness and concern she wasn't meant to be able to as Pink said, "Oh um, it's nothing Spinel... it's just Yellow has been extra moody lately."

"What about?" asked Spinel as her frown turned to curiosity.

Pink, slightly relieved at seeing her Spinel act how a Spinel should again, said, "Her most recent colony, a planet called Equis, failed before it really even started. Somehow the warp they launched from orbit never became active to let a Peridot survey the land, and White said they aren't allowed to use more then one warp or land on planets directly unless they know for sure a planet is valuable."

"Oh," said Spinel as she watched Pink's frown return before she decided to pick her up and turn her saying, "Now why don't you turn that frown, upside down!"

This caused Pink to finally break into a fit of giggles as she said, "Spinel, never change."

"You got it best friend," said Spinel as she too erupted to laughter and stretched her fingers all along Pink to tickle her.

"HAHHA, NO SPINEL, STOP! HAHA!" said Pink as her laughter increased and her face turned red, "STOP SPINEL!"

Back at the Galaxy Warp

"SPINEL STOP!"

She was suddenly brought back to reality at hearing Steven's voice and, without thinking, she selected Equis and activated the warp.

By the time Steven managed to get there she was already gone and Equis had glitched back off the map.

As Spinal arrived on the warp she saw exactly why it wasn't working right as it somehow landed in a lake and was surrounded by water covered in foliage. It was a miracle it was able to get a signal for as long it did, literally as what Spinel didn't notice as she swam to the surface was a shiny white and blue tree root recede away from the warp and back to it's cave, now that it's job had been done.

Once Spinel reached the surface she looked around at the lively organic woods before her as she said, "Yup, definitely not a gem colony. This will be the perfect place then to make new friends with people who don't know me," her smile faded though when she saw her reflection in the water. At her matted hair, her upside down gem, and the black lines under her eyes, as if her skin was permanently stained with the tears she shed. At this body she solely crafted to convey her anger, sadness, and need for revenge. "But I still know me."

She then swam to the shore thinking about what to do before she remembered a part of her revenge plan she hadn't used yet. As she stepped ashore she reached into her gem saying, "I knew Steven would probably get a hold of my Rejuvenator... which is why I brought two." She then pulled out the small rod and looked at it saying, "I still don't know why Pink kept these hidden in the back of our Garden... and given how many other mistakes she apparently made I'm not sure if I want to know."

She then activated the device as part of her screamed not to do this, but she knew that even if whoever called this planet home could get past her looks, she could never make friends the way she felt now as she said, "I guess Steven was right, it will be better if we just," she then pointed the blade at herself as she shed a tear and said, "Forget this ever happened," and then swung it down before seeing nothing as her form poofed away.

Her gem clattered to the ground and the Rejuvenator, with no one holding it anymore, automatically deactivated and fell near her.

Several minutes later

"I can't thank you girls enough for helping me on this little gem excursion, I simply must find the perfect center piece for Pinkie's birthday gown before we give it to her tonight," said Rarity as she searched around the Everfree forest with her gem finding spell.

"Shoot Rarity, you know we're always here to help," said Applejack as she pulled along the cart already filled with gems and she mumbled, "Though I still don't know why we can't use any of these gems."

"Now darling you know why, it's not everyday someone turns twenty one and since Pinkie's not really interested in the usual festivities that come with this age, we should do everything else we can to make it special," said Rarity.

Twilight smiled as she said, "That's very considerate of you Rarity. After all, friendship begins with recognizing and accepting others differences and-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her friendship lecture though as Rarity's horn suddenly glowed brighter then any of them had seen it before as she said, "OH! My my my, there is quite the rare gemstone nearby," she then trotted in the direction her horn took her as she said, "Come along girls."

Twilight shied before she and Applejack took off after her, only to see her standing by a lake and staring at something on the ground. They trotted over to her and saw that she was staring at a pink heart shaped gem stone.

"Wow Rarity, that looks beautiful," said Twilight with a smile.

"Shoo-Wee, is that one of them heart stones or something?" said Applejack.

"No... it, it doesn't make any sense," she said as she levitated it in front of her face.

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.

"I mean, judging by the clarity and texture it appears to be a form of Spinel... but I've never seen it form into a heart shape like this," said Rarity as she pulled out her dichroscope and took a good look at the oddity before her.

"You don't think it fell off somepony's necklace or something, do you?" asked Twilight concerned.

"It couldn't be, these lines are too flawless, even the finest unicorn gemologist couldn't cut this perfectly. It must have formed like this, but I don't know how," said Rarity.

They all paused for a moment before Applejack said, "Well I feel like that makes it perfect then, a gem that doesn't make sense to you right now, for a pony who doesn't always make sense to us."

Rarity chuckled as she said, "I suppose you're right darling," before levitating it into her saddlebag. "Besides, I'm sure Pinkie wouldn't mind me taking another look at it later after I've brushed up on my gemology to make sure there's nothing I'm forgetting."

They nodded before they turned to walk out of the forest, but just as they were leaving Twilight felt something brush against her hoof. She looks down to see a small rod with a button on it, as she levitated it to her face saying, "What the, who would leave a laser pointer all the way out here?" She was about to press its button and see if it still worked out of curiosity.

But before she could she heard Rarity's voice say, "Come along dear, Rainbow can't distract Pinkie forever and we need to help Fluttershy and Spike with the decorations."

"COMING!" yelled back Twilight before putting the object in her saddlebag and trotting after her friends.

Several hours later in Sugarcube corner.

