How long had it been since this all got started? The fallout of magic, and other things REALLY made the situation O so troubling for both Equestria and Earth, all in its own way of course. The Spirit Council had given them all the information they needed to get the worlds prepared, and while loses were made, it was minuet in the broad scheme of things. Some came and went, some learned a bit as well. But now, with the Fallout finally complete, magic began to slowly return to the Earth plains and Equestrian lands. The exact "power surge" would still be a while yet, but mean while, there still was just enough magic left to spur them into action.
And for the Crystal Temple, it too started to slowly come back to life, the magical Crystal Heart regaining the magical energy. And as such, by the twilight hours, the Beach House itself had fully returned to its original state. As if it never disappeared to begin with. Lights were out, and the whole house was completely silent. And even more impressively, the whole Beach House was completely cleaned up: the bedroom tidied up with the blankets all tucked in, the kitchen completely cleaned up with no silverware or dishes in the sink, and even the floorboards were sparkly clean. It was peaceful back inside the Beach House, not a soul to be found within miles of the place. … Well, all with the tiny exception of a seaside crab, who woke up to find the once empty cave suddenly occupied with the beach house.
All was quiet. Until there was a sound of a door opening up from the front. From outside looking in, there was nobody to open the door, but from the inside looking out, the white surface of the Portal Keys were finally working once again. And once more, the figures were more than happy to step through back home at long last. Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran, and Sadie Miller were finally back home after their big adventure in Equestria.
"We're finally home! Oh, hello kitchen! Hello house!" Steven announced.
"So good to be back," sighed Connie. As they closed the door, cutting the magic portal off, the first order of business in returning to their home world is to get the lights on into the Beach House. The first time the lights from the Beach House were turned on since the Everstorm first arrived.
"Hello bed!" Steven beamed, going right to his room first to jump right onto the bed. Such comfort he almost forgot about. It felt so soft and comfy he could sleep right then and there, but he was just too excited to just fall asleep yet. His next target was the television right next to him, him looking to the currently black screen, seeing his happy smile in the reflection.
"Hello TV! We got some catching up to do," Steven said.
"Speaking of which, I can't wait to tell the Gems what we did," said Connie.
"Oh yeah! I bet they're still here," Steven replied, jumping down off the bedroom floor, onto the couch, and onto ground level as he went straight for the back room. If there was one thing even better then seeing his Beach House again, is seeing those who been with him to build the home. Though it seemed that they were going to have one more surprise coming back home, as the Warp Pad activated.
The Crystal Gems were back in action.
"Welcome home, heroes," said Amethyst.
"GUYS! I missed you all so much!" Steven cried, going straight up to them. The Crystal Gems were more than happy to see them return at last, and Steven was met with a good amount of hugs by his fellow Gems. Connie and Sadie were given a good amount of attention too.
"Things were tough without you guys. You all okay?" Sadie asked.
"Good as gold. It's gonna take a lot more than a Fallout to do us in," Bismuth said, winking to Sadie. It was hard to take down Gems like these. Though, at this point, Peridot took a closer look to Sadie's face.
"Hey, you got a little something on your cheek," Peridot noted. Sadie followed Peridot's eyes over to her cheek, and realized what Peridot was talking about. Her encounter with the Sigbin hadn't gone completely unforgotten, with a single little cut along her cheek as a scar and reminder of the Nether Lands. She'll be more than happy to talk to them about it later, but for now they needed time to relax a bit. Nearby, Steven was met with Lapis and Garnet specifically, Garnet giving Steven a warm hug while holding him.
"So, Steven. Did your mission go well?" Garnet asked. For just a brief moment, Steven wasn't sure if he should explain it in full yet. It was a big travel and all, though the information regardling Celestia … well, he didn't want to wreck his return immediately, so he kept his cheerful face.
"Affirmative, commander!" Steven said, giving a salute to her. "We've helped everypony in Ponyville make it through the Fallout, and awaiting return."
"I knew you could do it, my little hero," Garnet said, giving Steven a kiss on the cheek. Steven laughed, though the details of the adventure would have to wait a little bit more. They just got back, so they might as well have some fun anyway.
