Well, it's good to be back. And back in his own home too for Steven - finally getting his proper leggings all better with the Beach house now in it's full glory again. It still took at least a week for the storm to finally calm down completely, leaving a good sky, and with all the problems handled, there was only one thing left to do.

And Steven had gotten the perfect book for it. The cover: a few flowers and the words "Dream Wedding" on it. Absolutely perfect for Ruby and Sapphire. There's no way he was going to miss this for the world, and he and everyone else were all on board.

"This is to give you come ideas. Ruby said she wanted your reunion as Garnet to be special." Steven took a moment as tears of joy came from him, a smile on his face, "and there's nothing more special and romantic, than a beautiful wedding! Here's some printing styles to get your ideas."

Steven started to go through the various options on many of the pages available to the two, but really the exact style itself was a pretty good concept already. Can't hurt to bring over some originality though.

"Oh, and maybe some … dolphins."
And you're probably expecting something ice, didn't you? Admittedly Sapphire had plenty of winter themes already with the snow outside.

"My entire life," replied Steven. Him and probably every fan of the couple by now. Who could blame him though: Garnet was his favorite couple ever, and if he was to bring forth the perfect wedding, then gosh darn it he was gonna get perfect and then some! No mistakes, and no overlords this time.

"Aww man, I didn't want you to see the wedding yet!" cried Steven in disappointment. Sapphire giggled.

"PHEW. don't scare me like that, babe," Ruby said, smiling. Sapphire and Ruby simply laughed, as they began to hear the front doors open up. The o so familiar glow revealed it from Equestria, and a very excited and happy Pinkie Pie coming right back with Fluttershy, Bismuth, and some folding chairs. Not even time for the wedding, and Fluttershy was already in tears.

"Of course Steven. No matter what, we're not going to miss this for the world. Oh, this is so beautiful," Fluttershy squeaked, hoof rubbing some of the tears away. Pinkie Pie couldn't agree more, and after opening the regular door, she began to take off to get the chairs off into place.

"But why bring the chairs here? The alter's by the boardwalk," Ruby asked. Pinkie pie appeared above them by Steven's bed, presenting a gift for them in a Christmas box, blue and red wrapping paper naturally.

"BECAUSE somebody's got you two lovebirds a little something special. OPEN IT!" Pinkie insisted excitedly. So ruby did, and soon she pulled out what looked like a set of rings. one copper, one silver, both for them. Both Ruby and Sapphire's eyes sparkled, as Bismuth chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's not exactly weapons, but they said these would come in handy," Bismuth said.

Soon, things got busy, and every creature was off by the boardwalk, making preparations in their own way. Some were working on the setting, some decorations, while others prepared for invitations and how this all will go. The invitations for the moment were being handled in a sort of assembly line: Twilight and Pearl folding, Spike stamping the picture, Ruby and Sapphire signing it in their own way, Peridot putting them in envelopes, and Applejack and Blue licking it so it would seal. It was a basic, yet enjoyable process, and Ruby and Sapphire had their own signature designs: Sapphire in cursive with a blue pen, and Ruby bold basic with a red marker.

"We've been doing this ALL DAY. How many does that make?" Peridot asked, getting bored of this task. she was excited for this same as anyone else, but if she knew she would be stuck doing this, she would have plenty of objections to it. Applejack gave Blue the envelope, which he proceeded to give a good lick. not the most tasteful, but still helpful.

"And that makes … 32! Hooey, we're gonna get ourselves a packed house," Applejack said, Blue barking in agreement as he wagged his tail.

"Think we should've picked somewhere bigger?" Spike pointed out, looking over to the chairs all set up. They were mainly just beach chairs (ironic considering the snow), and they saw Emerald toss a chair into place, with Rarity correcting it as he kept doing so. Tedious and buggy to the unicorn.

"I think the beach is appropriate," Twilight replied. Sapphire though was a little bit perplexed by the numbers after working them out in her head. But still, that wasn't the only thing really going on in her mind for the time being. This sort of thinking still kept with her as Steven started to come over. But, he wasn't alone either, and he had another guest, Pink Diamond, coming to the wedding in question right behind him. Or rather, she was carrying him over to the others, but all the same, she was a bit excited for this sort of event.

"Yep. Guess what else decided to come?" Pink Diamond said with a cheeky grin. But the answer came up a bit sooner than they could really say, mainly in the form of two beings walking up from behind the temple, and going up to them.
Blue Diamond, and Yellow Diamond were here for the wedding! To say that it was a surprise would be spot-on. Both diamonds were formally dressed for the occasion, going along with what this was all about thanks to you-know-who: Blue Diamond in a one-piece, starry gown as Yellow Diamond a aristocratic, cosmic tuxedo.

"Oh my stars!" Peridot gasped, tumbling off her feet on sight of the two. "What're you doing here?!"

"Pink told us about your wedding, Sapphire," said Blue Diamond, "We wouldn't miss something so … wonderful." Blue Diamond actually started to shed a few tears with a smile on her face, the idea alone bringing forth a flurry of emptions. Yellow Diamond glanced over to Blue Diamond, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Blue, let's not go into tears before the event even starts," Yellow advised, though the idea sure sounded pretty beautiful to Blue Diamond.

"Yes. Of course," Blue replied, her finger gently rubbing away some of her tears.

"This is gonna be the best wedding ever!" beamed Ruby.
The true connection between one Gem to another, something only known for a good while as simple fusion, but this was stronger than any simple rule or regulation. And you know what, that was okay to Blue Diamond. And possibly, to Yellow Diamond too. Still, the mention of Pink Diamond though did get a bit … well, conflicting. Should now be a good time to tell them, or not?

"It … took some time to accept the fact," Yellow admitted, "All those years of the Gem War, only to find we were fighting eachother, rather than a renegade Rose Quartz … but, if I am to be honest, it was only a matter of time. Considering how White treated her prior to the war. … Though, I still have some questions regarding you," Yellow explained, looking down to Steven and Pink Diamond.