Spinel wasn't sure what was going on, she had gathered enough energy to restore her form but she also sensed some kind of wrapping around her gem and while it was too thin to stop her she didn't think she should destroy it as she combed through the data she was gifted with in her gem trying to figure this out. Soon though she realized what was happening as she thought, "OH! I GET IT! I'm a gift! That makes sense, it says here that it's not uncommon to wrap gifts and that Spinels are usually given to Peridots or Holly Blues to help them relax in their down time so they can be more efficient when they work. If that's the case then I DEFINITELY shouldn't form yet. I wouldn't want to ruin my new best friend's surprise."

As Rarity watched Pinkie tear into her cake, careful to hold the neatly wrapped gown behind her, she eagerly awaited the chance to give it to her.

"WOWEE! This is the best cake I've ever eaten before, how did you girls do it?" asked Pinkie excitedly, paying no mind to the frosting beard currently on her face.

"Actually, you can thank Starlight for that. She made it using her magic and the baking lessons you gave her... it's to bad she couldn't be here though," said Twilight.

"I can't believe she and Trixie got a last minute request to perform at the Canterlot Theater," said Fluttershy smiling at her friends success, even if it was just a hobby for Starlight.

"Only because Sapphire Shores cancelled," whispered Rarity snidely, causing a guilty giggle to come out of Applejack before she regained her composer.

"Meh, it's fine. Because even if my friends can't always make my parties, I know the're still my friends," said Pinkie with a smile.

"So I guess that means you haven't been talking to any bags of flour or buckets of turnips lately," said Dash with a giggle at Pinkie's slight embarrassment.

The girls all chuckled for a bit before Rarity, unable to contain herself anymore and noticing that Pinkie's plate and face where now inexplicably clean, said, "OK Pinkie, if you're ready to open your presents now, I have one I'm very excited to give to you!"

"OH YES YES YES YES! GIMME GIMME!" said Pinkie as she eagerly hopped up and down before reaching out her hooves to Rarity, who gave her the gift as Pinkie tore the wrapping open.

What happened next was something none of them expected as the heart shaped gemstone detached itself from the dress as it started glowing and floating into the air. As it turned itself upright the light formed into a humanoid shape around it and they began hearing what sounded like a young girl's laughter coming from it.

Suddenly it tackled Pinkie to the ground as the light faded and it was revealed to be a pink girl with heart shaped pig tails, large gloves and shoes, thin limbs, and puffy clothes on her shoulders torso and waist. She had the widest smile any of them had ever seen as she stared down at Pinkie and said, "I am just so excited to meet you!"

"YOU ARE!?" said Pinkie not only matching, but outpacing her excitement and smile.

"Of course," she said as she got off Pinkie. "After all, why wouldn't I be excited to meet my BEST FRIEND!" she said as she jumped up into the air and began giggling.

Spinel then got back on the ground as she looked around for the Pearl who was supposed to introduce her, but upon seeing none she shrugged and thought, "Guess I gotta do it myself." She then began singing, "My cut is perfect and I'm Pink, like you. I'll bring you endless entertainment," she then spun over to Pinkie as she continued singing, "I'm your best friend, Spinel."

She then stood proudly stood with her arms to the side as Pinkie looked at Rarity, "WOW! I can't believe you got me a new best friend for my birthday."

"Well I um," stammered Rarity as she and everyone except Pinkie struggled to figure out what was going on.

Pinkie on the other hoof simply hugged Spinel, who stretched her arms all around Pinkie to give her less of a hug and more of a burrito wrap as Pinkie said, "This is, THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!"

Author's Note

What will happen next, how will the other ponies react to this, will Spinel get her memories back, find all this and more next chapter, whenever that may be.

So I know what you're probably thinking, "Lucky, if you had free time to write why didn't you give us a new chapter of Sunset Shimmer the Pony of Earth or Equestria Girls GT?" And too that I say, "HAVE YOU SEEN THE STEVEN UNIVERSE MOVIE, THIS LITTLE CUTIE DESERVED HER OWN FANFIC ASAP!"

So yeah, as you can tell by this story and my new avatar I am obsessed with Spinel and had to write something for her. Anyway I hope you all like it, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day.

Earth Interlude 1: Dude, Where's My Spinel?

As Steven looked around at the small group of Crystal Gem's working around him he only felt on edge. Despite all their efforts to calm him down, all he heard in his head since Spinel ran off yesterday was, "It's all your fault."

As he paced over to the now gutted wires of the Galaxy Warp he looked at the small legs poking out from under it as he said, "Peridot, any luck hacking into the transport history of the Warp Pad?"

Peridot grunted as she got out from under the pad and checked the tablet crudely hooked to it and said, "It would be allot easier if those stupid Diamond clods actually restored my access and rank to these kinds of files, but NO Peridot was fired for being a traitor and it's not like she's done anything that deserves our respect like helping to save the whole galaxy, OH WAIT SHE DID!" She then grunted in frustration again before returning to her work under the pad.

Afterwards Pearl poked her head out from the other side of the Warp Pad as she finished connected a few extra batteries to boost the pads signal to Homeworld and said, "I must admit Homeworld has much better firewall protocal then I thought. To bad we can't just pick up a sword and infiltrate a server farm directly like me and Rose did in the early days of the rebellion."

Steven continued to pace back and forth as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Connie behind him as she said, "Steven, you've been running yourself ragged ever since Spinel disappeared. You need to take a break from this."

"She's right dude, just chill out for a bit, maybe call the Diamonds and let them handle it," said Amethyst as she briefly abandoned her task of getting more copper for Peridot's wires.

"I can't do that! You know how clingy and overprotective they can be. Last time Yellow visited Earth she used her ship to try and shoot down a bird just because it pooped on the car my dad gave me when I got my learners permit. Imagine how they'll react when I say 'hey can you help me find a gem who tried to kill me and destroy the Earth?'" said Steven in exasperation before sitting on the ground. He then sighed and finally said out loud, "Besides I have to fix this myself, It's my fault she left."