"Thanks, Garnet. Boy, so much happened these last two weeks, we got so much to tell you! Where do I even begin?"
"You'll come up with it in the morning. Besides, I'm sure you have other people you want to see back in town to tell your big adventure to."
Steven suddenly gasped, and overhearing Garnet, Sadie and Connie heard Garnet too.
"Lars! Lion!" gasped Connie, "That's right, if you're all back, then -"
*rowr*
And soon, Steven was met with a big pink ball of kitty cat, in the form of Lion. He felt a bit refreshed from his "nap", and was happy to see Steven same as everyone else. Steven laughed as Lion smothered him in his mane, Steven giving Lion a good hug. Although a little bit thinner, Lion was all the same. Nothing a big meal can't fix.
"You must be very hungry, aren't you boy?" Steven figured. Lion confirmed this by licking his master's face. So, Steven went right over to the fridge.
"Ok, let's get a celebratory meal going. HELLO FOOD - AUGH!" As the Beach House came and revived itself, the food left in the fridge was an entirely different story. The stench of rotten food slammed him like a freight train, enough to make him stumble back and pinch his nose. Amethyst took a look inside.
"Oh no. Did that cake go bad?" Amethyst asked.
"THAT WAS A CAKE?!" Steven gasped in horror. such a monstrosity in the fridge could not be his birth-iversary cake, it just couldn't be! But it was, and like the rest of the food inside his house wasn't gonna be fresh anytime soon.
"Guess we'll have to wait until morning to get some food," sighed Connie. Not that it bothered her too much though.
"We have been gone for a few weeks. Tell you what, we all can go to the big donut in the morning, and you guys can have our fresh donut of the day. My treat," Sadie offered.
"WHOA, hold the ship. Fresh donuts? Like baked, right out of the oven fresh?" Amethyst asked. Sadie smiled.
"Well if you didn't know," Sadie explained, "the Big Donut began making their own donuts since that safety lawsuit got thrown out. This started a few days before this Everstorm came about, so if you come by tomorrow morning to the Big Donut right when it opens, you can have our first fresh donut of the day."
"What an honor," Steven said.
"Hey, it's the least I can do after all you did for everyone in Ponyville. MAN, I forgot how good this feels," Sadie said, as she sat down on the couch, feeling just how good it was. It wasn't a bed, but heck it was better than laying in the dirt.
"You two can stay the night if you want. We can all go into town together," Steven offered. It was an offer they weren't willing to refuse, being plenty tired from such a long day anyway.
"Sounds good to me. I'm still feeling a little weak from being out like that," admitted Tiger's Eye.
"We're all still a bit weaker since the Everstorm started," said Flint, "I'm just glad we're finally able to form back at all after everything. This means the Fallout phase of this Everstorm is about done, though next would be the "Surge"."
"Come on, Flint, let's not get serious so fast," said Bismuth, "We just got back, so did they. At least wait until after we get settled in."
"Sure. Sorry, force of habit," shrugged Flint. There was no reason to enforce anymore problems when they just got back so soon. Anyway, they were a bit tired from just regaining their magic back enough to even form. Some of the Gems began to go off to the Warp Pad.
"Well, since we're finally back, we'll go off back to the barn and check there," said left Rutile.
"We'll meet with you guys tomorrow morning if that's okay," added right Rutile.
"Sounds perfect," said Garnet. With a wave goodbye, the Off-Colors went off on their way back to their neck of the barn, and everyone else was getting themselves properly settled back once again. For Steven, Sadie, and Connie, they were already getting themselves off to bed. Sadie already established herself on the couch for her bed, and Steven and Connie went up to the bedroom themselves. Before they could go off to sleep, they were then presented with three different dolls.
"Patented sleepy-time buddy?" offered Star Quartz, showing the alien plushie, the hedgehog plushie, and bird plushie to them. They might as well receive one for a good night sleep, so Steven got the alien, Connie got the cute birdie, and Sadie was given the hedgehog. They might as well return the favor to them for offering the plushies anyway. Peridot gave Star Quartz a thumbs up on that, and Steven made up a bed on the ground right next to the actual bed.
"Thanks for the extra bed, Steven," Connie said, getting ready to lay down in the other bed Steven just made.