"Oh geez, I knew it wasn't gonna be that easy," Steven murmured, as Pink placed Steven down. Yellow got down to her knees to get a better level with the small Gem.

"Pink Diamond, I hope you realized how much we've gone through. Why didn't you say any of this? Why this form, why the voice, why didn't you say anything at the trial?!"

Clearly this was fairly new information, as Blue and Yellow Diamond only arrived recently.

"S-Sorry," Steven said humbly, "My mom kept it secret from everyone … almost everyone."

"Well, apparently mom - … oh wait, you don't know what a mom is. OK, Pink Diamond permanently altered her form into Rose Quartz after faking her shattering, but later on she gave up that form in order to create a new lifeform with my dad. Me. Pink Diamond passed some of her powers onto me … but that's all. I don't have Pink or Rose's memories. Sorry."
Steven then presented his gemstone again, Yellow giving it a better look for a bit. Strange how she and Blue Diamond thought it was Rose Quartz for so long, now that Yellow got a good look of said stone. Then she straightened up.

"That's not entirely true. You may not have Rose's memories, but your past self is technically standing right next to you," Yellow pointed out, referring to the other Pink Diamond standing right next to Steven. Pink Diamond shrugged.

"... Fare enough. It would be confusing calling you both Pink Diamond. Speaking of which, it'll be complicated to explain all of this back to Homeworld - their own Diamond fighting against them."

"And White Diamond. Boy, wonder how she's gonna react to this?" Pink Diamond realized.

"Hey hey, we'll cross that galaxy when we get to it. We still got a wedding to attend," Steven said.

With some silence, Sapphire looked over to the invitations in the stack, which at this point were pretty high in count. Plenty of Beach City residents, Ponyville equines, Gems old and new, and a few extra were invited to this wedding, sure, but as Sapphire recalled much of the invitations to who they were supposed to be for. They had the names on the envelopes, the latest one being for Fluorite. So many coming … but, still missing something.

"Okay, my dad will finish playing the music," Steven explained, as he was going over the roles with Ruby and Sapphire by the alter, "And then you'll do the I-Do's, and then I'll say "I now pronounce you Garnet". and then you fuse! Every creature will cheer!"

"That sounds nice," Sapphire said, getting some idea of it in her head. She took a moment to look back to many of the empty seats amongst the wedding chairs, a name tag on each of them for the many guests coming up. Some of the name tags were placed on the ground for those such as Lion, the other Diamonds, Fluorite, and so on who weren't going to find seats big enough for them. Lion and Nora already found their spots in the area, though as she read over the names placed, she noticed that there was one still missing.

"This is so exciting. All the preparations, the beauty, who knew planning a wedding could be so fun?" Pearl said, walking over with a few of the others Gems and Ponies.

"I did!" Steven beamed. Sapphire walked off for a brief moment towards the seats, thinking back, much to the confusion of the others. She read off all the names, one side of the seating to the others, but all of them lacked one name.

"Yep, there's gonna be A LOT of creatures," Steven said, "Everyone's gonna be here for the big day!"

Sapphire went out to the center of the wedding ceremony, and for a moment just stayed quiet. Eventually though, she went and allowed her actions to speak for her: she bolted off for a moment and returned with another folding chair, getting it over in the second row.

"Sapphire, the row's not consistent now," Pearl said, but Sapphire didn't care, and got out another nametag. The name said it all.

"If this is to happen: The first ever Gem wedding in all of history. Our wedding." She said this while holding Ruby's hand. "I want everyone to be here to attend. That means I want him to be here too. It just wouldn't feel right without him," Sapphire explained.

"Really? I mean, after what he said to you," Bismuth pointed out. How could Sapphire forget the cruel comment Flint had left about her leader's lack of matter for being dead? It still stung her, but Sapphire looked to her friends with her true eye, moving her hair bangs away.

"The past is past. Besides, it was my fault he left the team, and if he won't come, the least I could do is apologize."

"Yeah, you're right: It's a wedding between friends, and we all should be here together," Steven agreed. It took little to convince everyone else about that. Even if flint had taken off, the least they could do was figure out of he was still alright.

"But where do we even look? We're talking about a Gem that can turn invisible at will with his camouflage cloak, and I doubt he would be the kind to leave any trail for -" Pearl's questioning was interrupted when the group heard some barking off nearby, Blue the dog meeting Blue Diamond herself. It was his first time seeing any of the Diamonds personally, and seeing Blue Diamond surely got him interested, much to Blue Diamond (and by extension Pink Diamond) and their own bit of curiosity. Seeing Blue suddenly got a lightbulb lit in Steven's head.

"Oh. Uh, I meant -" Blue the dog trotted over to him on hearing his name, barking happily before jumping onto him. Steven chuckled as Blue licked his face. Blue Diamond felt puzzled.

"Cool!" Pink Diamond said. Something for later, but for now, Blue hopped off of Steven, who got up to his feet.

"Good to see you, boy. Think you can help us with something?" Steven asked. Blue was more than ready for the task, and he stood at attention, ready to be given the orders. If they were going to find a Gem that had taken off to who knows where, Blue would be the right hound to do it. He had tracked Steven down from Beach City to Ocean Town from scent alone before, and he was the only dog to sniff out gems, so who better? Jade went over to him, and presented the only thing left from Flint. The item was a small piece of metal from Flint's armor.

"This is what Flint last had, and we want to find him. Think you can track him for us?" Jade asked kindly. Blue started to go to work and began sniffing Flint's calling card. The strange smell of mixing gemstones did leave Blue a little bit puzzled at first, but it was a very unique scent to leave behind, something blue could pinpoint. Like any dog, he then began to sniff around a little bit, focusing his sense into his snout, aiming it to the sky.

"An organic creature that can smell Gems? I don't know if you notice, but Gems don't have scents," Yellow Diamond reminded.

"Yes, but Blue can somehow track them, I've seen him track Gems before," insisted Sapphire.

"AND Gem artifacts," added Lapis Lazuli, "Remember those communicator pieces he found by the beach, and the ones found at the Prime Kindergarten?"