"WHAT?" said Amethyst in surprise and concern.

Connie on the other hand just sat next to him in concern as she leaned against him, resulting in a slight blush, and said, "So what's your reason for blaming yourself for something this time?"

He sighed as he said, "All she needed was someone to hug her and say they where her friend, but I was too focused on getting my stupid 'Happily Ever After' back that I didn't even think about it tell it was too late." He then let out a chuckle before saying, "I guess now I know how mom must have felt. Being selfish and making mistakes that you don't even realize are mistakes until it's way too late to fix."

Connie looked at Steven thinking about what to do as while she had been with him for many years and had learned how to calm him down a lot during that time, she had never seen him quite like this before. It occurred to her that the first thing to do might be to get him to smile as she looked at his frown and leaned towards it puckering her lips.

That was interrupted though as Steven suddenly shot up saying, "WAIT MY MOM!" He then ran back to the Warp Pad as he looked at the two working on it saying, "Pearl, do you remember any of my mom's old access codes?"

"Hmm, well yes but they can't still work.... can they?" said Pearl as she got up in confusion.

Peridot then got up as she used her metal powers to push the tablet over to Pearl saying, "It's worth a try."

"Alright, but I doubt this will," began Pearl as they all watched her type in YPXBP before being greeted by this desktop image.

This resulted in them all blushing as Pearl quickly clicked a program to get off it and smiled nervously saying, "Um, Pink apparently saw Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl laughing about something during Court and became convinced that they were secretly a couple and started drawing pictures like that and writing stories about them in her spare time... which she unfortunately had A LOT of at that point."

"So YPXBP stands for," said Peridot being familiar with shipping terms thanks to the Camp Pining Hearts fan forums.

"Yellow Pearl X Blue Pearl," said Pearl in further embarrassment as she said, "Can we just move on now."

Steven was the first to get serious again as he said, "Right, can you look up the warps history and see where Spinel went?"

"R-right," said Pearl as she began typing on the tablet, "Just got to find our warp ID and look at the last place it went and." A notification popped up resulting in Pearl being visibly confused as she said, "No, this can't be right?"

"What?" asked Steven as he looked towards her.

She then turned the tablet towards him and Peridot as it simply displayed one word.

"Equis? What the heck kind of planet is that?" said Peridot in confusion as she had spent literal years studying the Gem Empire's star maps and had never seen such a planet on them.

"It's a failed colony by Yellow... but that's just it, it's a failed colony, she shouldn't have been able to warp there... unless maybe an outside surge hit the local pad causing it to briefly activate," said Pearl.

"So we can't warp there?" said Peridot concerned.

"I'm afraid not, unless we get lucky and another surge hits, but considering this is the first known one in 8000 years I don't think it's a very good option," said Pearl as she looked up in thought.

"Well... you know where it is right?" said Steven.

"Well... yes," said Pearl not sure where Steven was going with this.

He on the other hand smiled as he said, "Well no problem, we'll just use the Legs."

"Oh of course," said Pearl as she smacked her head, in frustration saying, "Why didn't I think of that."

This resulted in Connie and Amethyst jumping up next to Steven as they all smiled and made mental preparations for the up coming trip.

All except for Peridot who scratched her head and laughed nervously saying, "Yeah... about the Legs."

A moment later in Little Homeworld

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" said Steven in pure shock, while Pearl covered her mouth so she wouldn't scream at what had happened to Pink's personal ship.

"Well... you said you wanted Little Homeworld up as fast as possible and this Earth construction equipment wasn't going to cut it," said Peridot as beads of sweat started to form on her forehead, and she scratched her face nervously. "And well, since we have the Warp Pad, I didn't think you'd mind if I BORROWED a few parts from the legs to make new equipment."

"YOU CALL THIS A FEW!" said Steven as he gestured to the Pink skeletal structure that was once one of Homeworld's greatest star ships.

"Well, look on the bright side... look that Stabilizer Panel is still functional, so it's not like we have to rebuild the whole thing," said Peridot as she pointed to the one solid piece left on it with an encouraging smile.

That smile soon faded as the panel detached and Lapis emerged from the other side holding it as she yelled, "YO BISMUTH! I GOT THE STABILIZING PANEL YOU ASKED FOR," before flying off carrying it towards the center of town.

"CAN WE AT LEAST STOP TAKING IT APART!" said Steven further frustrated at the fact that it looked like Spinel's rescue was still a long ways away. He sighed and thought to himself, "Don't worry Spinel, I'll find you and be the friend you deserve... in the meantime I just hope your safe," he thought as he had flashbacks to all the creatures on the jungle moon and what could be on this Equis planet.

Meanwhile at Sugarcube Corner

Spinel shook her dice cup before pouring it on the ground and, after seeing the results, excitedly yelled, "YAHTZEE!"

Author's Note

Picture created by starduskSK on DeviantArt, go check out their work.

Just a quick chapter showing some of what's happening on Earth while Spinel is in Equestria. Hope you all liked it, any constructive criticism is welcome, have a great day... again since I know for some of you this is coming out the same day as my last chapter, lol.

The Show Can't Go On

As the group entered the Gala they where soon greeted by their tall white alicorn host as she said, "My dearest Twilight, it's always good to see you and your friends."

"Princess Celestia, I'm glad to see you too," said Twilight as she ran up and briefly nuzzled her former mentor.

"Speaking of your friends though, I believe you have a new one to introduce me too," said Celestia as she looked to the new girl.

"Oh, of course," said Twilight as she moved next to her saying, "Princess Celestia, I'd like to introduce you to Spinel."