"No Connie, this is for me. You take the real bed," Steven insisted. Connie sighed.
"It's fine Steven. Let's just get some sleep," Connie decided, going into the other bed anyway. Steven knew what she meant by that, and he went into the actual bed. So long as they were safe at last, then it was just fine. Garnet turned off the lights in the Beach House again, and quietly, the Crystal Gems began to go out of the Beach House, and to the shoreline. They didn't want to disturb them, even after Amethyst took the cake with her. Garnet was the last to leave, peeking into the room where the three humans were sleeping.
"Goodnight," she stated, before quietly closing the door.
For the Gems remaining, they took this time to go out and relax around the shoreline, giving their legs a good stretching along the sandy shores. Lapis Lazuli was especially happy to be out and free, flying along through the twilight air. She made plenty of somersaults, corkscrews, and loops in mid air. The others went along the shoreline with ease, watching the display of flying Lapis was showing off.
"I hope Earth and Equus aren't too altered while we were gone," said Pearl.
"We'll all be fine coming up in future," Garnet reassured. "I'm looking forward to hearing what stories they got for us."
And that fact can easily be shared by everyone else. This was one of the few adventures where they couldn't be apart of no matter what the case may be, so they were curious just how much had happened while they were gone. In their time checking out the beach, some did begin to see the mailbox off nearby, noting the peculiar amount of letters inside.
"How much bills do we need, geesh," said Fulgurite, opening up the mailbox to see the many letters. …
"... Ooooohhhhh, what do we have here? Hey, gather these up with me, would ya Bismuth?"
"With pleasure," Bismuth replied. Soon, the mailbox was pretty much empty, with all the letters in their grasp, as they went off back towards the shore. Lapis Lazuli picked quite a time to go back to the others, landing after a good flyby just to find them with all the letters.
"Oh, that felt GREAT. Hey Bismuth, what's that you got there?"
"Not as good as you're gonna get," Bismuth joked, before giving the letters to her alongside Emerald. Lapis was a bit confused at first, but the second she read over one of them, she knew exactly who they belonged to, and who they were for. Her face blushed a deep blue, and felt her heart flutter a bit. It'd been a while since she last seen Jamie herself, and receiving so many just showed how much he was worried about her.
Well, they all will meet with the town in the morning.
…….
Back in Equestria's Canterlot Castle, things had been given a bit less time for Twilight Sparkle. Was she glad that they got home? Yes. Was she glad the trip overall went well? Yes. Even with that, the very fact that her mentor and teacher was now gone from her life was still something heavy on her head. Out of many of the ponies around, which were probably still trying to take this in properly, Twilight might've had it the hardest to handle. That, and the fact that the moon was still moving on its own power instead of the power of the great sisters was also something that the world will have to get used to. No more Summer Sun Celebrations to celebrate as extravagantly. No more elongated Nightmare Nights. Twilight was up on the castle's top balcony, just looking off towards the world beyond her own, and towards the stars, which also weren't as "prominent" as they were during the Everstorm's passing.
"Twilight? … You still up here?"
Turning around, she then saw Spike walking over to her. The alicorn was glad for one thing, most others went through this event alright. If anypony else was gone, she wouldn't know what to do. She also saw that Spike had some hot cocoa for her, holding it gently in his claws.
"Thanks, Spike," Twilight said, levitating the cup a bit and taking a sip. Spike figured she would need something warm and soothing to the throat to help ease her mind a bit.
"Starlight figured you'd be up here."
"I'm sorry. … It's just. I never thought I'd ever see the time when Celestia would leave us," Twilight said in a quiet tone. Who could really blame her? Celestia was the greatest ruler Equestria had ever seen, and for the thousands of years of her time, with a thousand years reigning over Equestria with a gentle hoof and a soothing voice. … Why was she the one that had to go?
"I know. But look on the bright side, uh …" spike actually had to think on what a bright side would be in this situation, and could only come up with one. "Well … no one has to raise the sun and moon anymore."
Twilight sighed, and brought her wing around Spike.
"I know you're trying to help. … I don't know what worries me more: the fact the best leader in history's dead, or the fact there's nopony anywhere ruling Equestria right now!"