"Communicator parts?" Blue Diamond pondered.
It was then that Gem dog blue gave a deep inhale through his nose, and suddenly he began barking to the troop, before starting to head off. No matter how vague, there was nothing this dog can't track down.

"There he goes!" Steven called, before starting to run off after him. Much of the group started to go as well, and Sapphire glanced over to the diamonds.

"Needn't you worry. You go and find him," Blue Diamond insisted. Blue Diamond knew determination when she heard it, and who was to stop a group of rebels anyway? Sapphire soon went off with her dearest Ruby to catch up with the others. Blue had never lost a scent yet. This left all three diamonds alone by the alter.

"That's what makes it so fun," said Pink. Well, depending on the surprise of course.

Blue's scent tracking had lead them in a bit of an odd direction: leading them to use the Warp Pad to get them to a different location entirely. A scent somehow stuck, and Blue still kept at it as they began to check around where they've ended up. The area looked to be northern pine forest, much similar to where Steven did his first solo-mission in, and with the excessive snow it looked pretty well for winter. Blue started barking again after a short bit, and then went off ahead of them.

"Well, we shouldn't be too hasty. Let's try to keep together," Twilight insisted.

"I do hope he's okay," Fluttershy said, as they began to try and follow Blue. Admittedly though, with the soft sounds of winter breeze through the trees, they all suddenly began to hear some sort of yelping coming from Blue, before he rocketed out from the brush and straight back to them. And what exactly did Blue end up running off into?

"Bubble power!" Steven replied, encasing both mane six and crystal gems inside a bubble. A set of two corrupted Gems, as it turned out! What a thing to find. Both of these were quadrupedal, corrupted Quartzes: one a mixture of turquoise-blue colors, with pink spots across her body, and the other a mixture of brown-orange colors. and both of these wolf-like Gems were charging straight towards them! Much of the group were caught off guard, and expecting at least one of them to slam into the bubble, but oddly the first one actually leaped over the bubble, and the second one running off passed them, both quartzes splitting up, down two paths into the forest. And just like that, they were gone. Whatever they had in mind, it wasn't here.

"I don't know. But it's a bit odd. They seemed … afraid," Jade said. But Sapphire had a more one-track mind to this.

"We'll deal with them later. For now, Flint has to be somewhere. Go on, Blue, you're doing fine," Sapphire insisted, letting Blue go off ahead again. Blue kept a bit closer to the others this time in case of anymore surprises in the brush. They all kept their guard up as well, but seeing those two Gems completely ignore them as they tore passed was something to note. what would make them all just run away like that?
They would get their answer soon enough.

Blue kept sniffing along the snow for a bit more, before he then looked off ahead and they all began to see something move amongst the forest. A bit vague for normal eyes, but Peridot and her enhanced eyesight began to peek out exactly who it was going through, even with his camouflage cloak making visibility all but impossible for many.

"He's right there," Peridot said quietly, as to not disturbed him, and pointing him out amongst the trees. He moved along through the forest like a looming ghost, not noticing the group all on standby just yet. Or, if he did, he wasn't caring much for them. Sapphire readied to go out and confront him, but Blue began to freak out a little bit all of a sudden, and grabbed her by the dress as Flint moved on over to a clearing.

They got it. Flint stood there for a moment or two, just staring off into the forest. At first it seemed as if he was just talking to nothing but air, but eventually everyone hidden behind the trees started to feel … something. It started out small. But each step made it only stronger. Until a huge being of pure white stepped up, and pushed away two of the pine trees as she stepped out in the clearing.

"And why does she look like that?" asked Lapis.
It seemed like some unnecessary statement, but they all can't deny that she looked different. A LOT. Sure they could look different from simple regeneration, but there was a bit more to it than that. For instance, her diamond-shaped pupils were grayish white instead of black like the other Diamonds had, and her body, which was already pure white before, now almost seemed to be radiating, or glowing. To the point when they can't make out her gemstone at all on her head, and the only main facial features were her eyes, nostrils, and mouth, which by the way now stood out with black lipstick and eyeliner on her prominent lashes.
Her outfit probably changed the most though, making her less like a veteran commander and more like a deity: a long white dress that reached the floor, splitting on the sides to expose her legs, shoulder pads, and a pair of intricately detailed dress sandals with high heels. She also had a cape with black and gray stripes that is lined with diamond and star designs within.

The chat over this wasn't heard by Flint nor White Diamond (not that it mattered). Bismuth drew her weapon, but Jasper made sure to keep her from charging on into the meeting. Or, whatever this was. Flint didn't look as surprised as he should be, but he still felt slightly intimidated.

"You know, you've taken me by surprise when I found you here, of all places. Come to get the Cluster yourself?" Flint asked.

"Oh Flint. Just because I said I'm gonna break you, doesn't make it literal," She said this while clenching her fist, making flint doubt it. Course he'd doubt it either way.

"I trust the others aren't with you?" White asked. Flint felt a cringe coming on, but he did nod.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Sapphire wanted me dead after how I left her," Flint replied.

"GOOD. Hope she doesn't. I'd hate to see you go. You were one of my only true Gems with Flint components within it, I couldn't bring myself to shatter a Gem like you. Too valuable."

"Even more so than Yellow and Blue?" spat Flint. White thought back on how she tried that fusion experiment with the two, and she could see where he was coming from. She pondered, but giggled a little bit.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. It's hard to just stumble across another Diamond, you know. … If you may?"

"And you done it so well," White said with a smile. It was probably better for Flint's conscious and for the Crystal Gems' trust that he would leave first because of this. Flint's stone began to glow again, and it them started to present something over to White Diamond in its glow. White Diamond plucked it out of his aura before he could finish, just to make sure it was grabbed, and not pulled away first. Flint cringed when she did that, and what did she end up getting?