Upon hearing the title again Spinel stepped forward and once again did the Diamond salute saying, "A pleasure to meet you princess, I'm Spinel Facet-4G2A Cut-3YT."

"The pleasure is all mine Spinel, and might I say that is an... interesting last name you have," said Celestia as while she retained her usual royal smile, she still felt slightly unnerved by what Luna said... and also the fact that Luna was somewhere around here watching all this. Celestia wasn't sure which idea freaked her out more.

"Haha, thanks," said Spinel as she gazed at the Princess with a slight grin. Something about the tall white figure seemed to primarily fill her with joy, but also a foreboding sense. It was as if she knew that the mare would be mostly kind to her but also had a rather vicious side deep down, which to be fair wasn't totally wrong.

Celestia also grinned back at her as she thought, "perhaps my sister is wrong after all," any thoughts like that stopped though when she suddenly heard a thud and saw Starlight hit the ground as Trixie immediately rushed to her aid.

"Oh my gosh, Starlight are you OK?" asked Trixie in concern over her potential marefriend.

"I.." began Starlight as she was unsure how to respond as her head ache had suddenly become worse then she had ever felt.

Trixie tentatively raised the mare back on her hooves, as Applejack said, "Need some help sugarcube?" not thinking the show mare could lift the other on her own.

To her surprise though it looks like Trixie's nightly gym trips are doing more for then just making Starlight notice her flanks as she got her back up with minimal effort.

Starlight glanced around at her concerned friends faces before getting to Celestia and having the head ache bear down even more. She shot her eyes and turned her head downward as she now had to fight the urge to vomit before choking out, "I'm... I'm not feeling so hot.. I think I need to lie down."

"Oh of course, you can use my old room in the west wing of the castle. It's far enough away from the Gala to where you'll be able to rest and of course has plenty of books to check out if you get bored," said Twilight as she approached the two before looking at the blue mare supporting Starlight as she said, "Trixie, can you help me carry her there."

Trixie only gave a quick nod as her concerned eyes never left Starlight's pained face.

The three marched as Celestia soon followed behind saying, "Oh dear, I better alert the castle staff in the area to make sure they know not to disturb her."

As the rest watched on, Applejack spoke up saying, "Shoot, don't that just beat all. Made it all the way to the Gala only to get sick the second she walked in. Poor girl."

"I saw she looked a little funny on the train, but I just figured it was because Trixie was looking at her kinda weird," said Rainbow Dash.

"I do hope she get's out of that dress before laying down," said Rarity resulting in glares from the others before she nervously continued saying, "Strictly for her own comfort of course. Not that I'm worried about how pale she looked and that she might get any bile on my gorgeous fabric or anything selfish like that." She then let out a nervous laugh before the others rolled their eyes and looked away.

"Golly, Starlight didn't look very well," said Spinel worried for her friend, as while she didn't fully understand what "sick" meant, she did know something was wrong with her. "Can we go check on her Pinkie?"

"We will, but for now we should probably give her time to settle in and rest for a bit. We can use that time to set up our instruments," said Pinkie as she tried to reassures Spinel, despite her also being worried about Starlight.

"Are you sure we should still do the show?" asked Spinel.

"Of course, Starlight would want us to have a fun time and I'm sure that she'll tell us that when we check on her in a bit," said Pinkie.

"Well... OK," said Spinel as the two walked out to the garden.

This left Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash alone in the hall as they looked at each other before Dash said, "Well you heard Pinkie, no use dwelling on this. Besides, I heard there was some hotshot Griffin here from the new Featherbeak flight team talking trash about the Wonderbolts, and I gotta to prove them wrong."

She then took off resulting in Applejack turning to Rarity saying, "We better keep an eye out in case she gets carried away."

Rarity simply nodded as they both went their separate ways.

Meanwhile in Twilight's old room.

As Trixie laid Starlight in the bed and helped put the covers on her, Starlight looked up at the three mares before her before closing her eyes again as looking at Celestia still made things worse somehow as she thought, "Must be the bright colors of her flowing mane giving me motion sickness or something."

She then rested her head on the pillow as she said, "Thank you all for taking me here... I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with me."

"It's OK Starlight, we just want you to feel better," said Twilight.

Princess Celestia nodded before saying, "Indeed. Now I'm sorry, but I have to get back to the Gala to greet the guests, but if there's anything you need feel free to ring the bell on the bedside table and the nearest member of the castle staff will be alerted. I had installed for Twilight after she got the feather flue."

Starlight simply nodded and said, "Thank you Princess," before she heard Celestia walk away and the door close. As soon as she heard that she opened her eyes and was greeted by a somewhat concerned Twilight and a very concerned Trixie who was still holing her hoof. As good as it felt she reluctantly pulled away as she said, "Thanks for bringing me here girls, I think I just need some rest. You two should go back to the Gala."

"NO!" said Trixie as her concern increased. "I can't just leave you alone when you're like this!"

Starlight wearily smiled saying, "Come on Trix, you shouldn't let me being under weather stop you from enjoying yourself. You should go down in that beautiful dress your mom gave you and find a pretty mare to dance with."

Upon hearing this Trxie was about to tell Starlight everything. How she was the only mare she wanted to dance with, how she wore this dress for her, how every moment since they met has been better than the last and how it's only now that she's realizing that the mare laying in bed looking like she's been through Tartarus and back is the mare she wants to spend the rest of her life with. All this and more she was about to say, only to be interrupted as Twilight placed her hoof on her shoulder and gestured for Trixie to come to the side with her.

Twilight whispered into Trixie's ear, "Look I know how much you care about her, but she wants to be left alone."