"Um, no there's still rulers: There's Cadance of the Crystal Empire, Princess Luna, … you. You're still ruling."
"Spike, I'm not a ruler, I never lead an entire country before! Oh no, what if somepony comes to claim Equestria? What if we can't protect Equus from the diamonds?! what if -" *bonk*
Twilight's worried rambling accidentally made her fly up, to the point when she hit her head on the rim of the balcony door, making her fall back down.
"Ok, ok, breathe Twilight, breathe" Spike said, trying to calm her down. Twilight brought her hoof to her chest, and took a deep breath, but even so she was still a little bit edgy.
"Twilight, we're more than protected. I mean think about it. The Gems should be reformed by now, there's still three Alicorns, and don't forget the Pillars of Equestria that you brought back from Limbo. And do I even need to mention that two of those diamonds actually like us? It's gonna take A LOT to get them to beat us."
"You should listen to him, Twilight."
Spike wasn't alone when it came to seeing Twilight, and the Alicorn was in alarm when she saw that Starswirl the Bearded, and the Mistress had come to see her.
"Y-You're still here?"
"I've made sure nothing happened to Canterlot over the time here. Did everypony make it through?" Starswirl asked. Twilight looked down to her hooves.
"I'm afraid Celestia … didn't make it."
"Oh. Oh. I'm so sorry, Twilight, I didn't mean to -"
"It's alright. You didn't know that. … I just don't know what to do with the surge on it's way." That wasn't entirely it, but it still was another factor.
"The surge? Oh, that happened already."
"WHAT?!" Twilight stumbled off of the balcony, but quickly flew straight back up, and was right in the Mistress's face. "THE SURGE HAPPENED?! WHEN?! No storm happened or anything!"
"As soon as you got your magic back, sweetie," the Mistress said. "The Everstorm doesn't release it like a normal storm. The stars just disappear from the daylight, and return to the land, that's all."
"So it just came back? no crazy, season-ending mega storm or anything?" Spike asked. The Mistress shook her head.
"It's probably for the best. You've gone through a lot these last few weeks," The Mistress said, moving over to the balcony to see the land ahead. The Parasprites that passed through still left most of the land a bit bare, but slightly greener with small patches of grass and stems of trees re-growing again. It'll still be some time yet until Equestria will return to normal, and who knows how long that'll be. Twilight, Spike, and the Mistress took a moment to observe the land a bit, before the Mistress spoke again.
"I'm glad I gotten to know Celestia for the short time I've spent with her," The Mistress said.
"She was a magnificent princess. … But I don't know who's going to rule over Equestria now," Twilight replied. The young Unicorn who earned her wings, and became a princess in her own right thanks to Celestia's many teachings and experiences. Starswirl the Bearded and the Mistress shared glances, before Starswirl started to think of somepony.
"I think I know who can handle the job."
"Huh? Really? Who?" Twilight asked. Starswirl pondered a bit, stroking his beard as usual.
"Well, she's a fairly young one, but she does have a lot of experience for her age. Somepony even I had learned a bit from since my return to the modern age. A talented young mare I think Celestia would pick none better for her successor."
The truth slowly started to sink in to Twilight, her eyes widening in shock at what Starswirl was suggesting.
"M-Me? B-But I've never lead a country before, I don't have the age experience, I -" Twilight stopped when Starswirl placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"Twilight. I've known you for a few months now, and I can see why Celestia would choose you to bring under her wing as her personal student. You're smart, passionate for magic, very caring towards those close to you, and full of determination to what matters most. Twilight Sparkle. I can see none better to rule in her hoofsteps than you."
Twilight didn't know if to cry or scream. Her idol, the wisest and most experienced in magic in all time was saying she was ready to rule the land passed Celestia. and now, the opening was more than fitting for the younger Alicorn. Twilight couldn't hold back the tears of joy, wiping them away with her wings. Celestia would want somepony to take her throne that she saw as worthy enough, and Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, was just the pony Celestia would've wanted.
"... Ok … Ok, I'll do it. I, Twilight Sparkle, with the stars as my witness, promise to protect and take care of all of Equus in Celestia's step. I won't let you down!"