"Very nice. Could be proven very useful," White said, as she began to work out the pages from within it, skimming through them with a move of her finger tips. For such a small book, there was some big information stored within its pages - something she was keen to look into.
Those watching nearby were a bit mixed, but Twilight felt the most appalled. This was her hero's own book Flint had stolen, for Celestia's sake! At least Stygian had better intentions for taking the personal book, but Flint -

"Whatever. Now, your end of the deal?" Flint reminded, waiting for White to hand over … well, they weren't sure what exactly. White Diamond got the book inside her Gemstone first so he wouldn't snatch it away, and doing it quick too. However, the aura to bring the book in was switched with another object coming out, this one looking more like a Gem artifact.
The item itself looked similar to Starswirl's book, but with a number of differences to make it stand alone: a thick, vintage leather-bound book with an orange cover, and a pinkish gemstone centered on the front cover with gold decals surrounding it. There also was a yellow bookmark peeking out of its pages, on one page in particular.

"NOT SO FAST," Flint cut in. He then opened the book and looked through what the pages had to say. White smiled, though not malicious as she probably would've done the same thing in his position. No creature ever enjoys being double-crossed. Flint looked through it page by page, the contents describing a number of aspects to quite a number of things: Gem creation, fusion dynamics, etc. But the one Flint wanted to check in particular was where the bookmark was placed, and he got there in little to no time. Much of the book was written down in Gem language, easy for Flint to read, though pictures showed what looked to be a humanoid figure, and a monstrous one alongside in a sort of transformation fashion. Flint looked this over very carefully before closing it.

"Good."
With this confirmed, Flint got the book back into his Gemstone for safe-keeping. The exchange complete though, both sides didn't really go off just yet, the soft snow landing around them for a brief moment.

"... So. Where will you go after you drop that off?" White asked. Flint sighed, kicking some of the snow as his feet.

"Oh, probably check out the Kindergartens, see you gawk before I die … you?" Flint honestly didn't have much planned for this part.

"Study the book, and head off home. Take this how you will, but I stopped by one of Blue Diamond's colonies, and they treated me little differently from before."

"You don't say," Flint groaned. He could just see it himself: a bunch of Gems bowing and groveling at White Diamond's feet. Heck, maybe see her as a hero for reviving Pink Diamond of all things. Oh, the irony of that was very hard to swallow, and it was probably because of how she even looked. White Diamond kneeled down to him, gently lifting his chin so his eyes met with hers. Her eyes just looked so … lost.

"Now, dear Flint, I know we've had our differences in the past, but now it's time to put all of that fuss behind us. It's only progress, after all, and it happens to the best of us. Gems, Ponies, Humans, even those … humanimals."

"It's called "Anthro" but I see the point, White. As cruel as some is, progress happens no matter what. But do us all a favor, and slow down a little bit will you? Not every creature's half as ready as you are with all of these "experiments" of yours. Besides, don't you think you're being a bit too, oh I don't know … overbearing?"
Those hidden away waited to hear what this Diamond had to say. Not that they didn't, but it was highly dangerous to stand up front of such a being and make those kinds of statements without any trouble. White Diamond paused, but then stood up.

"I might have. Maybe I've been stuck with a case of "god syndrome" after all," White admitted humbly. Flint and White shared a chuckle with eachother on that statement, as if they were a pair of old friends.

"Probably. … Well, anyway, I got what I need, and so did you. Now, I'd better get going before they get back," Flint said, turning around. He was just about to go, when White Diamond spoke again.

"So soon? But we only just got here. I'd love to know some more about the ingenious story behind my dear, dear Pink Diamond."

"I'm gonna … stand here, for twenty seconds. To give you a chance to explain to me: HOW? How it is "ingenious"?"

"Pink Diamond: a off-colored cut, SOMEHOW managing to outsmart and even trick me. She even disguised her own DNA and aura to match that of a standard quartz. Not even I could do that."

"I did wonder how Blue Diamond didn't sense Pink the moment they got to Homeworld," Flint admitted, now knowing this sort of loophole nobody really was thinking about.

And with that handled, both Diamond and Gem went off back the way they came, neither even noticing the group hidden off nearby, hearing every single word spoken. How long was this even going on?

Well, for Flint, his walk back home took him most of the day, and getting dark by the time he got back, even with the Warp Pad providing a quick access back to the barn. He honestly wanted little hurry to get himself back, just in case someone would be there still. Just as well, he also kept on his camo cloak to be completely sure no one would see him pass through. Best no one would, given much of the humans in Beach City would tell any Crystal Gem anyway if they were to see him. It was a casual walk through town, him seeing many faces as he went, most of which he wouldn't care for personally if he'd not gotten to know them.
On his way, he began to notice something else along the beach: the set up for Ruby and Sapphire's upcoming wedding. Untouched, and unaffected by the snow drifting down in tiny snowflakes. Flint paused for a moment to see their handiwork, going up to the alter for a brief moment with his hands casually behind his back. All the chairs were set up, the alter itself was completely established, even the flowers looked good in their prime even with the cold weather. He wasn't sure if this would truly come to pass or not anymore, nor if this actually was anything involving them or not. But with the coloration of a red buttercup, and a pure blue violet, he could make a good guess.

Without another word, he walked on from the alter, and went along down the beach, with the only sound of gentle waves touching his feet, covering his tracks as he continued on. Eventually the Gem found the Crystal Temple. It sure looked quiet, with the snow gently gracing the temple Gem itself with a coating of pure white, much like the diamond he had the displeasure of having to make the trade with. Even with the Crystal Heart barely holding on, if at all, it still looked as majestic and authentic as ever. Flint went up to the front cave, making sure that no one was there to see him. He was barely even fazed by the fact the Beach House had returned. The cave looked completely empty. Not a soul of any sort inside.

"Well. Here's to you," Flint sighed, removing the cloak for a brief moment before walking inside. He saw that the Temple did have a Warp Pad again, but perhaps this would be a good spot anyway for the "goodbye package". One more check, and then he brought out the Gem book. He made sure the bookmark was on the correct page first, before nodding. This was all they could ever need. So, he gently placed the book down onto the Warp Pad, placing his hand on the gemstone for a bit.