Trixie then half yelled half whispered, "No, you don't know how much I care about her!"

"Yes I do, Pinkie told me!" said Twilight back in another yell whisper.

"Oh..." said Trixie somewhat embarrassed.

Twilight then shied before whispering in her ear, "Look, what she needs right now is just to rest and relax so now's not the time for you to tell her what it looked like you where about to tell her."

"I guess... but I," began Trixie before realizing she had no answer for it.

"Look, for now we should head out and I'll try and help take your mind off this... and then maybe on Saturday Starlight will just so happen to be sent home early from work and maybe I leave a key under the mat in the castle and there just so happens to be all the ingredients for a nice romantic dinner in my kitchen," said Twilight as she briefly smiled at Trixie.

Trixie smiled back saying, "Thanks," before turning back to Starlight as she reluctantly moved towards the door saying, "Well I hope you feel better soon Starlight."

"Me too and if you need any of us feel free to ask the castle staff to get us and we'll come right away," said Twilight.

"Thanks girls, but I think I'll just need to grab a quick nap and I'll be fine," said Starlight as she weakly smiled at the two mares before they left the room. She then curled up in the blankets and shut her eyes. She thought to herself, "Well this sucks, but I'm glad they left to enjoy themselves." Soon though the voice from the back her head came forward as her thoughts simply turned to, "They left me... isn't that lovely, isn't that cool?"

Meanwhile in the Canterlot Garden.

Luna watched from the shadows of a nearby tree as Spinel and Pinkie happily set up a stage. Luna thought to herself, "Strange, I sense not the slightest bit of ill will from this creature. In fact I haven't sensed anything from her.... but that doesn't make any sense. If I can see her dreams I should at least be able to feel her emotions in the waking world, I-" Luna was then interrupted as she heard a scream of pain echo throughout the psychic realm and realized it was coming from in the castle. "Oh dear, I fear I may have been wrong in the worst possible way," thought Luna before she made her way into the castle to try and find the source of the scream which was starting to become quitter as whatever this thing was it snuffing out the creatures own mind to take over.

As Pinkie hung the last few ribbons on the side of her stage Spinel plugged in her guitar and did a brief sound check. "Almost ready Pinkie," said Spinel excitedly.

"Great, now I just gotta do my sound check and then we can-" began Pinkie but she was quickly interrupted by several shocked gasps and the sound of stuff breaking as the two turned to see Rainbow Dash having a very intense race with some unknown Griffon. Pinkie looked around only to see Applejack and Rarity struggling to move through the crowds to call for Dash to stop. "Shoot," she said before turning to Spinel saying, "I gotta stop Dash before she gets even more carried away. Spinel you wait here and finish up and I'll be back soon."

"No problem Pinkie," said Spinel as she watched Pinkie leave and grabbed her guitar to do a sound check. "I just gotta wait for her right here in the Garden and..." suddenly Spinel dropped the guitar as her arms began shaking. Soon her whole body nervously shook as she simply repeated the words "Here in the Garden." The image from before soon returned to her head as without thinking she stammered out, "He-here in the Garden le-let's play a game," before the image finally became clear along with everything that went with it as the tears began to flow and her Gem began to glow and turn.

Author's Note

Well well well. Looks like things are finally coming to a head as Pinkie is about to come back to a very different Spinel, and Luna is about to confront a very different Starlight. How will this all play out? Find out next chapter when ever that may be.

Firstly thank you too Its-YamiSwan for drawing this positively gorgeous fan art. Feel free to check them out on DeviantArt.

Anyway hope you liked this, any constructive criticism is welcome have a great day.

Days of the Past Part 1

8000 Years Ago

As the transport bubble moved Yellow Diamond cringed as she thought of what just happened, "How could I have embarrassed myself in front of White like that.. it shouldn't have gone this way."

Sombra gulped as he saluted saying, "Forgive me my Diamond I did not mean to-"

In an instant Yellow had something to take her frustrations out on as without a word she moved her hand towards Sombra and blasted him with energy, causing his body to start to form yellow cracks as he fell to the ground writhing in pain.

Yellow briefly glanced at him before sighing as she stopped firing and said, "Relax, I'm not going to poof you... it's not worth the time." Soon the bubble stopped and opened up in a lab as Yellow turned to a group of Peridots saying, "You all, tend to him," before walking over to her seat.

As they approached the fallen form one of them gasped saying, "Oh my stars, are you alright!?"

Sombra sat up and chuckled as he said, "I'm fine, 3XF... the demonstration just could have gone a little better."

A Peridot to the left of them rolled her eyes and said, "Pffth, of course those miserable clods wouldn't appreciate my genius."

The third and final Peridot was holding Sombra's arm as a green beam shot out of her hand scanning his form and feeding data directly to her gem as she said, "Your genius 1XF? I think you mean ours."

3XF then leaned against her as she asked, "How's he looking 2XF?"

She sighed as she said, "He'll be fine, it was only superficial damage... honestly I don't know how you even call yourself a Peridot with an emotional outburst like this."

3XF blushed as she moved her fingers through her hair saying, "There's um... nothing wrong with worrying about such a prized specimen."

Sombra chuckled as he said, "I can always count on you for a compliment 3XF... too bad it's the only ones I've gotten today."

3XF huffed at that as she crossed her arms saying, "Well everyone else should have complemented you too."

Yellow then finally sighed at that as she said, "He might have gotten a few more if you all could figure out how to make all his data fully integrate into his Gem."

Before any of them could speak up they suddenly heard a voice from above say, "As always they continue to step around the obvious solution."

Sombra shuttered slightly as the small blue Gem flew down from the ceiling holding a familiar object in her hands. She did a slight curtsy towards Yellow saying, "My Diamond, I do not know why you simply will not Rejuvenate this Gem, it could make all the energy and data levels stabilize."