~~~~~~
Next morning couldn't come soon enough. Going home to the Beach House was all fun and good, but after a good sleep in an actual house, they were all refreshed and more than ready to go off to check out their home. Weeks of leaving it would show some sort of change to Beach City, and they want to know what exactly that would be. Plus, sharing their own story with the town was surely on their minds. The three freshened up inside the Beach House, and after getting themselves all cleaned up, they went right off on their way back towards town. Steven was probably the most excited.
"Morning world! We're ready!" Steven announced, taking the lead right towards Beach City itself. Connie and Sadie followed him, though they all were equally excited to return to familiar territory. Steven couldn't help but say hello on his way as well.
"Hello Temple! Hello beach! Hello town! And hello my favorite place in town to get a snack - the Big Donut!"
And surely, Big Donut was in their sights. It often was the first greeting card for Steven every morning, and it was just as inviting as it always was. And what was even better than the opportunity for a fresh donut of the day, was who was coming by to open up the Big Donut.
"No way. No way, NO WAY! LARS!" Sadie picked up speed. Sure enough, it was Lars finally coming back to the Big Donut for another day at work. He was still getting his energy back since losing most of it over the Fallout phase of this Everstorm, but now that he got enough energy from one night's sleep, he was back in action just like the Crystal Gems before him. Lars began to hear footsteps come his way, and he was quick to see Steven, Sadie, and Connie coming over.
"Guys, you're back! Haven't seen you in a while, you missed all the earthquakes," Lars said, though he was cut short slightly when Sadie hugged him tight. They didn't care about earthquakes just yet, they were just glad to see him again.
"We were out in the field, saving Equestria," Steven announced.
"Wow. Nice," Lars said, going on to unlock the door to the Big Donut. Unlike the food in Steven's home, the food at the Big Donut was more than edible for the trio to have some food. The lights switched on, and the Big Donut was open for another day.
"Well, it's great to see you back. So, was your big adventure one to remember?" Lars asked, heading to the front counter.
"Whoa, bigger than big: we traveled for miles through Equestria, and then to lands outside! We even saw a whole new kingdom of Centaurs and Gargoyles," Steven answered.
"Dang. So, what can I get you?" Lars asked. Sadie gave Steven a nudge, and a smirk to remind him of what she said last night. No way was he going to miss getting a fresh donut of the day. Sadie went to the back, though Lars wasn't sure what was what.
"We'd like two of your fresh donuts, please," Connie answered.
"Fresh donuts. Guess Sadie told you about that huh? What toppings you want?"
"Just a plain for me, thank you," Connie replied.
"A pink frosted donut with sprinkles," Steven then added. It was a pretty easy order to make for the two kids, and Lars got the order in for Sadie Miller in the back. For these orders, it took less than two minutes to get them all ready. Soon, Steven and Connie were in the presence of the first fresh donuts. One a simple plain donut, and the other exactly as Steven described: a donut with pink frosting and colorful rainbow sprinkles on top. They both were very impressed on the appearance of the donuts, and they could feel the warmth and softness of these donuts as they picked them up. THEN came their first bite.
"Oh my stars, this is incredible!" Connie beamed. The imported donuts they would've gotten usually had similar tastes, but there was just enough difference between the donuts they were get shipped over, and donuts that were just freshly created.
"My compliments to the chef for such an exquisite dish," Steven said, sounding a bit fancy.
"No problem. So, does the rest of the town know you're back yet?" Lars asked.
"We're actually on our way to the boardwalk right now. Why, did anything change while we're away?" inquired Connie.
"I dunno. I was gonna go out and check out the town myself," Lars said, "I'm gonna take a wild guess though, and say the Crystal Gems are back too?"
"Back and better than ever," Steven replied, enjoying some more bites of his donut. Nothing says good morning like a fresh donut. Though, it was probably good that they finished up their donuts at the time they did, because just as they finished they heard the door to the Big Donut open up, and an all too familiar light started to shine through the door. Lars and Sadie took cover behind the counter, just as some of the ponies started to come by to see them. Pinkie Pie naturally rushed right in, bouncing off the back wall first before landing in the center of the room. Rainbow was quick to come back too, feeling a lot better and able to fly around the place too since her injury.
"STEVEN!"