"You can do a lot more for them than I could now. Do what you can, ok? …" Flint gently removed his hand from the book, only hoping that the Crystal Gems would come by soon and see the object inside. His memento was left, and his job was over. He gave them everything they could ever need thanks to this book. … He hoped so.
Flint began to walk out of the Beach House, only stopping to look back at the book. This whole time, with how much he'd done for them in some way, and all he had left now was a book that wasn't even his own. And for exchange of a book belonging to Starswirl. Of course, what would it even matter after the way he left? So, with a sigh, he got back on his cloak, and began to walk away.

He didn't even get out of the cave before seeing them. It felt strange to Flint, being found all over again. Not by everyone, but still by someone he knew for a while now. And ironically, the one who he had verbally killed just before he left them all. Flint knew Sapphire wasn't alone, even seeing the others off nearby … and Jade. … The soldier took a deep breath.

"Flint, listen to me," Sapphire stated, "I've been feeling very lost in myself ever since we left White Diamond. Everything I've foresaw was very muffled, and Pink Diamond only made things worse for me. I acted too irrational for someone like me to ever be. If I am to be honest, I never found anyone that could rival Garnet as being the leader of the Crystal Gems. But then you came along, and all of a sudden we - or, I - suddenly found you were making the choices. It was you who made the first mission to White Diamond happen, you helped everyone focus in stopping the Cluster, and you did far more in solving the Pink Diamond case than any of us! Flint, if anyone should be able to understand all of us, it's you! You helped bring us all back together, and keep us focused on what's actually important. It shouldn't -"

"ARE YOU FINISHED?" Flint cut in. He tried a number of times to stop her, and only now did Sapphire finally did stop herself.

"Sapphire, listen. I … appreciate your attempts, but. It's not going to happen."

"... Ok, that's one of them," Flint admitted, hand to forehead. why would he try to question a Sapphire's guesses.

"Then what's the other one?" Sapphire asked. Flint felt that she should know that answer too, but he decided to humor her and the others anyway.

"It's like this: … I'm not exactly the … best person to be around. To tell you the truth, I only tried to get you all back together because you're the only ones that can actually keep White - … no. ANY galactic threat at bay from destroying somewhere I lived. Most of my reasons for doing what I do were for only my own benefit. Ruby even pointed it out to me, and that's how that mission to save you even happened at all. I suggested not to even bother because White Diamond was so dangerous, though you probably knew that."

Sapphire shivered on that thought: her hands in chains, her stone so close to shattering. It was not the best memories she ever had, as Flint turned away and continued.

"... So you're saying that you don't want to be with us because you're like White Diamond?"

"Didn't our last chat give you enough of a clue? WHY would I say that if I'm not anything like her - OF COURSE it matters what Pink Diamond says even if she's dead now! She lead you for a thousand years, it would've at least left an impression on you all!"

Sapphire moved so she was in front of Flint before talking, moving her hair away so he could see her eye.

"Come on, I know that's a lie: I nearly killed Pearl because she was influenced by some mask, I chewed you out for your care over Pink Diamond, and here I am looking for fake Pink so the other diamonds don't kill me over it -"

"But you recognize your problems!" Sapphire retorted. "White Diamond would've just left it all alone, and we saw what that lead to. But you? You make attempts to fix it, even if it's for personal gain. You got mad a Pearl, but that's because she was distracted us for the Cluster. And if bringing us together was going to be too much trouble for you, then why did you even do it at all? No, why did you even stay at all? You could've just left us right from the start and that would be that, but you decided to stay anyway."

"Sapphire. Look, all your answers that I could give you are in that book over there. There's no reason you would want me here anymore," Flint said, pointing to the book that would've been his final evidence of him being within the Crystal Gems. But before he could go, Sapphire grabbed his hand.

"But there is. Flint …" Sapphire then looked up to him, the purest look in her eye, and a smile on her face. "I want you to be at my wedding!"

"... Wait. That alter at the beach is for your wedding?" Flint asked, struck dumbfounded. Sapphire was more than excited for it herself, but she wanted everyone there.

"Yes. And I wouldn't want anything more than for all of the my friends to be there. That means you." Flint had to draw the line there, especially with what he just did, pulling his hand out of Sapphire's reach.

"Very funny. Even after I ran off like that, you really think everyone's forgiven me?"

And then out came the rest of the cavalry, Gems and Ponies alike coming up towards him. He knew the Mane six were there, but not all of the Crystal Gems too. Flint felt hit hard, but not too pleased.

"Long enough to see your talk with White Diamond earlier," said Pearl, humbled, but trying not to show it. Flint shook his head.

"I appreciate the gestures and all, but you all go on ahead. I need to find -" before Flint could finish, Amethyst actually brought her hand up and placed it on his mouth. Amethyst gave him a wink, and then pointed her thumb back, just to show that Pink Diamond was already found! She stood back a bit, waving to him, and … looking pretty good surprisingly. Well, Flint was stumped.

"Eeyup, you got no excuse now. The only one missing here's you," Amethyst reassured. Flint groaned.

"Flint," Jade then said, "You're scared of White Diamond, but … for just a moment. We could try and have some fun at this wedding. You remember Cranky and Matilda's wedding, don't you? You had fun there." and Jade actually smirked in that remark. Flint didn't answer, and looked away, shaking off a blush forming on his face.

"Look, you all heard me and White Diamond. I've basically double-crossed you: I stole Starswirl's book for the sake of leaving behind a Gem book so you didn't need me here, and before that I straight up said Pink diamond meant nothing now. Does that sound like the kind of person you'd want at your wedding?"

"NOPE!" Steven said, literally hugging his leg so to not do that, "You're our friend Flint, we're not gonna give up on you no matter what. You're not gonna lose that Main Character tag, no matter what you do."

"HA HA HA, a fourth wall joke, let go of my leg!" Flint demanded, trying to shake Steven off. But the kid wasn't doing so, no matter how much Flint tried. This frustrated Flint, but this did end up getting some laughs out of the others, making him fluster up even more so, stopping with one leg up and Steven holding on. It took him a bit, but in the end, what was the point?