1XF stepped forward saying, "Please, Aquamarine, leave the science to the professionals. We've already explained that Rejuvenation may not work like that with him."

2XF showed a hologram saying, "There is only a 10% chance of that working like that, with a 20% chance of him reforming in the same fashion he is now, 20% chance of him reforming with different data active and different data dormant, and finally and most disconcertingly a 50% chance his energy levels will be unable to stabilize again and he won't reform at all."

"And even if it could work... he wouldn't be him anymore," said 3XF as she leaned down against the shuttering Sombra as she whispered to him, "Don't worry, I won't let that happen to you."

Sombra briefly smiled at that and blushed as he looked over at her, she intern suddenly turned away from him as she brushed her hair away from eyes.

Aquamarine groaned as she said, "Oh, you all are so sweet and gentle with him it brings a tear to my eye," and tapped the Gem stone below her left eye. "My Diamond I think perhaps Sombra isn't the only one in need of a Rejuvenation."

3XF shuddered slightly at that as Sombra saw this and suddenly clenched his fist and grit his teeth as he began to stand up.

Thankfully Yellow sighed at this as she said, "I don't have time to deal with all of you just..." she then leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose as she said, "No Aquamarine, we can't Rejuvenate any of them... it would take too long to reteach them the layout of the facilities. 3XF just continue giving him lessons to help fill in the gaps in his knowledge."

Aquamarine rolled her eyes and flew back into her spot on the railing, meanwhile 3XF let out a sigh of relief as she smiled and blushed at Sombra saying, "It would be my pleasure my Diamond."

Sombra blushed in return as he grabbed her hand as she helped him get up, and then the two continued to hold hands as they left the room.

Yellow sighed muttering, "At least someone's happy," before she then turned saying, "2XF how are the reports from the latest Kindergarten?"

2XF sighed as she brought up a projection saying, "It's not great my Diamond, the resource shortage has impacted us more then expected, if these readings are right all of the XG Peridots will be lacking in core abilities as well as physical stature."

Yellow grit her teeth as 1XF spoke up saying, "Thankfully I have designed a device that will allow them to still do their jobs accordingly, able to both project holograms and interface with technology as well as simply make them appear to be our more pleasing height," she then projected a hologram of the proposed devices as she said, "I call them Limb Enhancers."

Yellow went from a frown to a more neutral face at that as she said, "Excellent work 1XF, we'll need resourcefulness like this if we can't turn things around for Era 2... speaking of turning things around what is the status of the Equis colony?"

2XF started scrolling through her holographic display as she said, "The probe carrying the Warp Pad is preparing to enter the planet's atmosphere."

Yellow smiled at that as she said, "Finally some good news today," before gesturing her hand at them as she said, "Bring up a live feed on the monitor."

2XF nodded as she touched the display again causing the large screen in front of Yellow's chair to blink to life as they all were greeted to the sight of the approaching planet. Said smile soon faded as they realized the planet was approaching far too quickly. 1XF ran over to 2XF as she yelled, "SLOW IT DOWN!"

2XF tapped away at her screen as she simply said, "It's too late," as they looked up to see a forest quickly approaching and what appeared to be a lake for the briefest second before static.

For a moment there was silence as they all stared at the screen, hoping in vain that the signal would return and everything would be fine. That moment was interrupted by Yellow slamming her first in anger against the arm of her chair as the two Peridot's looked to her in fear, and even Aquamarine lurched slightly from her perch.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" demanded Yellow as she looked down at the others both figuratively and literally.

1XF stammered as she looked over the readings saying, "Some clod must have miscalculated the planets gravity, or maybe the retro rockets suffered a malfunction and sped up the descent instead of slowing it down."

2XF simply shook her head as she said, "It was neither of those... according to what little readings the sensors got before it went offline the planet seems to be giving off some type of radiation that caused the circuits to overload."

"What kind of radiation?" asked 1XF.

"Unknown, as I stated we couldn't get too much of a reading, and what we do have doesn't match anything on record," said 2XF as her eyed widened slightly as she continued saying, "I've never seen anything like it.... even if we got a full sample I doubt it would match up with anything we've seen before."

Yellow's anger calmed down at that as she said, "Could it be useful?"

1XF looked over the readings as she said, "Impossible to tell for sure, but it's definitely something I want to get a hold of," as she smiled and the stars filled her eyes.

2XF sighed as she said, "It's too bad we can't get a hold of it, the probe failed and due to the resource shortage we aren't allowed to send another one."

1XF looked angry as she said, "Well then, we just need to send a landing party, I'm sure the Warp Pad wasn't totally destroyed so repairing it shouldn't be too difficult and even if it is we could still begin work on the colony."

Yellow sighed as she said, "I wish it were that simple but unfortunately White will not permit something like that, and after the day I've had I don't dare ask her.... I would really like to have something positive to show her at the next Ball though."

It was that point Aquamarine cleared her throat to draw attention as she straightened her tie saying, "My Diamond I think I have a solution that will have solve all our problems."

Sombra sat across from 3XF as she tapped away at a console saying, "OK, let's see what you remember, just look at these projections and tell me what you see."

It was then a hologram of a tall skinny Gem was displayed as Sombra responded, "That's a Pearl, they function as basic servants attending to their masters every need."

"Correct," said 3XF before flipping to another projection of a short Gem with square hair.

"A Ruby, the basic infantry and guard units of the Gem Army," said Sombra.

"Very good," said 3XF as she smiled and went to bring up the next hologram.

Before she could though, Sombra reached out his hand and touched her chin saying, "Now I see the most beautiful and intelligent Gem in the whole Empire."

3XF blushed as she said, "Sombra.... I think we..." but before she could finish she found herself leaning towards him.

Just as their lips were about to make contact though they both heard a loud beep as Yellow's voice came from a speaker saying, "Sombra, 3XF report back to the lab immediately."

3XF let out a slight giggle as she turned to the door and brushed her hair saying, "We'll resume this 'lesson' another time."

Sombra smiled back as he said, "I hope so," before the two left.

As they walked into the room they both shuddered at seeing Aquamarine sitting next to Yellow's arm on her throne.

3XF turned to her fellow Peridots hoping to get some semblance of reassurance, only to see sad eyes from them both.

Yellow Diamond broke the tension as she said, "Well Sombra, it looks like you're getting the opportunity to prove your usefulness sooner than expected."

"What do you mean my Diamond?" asked Sombra as he reflexively reached out a hand that was quickly taken by 3XF.

Aquamarine slightly rolled her eyes at that before she pulled a rod from her hair and pointed at a nearby screen displaying a planet as she said, "This is planet Equis, the planet you will be colonizing."

"What?!" asked 3XF as she looked up in alarm saying, "But what about the probe?"

"Unfortunately it failed, and we can't greet White with two failures in one day now can we," said Aquamarine as she looked down at Sombra smirking.

Sombra's eyes flared as he took a step towards her only to have 3XF pull him back as he sighed. Sombra then looked at Yellow saying, "It will be an honor to lead the colonization effort my Diamond."

Yellow chuckled at that as she said, "Oh no, you won't lead the effort, you'll BE the effort."

"What?" asked Sombra.

"Don't seem to surprised, you have tested well at the creation and running of Kindergartens as well all forms of engineering, between that and your superb abilities conquering such a primitive organic planet will be child's play," said Yellow as she smiled down at him.

"Well I suppose," said Sombra not sure if he should just reject the offer or be grateful for praise from his Diamond.

"But my Diamond... at least send me with him," said 3XF as she broke contact and marched forward. Yellow instantly glared down at her causing some of 3XF's confidence to wain, she briefly glanced back at Sombra before gulping as she continued saying, "As the Gem responsible for filling in any gaps in his logic base, I may be needed to assist him in any unforeseen events."

"Out of the question, with the emergence of the XGs soon I need you all present, beyond that I can't risk any already assigned units on this," said Yellow.

"So he's expendable to you!" thought 3XF as she pouted in anger and almost let out that sentiment but was quickly stopped as she felt Sombra's hand on her shoulder.

She looked back at him as he whispered, "Let me do this, not just for me but for us," before turning to Yellow as he gave a salute saying, "It would be my honor to add this planet to your glorious Empire."

Sometime later.

As Sombra looked at the small ship currently being loaded up on the landing pad he couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief as he thought, "Just conquer this one planet and then you'll have proved yourself, you'll have a proper place in the Empire... and then you can be with her."

He then smiled slightly as he heard that familiar voice from behind him say, "Alright you have all the basic chemicals and equipment needed to sit up a Kindergarten as well as a general base of operations, as well as a Warp Pad repair module, with any luck you'll be able to find the probe and get it operational."

"I hope so, the less time I spend away from you the better," said Sombra as he turned to her with a smile.

3XF looked at him, biting her lip in a mix of worry and frustration as she blurted out, "I could still go with you... 1XF and 2XF said they'd cover for me and Yellow mixes us up all the time anyway so I'm sure she wouldn't notice."

Sombra smiled at that as he instantly was upon her with a hug saying, "I doubt either of them could be as amazing as you... once I come back White will see how useful I am and will put me in a highly ranking position, one where I can likely choose my only personal staff and I'll certainly need you to continue my 'lessons'."

3XF chuckled at that as Sombra began to pull away and she instantly leaned in giving him a quick kiss before pulling away as she blushed saying, "Well then you just make sure you come back soon then."

Sombra blushed himself before clearing his throat as he said, "Of course," before turning towards the ship and getting in the cockpit.

3XF briefly turned to the 1XF and 2XF on the controls monitoring the ships systems as the engines roared to life and it began to lift off. As it left the ground and quickly rocketed out of her view she whispered to herself, "Please come back."

She stood there watching the part of the sky Sombra's ship went into for some time before she heard the last voice she wanted to hear saying, "Well now that he's gone I hope you can start acting like a proper Peridot again."

3XF's eyes narrowed as she turned toward the voice only to suddenly lurch as she saw Aquamarine holding the Rejuvinator again as she continued saying, "At least you better, that is if you want to remember him if he comes back."

3XF gulped before she began walking past her as she said, "Of course, I will perform my duties with the expected level of efficiency as well as continue developing lesson reports for WHEN he gets back."

Aquamarine chuckled at that saying, "Confidence, a fools substitute for intelligence," before flying away as she looked down at the Peridots and said, "And with intelligence like mine I'm sure before Era 2 is out I'll have my own ship and Topaz to command while you lot are still stuck here."

Crystal Settlement, Frozen North

Amore looked down from her palace at the ponies struggling to build in the cold as she sighed saying, "Tis a shame the Crystal Heart can only do so much about the weather."

"Tis indeed," said Radiant Hope as she stood behind her mentor before sighing as she said, "I still wonder if we're doing the right thing."

Amore looked at her saying, "You know as well as I that if the three tribes continue down their path it will only lead to ruin, and cine even my own sister refused to hear reason leaving to form our own united nation is all we can do."

"I can not deny that my mentor, it's just going from our ideals... our belief in a brave new world forged by Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi working together to tame this vibrant landscape to... this," she said as she eyed an Earth pony mare trying to warm her hooves in front of a fire.