"You're all serious then?" Flint questioned, resting his leg back on the ground.

"Of course we are, Flint," Twilight said, "Even if you gave away Starswirl the Bearded's private journal, it's not going to completely change how we feel about you. You did that to better benefit us with that Gem book over there."

"And let's be honest here y'all," Applejack added, rubbing her front hoof with slight embarrassment, "When it comes to tricks, it wouldn't be the first time. It's just one of those things that happens."

"And look. Even through how much trouble we've gone through: White Diamond, the Cluster, heck even this Pink Diamond reveal! We're still here, and still good as gold, strong as ever," Bismuth said, arms wrapped around both Jasper and Pink Diamond with a smile on her face. The two smiled back to her in agreement.

"I-I guess … but what if something happens? What if White Diamond shows up and wrecks everything, what if something bad happens?!"

"Well, maybe, but we don't always have to focus on the bad things. We can just focus on the good things, at least for a little bit. And … well, as always, you've made a very good point. About Pink Diamond being, well, right here," Jasper said, fluffing Steven's hair.

"I was wrong about that, you guys, I'm not saying that everything she did no longer mattered, it's just -"

"We know, we heard you go over that from the rocks over there," Twilight said, wing pointing to where they were hidden away, "And you know, the bad things in the past shouldn't completely effect what happened now. We did so much together, and we're all still here, regardless if the one that began this was Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond. We're all here for eachother, and nothing's going to change that."

"And we've all made history together: we beat the Osicone on Homeworld, we stopped the quarrels between Earth and Homeworld, and look we even became the first Gems to have Cutie Marks!" Peridot said, pointing to Amethyst and Jasper. Not usually something that would be brought up, but still worth mentioning.

"What we're trying to say, Flint, is that we're more than just a team. We're family. And we'll always be there for eachother, no matter what. And … we're hoping you'd be apart of it," Steven said.

Flint was … speechless. So much had gone on over these few months, in some way, shape, or form. But thinking back on it: Sombra, Tirek, Nightmare Moon, Osicone, White Diamond, the Cluster, Grootslang, Chrysalis, Tindalos, the Pony of Shadows, The Windigo. Pink Diamond … everything that Flint was sure would force them away from eachother. But here they were, them and then some. All together. …

"Flint," Jade said with a giggle, "This too much for you?"
Flint felt his face, and realized he was actually crying. He really didn't realize how much this effected him up to that point … or how much they've done with him, and for him.

"... Well … I … supposed someone has to stay, and amp up security. Just in case something does happen, you know?"

That was all they needed to hear, everyone more than happy to hear. Of course Flint glanced down to Steven.

"Just a few more minutes," Steven said. It was then he felt someone else hug him, turning out to be Jade on his other. Flint could only smile.

Will you marry me?
Those four words that kickstarted what they all could say was the best idea ever. It was such a good time indeed for many of those on Earth, and even after so much hardship, they've all finally had come together on such a glorious day. And there sure was a lot to prepare for it, that was for sure.

No one in all the worlds would want to miss this.

Mom was a diamond who invaded Earth
Saw its beauty and its worth
Mom made an army and she fought herself
Did that even end up mattering when she faked her own shattering?

Mom lived in hiding by the name of Rose
With the friends she made and the form she chose
Now that all that's left of her exists in me and I think that we could all agree
That is a little bit upsetting...
I'd rather think about... a wedding!

Rushing out of the bathroom, Steven DeMayo Diamond Universe was all prepared in his fancy tuxedo, full of joy and happiness for what he could only guess to be the best time to come. Him, and for everyone else there. It felt wonderful for Steven to get his home back, and for those who lived in the Temple just as well thanks to all their effort. Took some time to get other items into place of course, but magic is what magic was, and the Beach House was looking spiffy!
And busy too: even with the main area set up, some essentials were still required to make this work. This case, Pinkie Pie and Lars got together to get going some delicious treats for the wedding (icing blue and red, naturally). One item in particular though Ruby and Sapphire were sharing already for the morning: a Together Breakfast courtesy of Sugarcube Corner with a dash of Universe style: a stack of waffles with delicious syrup, dashed with popcorn, a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry on top.
Could there be a breakfast more fitting?

As Lars finished up the wedding cake, Steven had the honor of putting the small bride and groom of Ruby and Sapphire right on the top.

Let's think about cake!

Steven hopped down and went over towards Fluttershy next, the mare happy as can ever be, with a box of flowers in hoof, all a lovely hue of purple lavender, Steven plucking some out to add to his tuxedo. A nice little detail if he were to say so himself.

Let's think about flowers! Let's think about dressing up and dancing around for hours!

Steven said this as he spun Fluttershy around in a spin, the mare keeping the box from spilling, but still happy for the event. It's hard to be upset when something so wonderful was about to happen. Steven strolled on over to Ruby and Sapphire next, who had just finished up their together breakfast.

There is an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of
But for just one day let's only think about Love!

With the meal all handled, and Steven getting a pose for the end of the first verse, Ruby felt ready to get herself ready for the wedding. They may be familiar with it themselves, but there's quite a different being apart of a wedding, and being part of the wedding. Sapphire closed her eye, and Ruby closed her eyes.

"Okay, Sapphire," Ruby said, "I'm gonna get ready for our big day, so, no peeking … and no Future Vision neither!"

Sapphire laughed, and simply said "Okay."

The two had been apart more than they would like, if one could say, but one could also say that the two's fire of friendship had rekindle and was burning stronger than ever. As with everyone else. Pearl sat over by them during all of this, though she had a bit on her mind about this whole thing.

"Oh Steven, I'm sorry about everything. I should've told you all sooner," Pearl sighed, as Steven sat down next to her.

We could think about lies, that we've told in the past.

"They took it so hard."

We could think about hurt feelings, and how long they could last.

"How on Earth could we move on?"

But we could think about hope!

"Hope?"

You know I've been hoping ...

"About what?"
Steven plucked the tophat off the table and got on Pearl's head.

That everything's better now everything's out in the open!

Well, many of them were getting a lot prepared, and Steven went off outside. Good nostalgia to finally open that screen door again, and head on out onto that front deck. White Diamond could try, but she could never fully remove the memory, and the land that was the Crystal Temple. Everything was strong, new, and ready for its next life for the years ahead. And it took little more than a second for Steven to find a few more pals waiting for him: Lapis, Bismuth, and Applejack, who actually had a cart waiting for said wedding cake. They weren't gonna leave that thing, no way no how. And while Lapis had on her formal wear for the wedding, and Applejack with a flower in her hat, Bismuth had on silver armory.

"Bismuth! That's what you're dressing for the wedding?"

"It's the nicest thing I own," Bismuth said, flexing her arm, as three spikes came out of her shoulder pad. Unique, but in a good, and perhaps something that wouldn't displease.

"Looking sharp!" Steven said with a wink, before galivanting off down the steps towards AJ, and just in time as Pinkie Pie, Pearl, Lars, and Fluttershy pitched in together to bring the wedding cake outside. A bit of difficulty getting it out the door, but they managed easily, and got it in the wagon with no problem. Soon the group was on their way, AJ wasting no time in doing just that.

Pinkie; We could think about flowers! We could think about cake!

Lapis Lazuli; We could think about wonderful promises we have the power to make!

On arriving, Steven went off ahead, full of joy, seeing the beautiful wedding grounds. To think that this day was almost ruined not too long ago, but now it looked as prestige and as amazing as it could ever be, even more so. Even in winter, the world looked so sweet: the bluest skies above the world, and a soft, inviting blanket of white covering the beach. The chairs had been cleared away, but the alter still had its lovely look with the snow, so it wasn't messed with. The only alterations was a few more flowers being placed for decorations. A mixture of blue and red, some bit of purple, and all for the love of the two they cared for the most and being set up by a very happy Jade, Amethyst, and Rainbow Dash. Lapis Lazuli flew over to the remaining flowers brought outside, plucking a lovely blue one from it.

There is an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of
But for just one day let's only think about Love!

"And that should do it!" called Jade, sliding down the ladder she was using, before checking in on the others. "so what do you think? Do they look good?"

"Darn tootin! That's the finest looking alter I've ever seen," AJ complimented.

"It looks so lovely," agreed Fluttershy. While it did look very nice, Amethyst paused and took a look over to the flowers in question.

"Eh, maybe I shouldn't of gotten roses. A little … controversial," Amethyst admitted. Another statement, another verse.
Steven took one of the red flowers before continuing on.

Steven; We could all rethink how we feel about Rose
When it comes to Pink and the things she did in the past I suppose..

"Yep," agreed Amethyst. Steven and Amethyst were then picked up by Bismuth, as Steven and Amethyst stood on her hands, dancing to the music.

Bismuth; Or we could all feel better
Cause we could think about how..!
We could think about us and we could think about now!

Steven and Amethyst hopped off of Bismuth's hands, feeling much better about things. But there was still matter on what to do for the spare flowers.

"Well, we still have quite a few left, anybody wanna guess what to do with em?" AJ asked.

"OH, I got it!" Pinkie beamed, immediately grabbed what flowers remained, and tossing them off into the air. There was plenty of seats, and plenty of flowers, and each one landed just well enough to remain on each one. Problem solved, and they looked so wonderful. Pinkie logic saved the day once again.

"WAY DA GO, Pinkie!" Rainbow complimented. Only this mare could make that good of a shot.

"But what about the flower girl? Looks like we're gonna need something else," said Jade.

"Way ahead of you: Peridot's out in Equestria getting some flowers now. Be back in a jiff," Lapis said, pulling the Portal Key from her gemstone in a magic trick, and ready to go.

Equestria looked very lovely itself. Even with snow abounding the place, where Lapis arrive, still humming the tune to their little song, there were patches where flowers were still growing good and healthy, ripe for the flower girl to take and bring through. Peridot looked pretty adorable too with her yellow dress, but while she did gather plenty of flowers, she was thinking about something else too, and had a few other items on her.

"Lazuli!"

"Hey, Peridot. You got the flowers?"

"Affirmative! And I got a little something else too," Peridot said with a wink, before showing Lapis another basket off nearby. There were two items placed in, surrounded by a nest of hay: an old flower, a new bow-tie, and a borrowed basket to hold them in.

"I got something old, something new, and something borrowed. I'm just missing one thing …"

Lapis knew where this was going, being the only blue item here, and happily took the basket.

"Oh you," Lapis laughed, fluffing Peridot's hair. The green Gem chuckled too, and picked up the lovely looking flower basket.

"See you back at the wedding," Peridot said, winking and smiling before going off on her way. With a moment to herself now, Lapis Lazuli sighed. All of this was very lovely, but of course there was always the part in the back of her mind, and with everyone else, of one other factor very common in their career as the Crystal Gems. Peridot did stop for a brief moment to see her start to lament.

We could think about war... we could think about fighting
We could think about long lost friends we wish we were inviting...
We could think about the broken gems in the cluster at the planet's core...

Peridot soon came back, singing herself as she grabbed Lapis's hand.

Or we could think about the bubble we made so they can't be hurt any
They can't be hurt anymore!

We can think about joy!
We can think about pain!

We can think about sunshine, we could think about rain!

Lapis and Peridot went back through their portal, and back over to their world soon after that, both the Good Luck Package and the flowers all gathered and ready for everything. And just in time too, there's plenty of people starting to gathered for the wedding to take place. The Off-Colors had arrived for the event, so as the rest of the Mane Six, but also joining them were the humans of Beach City, Alicorn princesses of Equestria, Hoppy and Hopper of their own world, Homeworld's three Diamond leaders (who sat off aside), along with their many other friends all gathered. In one place. All here, at last.