"I never said forging this Empire would be easy," began Amore as she gestured towards that same mare as a Pegasi stallion wrapped a wing around her and gave her a mug of coco as the two smiled and blushed slightly at each other before turning their gaze towards the fire as Amore smiled saying, "But you can not deny that this is worth it."

Hope smiled at this development as she said, "No... I suppose I can't, but it just pains me to see our people suffer."

"As it does me, but we must take heart in knowing that we are suffering so that our children, and our children's children will live in a harmony beyond anything we have dained to dream of," said Amore.

The two looked up at the sky in thought as she Amore let out a sigh saying, "Though I admit with each passing day more and more challenges arise that make looking at that future ever harder."

Hope thought on that for a moment before seeing something glitter across the sky as she said, "Look madame, a shooting star, perhaps it is a good omen."

Amore chuckled at that as she said, "Perhaps your right it-" but Amore stopped as she saw the object in the sky begin moving closer as she said, "That's no shooting star." In an instant she used magic to elevate her voice as she yelled down from the balcony, "EVERYPONY! QUICKLY INSIDE!" She watched as all the visible citizenry followed and then turned towards Hope and said, "Quickly we must search for any stragglers."

Hope nodded as the two teleported to the ground and began a search.

Sombra growled as he tried to wrestle the ship's controls saying, "What is going on!" He tried looking at the instrument panel as he said, "Energy levels off the scale, target vectors missed by miles, speed," he watched as the display ticked to the highest possible number before literally cracking and breaking in a shower of sparks as he said, "Too high for even a controlled crash." Sombra looked down at the quickly approaching snowy ground as he sighed before closing his eyes as he said, "I'm sorry 3XF but it looks like Aquamarine was right about me after all." As a single tear flowed down his face as he grit his teeth and waited for the end.

Hope reunited with her mentor at the center of the settlement as she said, "Everypony has been accounted for madame."

"Excellent, now then to address the true problem," said Amore as she looked up at the object crashing down.

"Do you suppose it is an attack, perhaps the tribes wish to take you back by force?" asked Hope.

"Neigh, Platinum was never much of a sister to me, and if anything she let it be known how happy she was that I left, leaving her as next in line for the throne," said Amore with a sigh as she said, "No this is something else entirely."

"Well then... it appears as though it will crash far beyond the settlement, perhaps we should simply take shelter ourselves now," said Hope.

"You may do so if you want, I am going to try and see if I can slow it down," said Amore as she turned towards where it was headed.

"But my lady, why would you risk yourself like that!?" asked Hope as she began running after her.

"If that thing strikes the ground to hard it could cause an avalanche, and I have not led these ponies here simply to meet their ends," said Amore before she continued saying, "Besides, tis an odd sight, such a thing falling from the sky and it would certainly be interesting if we got to inspect it all in one piece rather then shattered across the ground," as she looked back at her student with a smile.

Hope sighed before returning the smile as she said, "Indeed it would my mentor," before moving alongside her as she said, "So shall we?"

"Absolutely," said Amore as they soon reached where the object was heading towards as they ignited their horns and tried to focus on it.

In an instant Sombra felt the ship jerk as it began to slow down. His eyes burst open as he looked out the windshield seeing the strange creatures on the ground. "What are," he began saying but quickly shook his head as he grabbed the controls again saying, "No time to wonder that now, still not slow enough for a proper landing but with any luck this crash will simply be a funny story I tell her back home." Sombra steeled his gaze on the white snow below as with all his might he moved to level off with it. Sombra had the briefest of smiles as he saw the ship begin to slide across the snow, only for the full weight of it to thud against the rock beneath shaking the entire cockpit as Sombra's Gem rattled and his body went limp and his vision went black.

Amore and Hope watched as the object hit the ground and skidded across the snow before scraping hard against the ground as it soon came to a stop. As the two ran up they eyed the objects curves as she Hope said, "Tis an odd thing indeed," she then gestured to the front of it as she said, "Why it almost looks like it has a window."

Amore quickly teleported atop the structure as her eyes widened and she said, "Tis not simply a resemblance of a window, tis actually one."

"What!?" said Hope in shock as she teleported alongside Amore as she looked inside to a large dark bipedal creature unconscious inside it as she said, "What in the name of the world is that?"

"I do not know, but whatever or rather whoever he is he won't last long out here like this, quickly help me get this open," said Amore as she wrapped the window in her magic.

"My lady... is that wise?" said Hope as she looked down at the strange muscular creature.

Amore sighed as she said, "Did we not leave our land and found this one to help every creature live in harmony?"

"I... I am sorry my lady," said Hope as she nodded and joined them as the two worked expecting the window to break, instead however it was able to come away from the bent metal frame in one piece as Hope's widened and she said, "My word... I've never seen a form of glass so sturdy before."

"There will be time to admire his odd transport later, for now we most hurry and get him back to the palace," said Amore as she put herself under one of his arms as Hope soon did the same and the two carried him back.

Author's Note

Well I hope it was worth the wait everycreature, and I'm sorry this isn't the full story of Sombra's past. It's my fault, I just kept writing and writing thinking there was no good break but then as soon as I realized things would have to change gears once Sombra arrived on Equis it was, right there. I hope you all understand the delay for this chapter and unfortunetly the delay for next chapter as it is likely to be as long if not longer then this one, do not worry though as we are nearing the season 2 finale and I promise to get us to that before long.

Also 3XF is of course an Era 1 Peridot so unlike the angry little slice of pie we're familiar with she looks more like the one on the left

Drawn by Kurtaztrophe go check them out on DeviantArt

Anyway thank you for reading any constructive criticism is welcome have a great day.