Lapis + Peridot; There's an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of …

Steven; But for just one day let's only think about ...

Crystal Gems + Mane Six; Just one day let's only think about …

Sapphire was there and ready, dressed up in the finest tuxedo there is, accompanied by a beautiful blue violet flower that almost glowed in its perfection.

Crystal Gems + Mane Six; Just one day let's only think about …

Steven; Love

Steven went down right by dearest Sapphire, and with a simple gesture of a pointed finger towards Greg, he had the honor of bringing forward the music for the bride to come out. A soft, gentle tune for love that set the mood perfectly, as he walked over along the path. Behind him was a number of others lined up in two: Connie and Amethyst, Twilight and Spike, Bismuth and Pearl, and behind them is Peridot tossing flowers … or rather, doing target practice.

"Flowers for you! flowers for you! flowers for you!"
Peridot even got a headshot out of it, hitting Aquamarine off her feet. Good aim, though not exactly how it worked. But, Peridot felt it was successful.

"Thanks Peridot," Steven replied. Not the most orthodox, but this was a pretty unorthodox wedding, so they might as well roll with it.
Everyone else was feeling pretty happy about things, some finding their seats amongst the chairs set while others sat off aside.Still, with all of this, there was still one more key figure that was to be coming down, though feeling a mixture of nervous and excited rolled into one. And everyone could tell that as she began heading on up the beach towards the awaiting alter.
Ruby. Joined in company by Rarity and Flint, both formally dressed, and allowing Ruby some friends to bring to the alter.

"I'm fine," Sapphire insisted. Though, the ever so slight ice forming on her foot told them otherwise. Her own little clue to this whole thing. All the same, it was indeed something worth doing, and worth doing wonderfully. Ruby tried to calm herself down.

"O-Oh my. I, uh, t-this is so exciting. E-Everyone's okay. You're feeling good, right Flint?" Ruby squeaked.

"Not as good as you're gonna be. I'm sure everyone will love it," Flint reassured, even giving Ruby a blue flower in a magical flick of the wrist for her to place it on her person. It even had "love Sapphire" written in a small message along the stem. Rarity also levitated a red flower, though it goes without saying who it was truly for.

"Oh, you do look just marvelous. Now go on up there. Someone's waiting for you.~" Rarity chimed in, winking to her. All Ruby needed was to see Sapphire standing there, and that was enough motivation to last a lifetime. With a big smile on her face, Ruby went right on over fast as she could. Of course Greg had to speed up his song to keep up with her, but it wasn't too bad. Ruby wasted no more time in getting to the alter, though being a Ruby, she did leave some tiny patches of smoke and fire behind her, which Lapis quickly cleaned up with some small water squirts from her wings.

Everything felt so … perfect. Sapphire in her tux, Ruby in her dress, in site of the soft snow coming down around them. Even if it was cold, everyone felt this was a warm time, not even the most bitter could remove. All their friends. Gems. Humans. Ponies alike. All gathered up on this time. Ruby and Sapphire sure felt welcomed back, that was for sure, along with the others. It was all so wonderful, just as they hoped: a perfect setting.

"Dearly beloved," began Major Mare, "Gems. Ponies. Humans. All beings big and small. We're gathered here today to celebrate Ruby and Sapphire: two of my favorite people, who combine together to create one of my other favorite people! You all probably know her as Garnet."

Ruby and Sapphire exchanged flowers as it was Pearl's turn to speak. Pearl would feel nervous normally, but she felt pretty good about things, and for them.

"For some of you, we know, that their journey to get to where they are now has been a very long one, full of challenge and hardship. But these two had proven time and time again, that true flames of love cannot ever be put out, so long as they have eachother, both side by side and as Garnet. Garnet: someone who's admirable, respectable, and a true friend to all of us. They stood up to the fight ahead. They fought for more than just for Gems, more than just eachother. They fought for love. Love: such a simple word to say, but when true, cannot ever be denied no matter the reticule, or how much it has been pushed down."
No truer words had ever been said, and could be will agreed throughout many of the Mane Six and Crystal Gems, and many others.

"Ruby, Sapphire, now it's your turn to talk about it," Steven said. Ruby and Sapphire both needed a little bit, but ruby went first.

"I-I know this sounds silly. I mean … we've been together for thousands of years. … But I used to feel like I wasn't much good, just one of me on my own, but when we're together, it feels like it's okay to just be me. So I wanna be me, with you, and, and nothing bad will come between us! And if they try, we'll beat em up!" Ruby declared, even throwing in a few punches and kicks to make her point known. But then came Sapphire's turn.

"Ruby. My future used to look like one single, obvious stream, unbending 'til the end of time. In an instant, you pulled me from that destiny, and opened my eye to an explosion of infinite possible futures, streaking across space and time, altered and obliterated by the smallest force of will!"

There was some silence at the amazement of such a vow, but Sapphire continued on with hers, gently holding Ruby's hands.

"What I mean is, you changed my life. And then, I changed your life. And now, we changed our lives."
It was such a loving moment, and revolutionary one. It was such a rarity anywhere else for Gems to form like this, and now they're laying witness to the very first true Gem wedding. This brought some to tears, Blue Diamond's tears probably most prominent (Pink was feeling them hit her head), as Spike went over with the rings. One was made of copper for Ruby, and the other, silver for Sapphire, and both wives happily exchanged rings as they did with flowers. Now it was time to answer the big question.

"Ruby. do you take Sapphire to be your one and only, on this and all other planets in the universe?"

"I'm just excited," Sapphire replied. Though, they all knew she would say that either way, so no trouble there. Now there was only one thing left to say, and Steven was given the chance to say.

"By the power invested in me, and all the universes, I now pronounce you … Garnet!"
No other words needed to be said, and Ruby and Sapphire both kissed eachother. The seal to end all seals. As the two newly weds kissed, a bright light glowed between them both, Ruby lifting Sapphire off her feet as they both began to glow bright. They all knew what was coming next, and they knew what will become of Ruby and Sapphire now.

My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

Dearly Beloved