"Pinkie!" Steven said, just before Pinkie jumped at him with a Pinkie hug.
"Lars, you're back too. It's so good to see you again," Fluttershy said upon seeing him.
"Same to you guys. Hope the Everstorm didn't give you too much trouble," Lars said.
"Well, I'll say this: it wasn't easy going through those two weeks. Can see y'all are back in action too," AJ said, noting Lars specifically. While Lars was good to see them, he couldn't help but see the similar looking cut on Rainbow's wing. It wasn't as prominent of a scar as it was on Sadie's skin, but it was still there. Heck, he might as well ask.
"Hey, Rainbow, what happened with your wing? Did you guys get in a fight while I was out?" Lars asked. Rainbow landed and checked her wing, seeing a bit of a scar on the inner part of her wing where that Sigbin got her. Her wing was still a little stiff, but good enough to keep her flying
"Eh, we're gonna head to town and share our story, so we'll tell you all then. You got time to come or is the ol' grime keeping you here?" Rainbow offered. Why wouldn't they go off and share this information with the rest of Beach City? Lars checked around the shop for a brief moment.
"I can get some time to check in. Don't think there's gonna be that many people coming by if they're all gonna see you anyway," Lars figured. Besides, it would be good to see what the overall story was while he was "sleeping".
…….
And what a time to get there.
The Gems and Ponies picked a pretty good time to show up back at the town, as there was quite a whole lot of people still present and going about their day. not all of them could just show up though, as they had to go and check a number of other things first. Steven was joined by Lars, Connie, Sadie, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Flint, Fulgurite, and of course the ponies. Around the boardwalk (who hadn't seen them just yet), quite a few familiar faces were around, including Greg walking Blue, and Jamie delivering a few things to Ronaldo.
"Boardwalk hasn't changed a bit," said Lapis.
"Hearing that from you, that's saying something. K, big guy. Ready to rev up the roar?" Fulgurite asked, referring to Lion. Lion may feel a little weaker from being knocked out, but he still had plenty of fight in him. and he was not going to waste a single second to signify their return.
So, taking a few steps, Lion aimed his muzzle to the sky, and gave a mighty roar. The roar echoed throughout the area, and it didn't take them too long either for them to see who had come back.
"HELLO Beach City!" Steven announced.
"Steven! You're back!" called Kiki. Blue was the first to rush over, practically breaking off his leash to reach them as the others stopped what they were doing to check them out. Steven was met by Blue right away, getting tackled down as Blue happily welcomed Steven back home in a mixture of licks, barks, and happy-filled whimpers.
"Easy there boy, let's not drown him in your love so soon," Garnet said, gently moving blue off of Steven so he could stop laughing for a bit, but still smiled herself. but it didn't save Steven from being met with by his dad.
"Hey kiddo, welcome back from your adventure," Greg said.
"It's so good to see y'all again. Did anything happen while we're gone?" Applejack asked.
"Nothing much. Just stopped a trio of Dazzlings from messing up our neighborhood for you, but that was about it," Buck replied. It was a bit out of left field, but Garnet gave him a thumbs up of approval anyway.
"Dazzlings? Have we heard of them somewhere?" Lapis asked, scratching her head. Her precise memory did hear vaguely of that name, but not too much to pinpoint anything in particular.
"Don't worry about it, they're long gone by now. And guess who's got a new song to show you guys," Jenny said excitedly. Their big song for beating the Dazzlings wasn't just left alone, and turned out someone actually recorded their big song. Jamie turned alarmed by this though, yet it was just too late to stop them from showing off their big show. Lapis Lazuli specifically saw this show interesting, seeing Jamie amongst them.
"Whoa, you guys are amazing, when'd you make a band?" Lars asked.
"Since the Dazzlings were using music against us, we played that same musical magic against them. A battle between forces, using the power of music," Buck explained. A bit of an odd statement, but it was pretty straightforward. As they were checking out the song, Lapis went over to Jamie. It'd been too long since they saw eachothers' faces, Jamie blushing a little.
"Why Jamie," Lapis said, impressed but still teasing a little, "I never took you to be a big show singer. You sure looked impressive up there with your violin."
Jamie rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, it's not that impressive. I'm just glad it all worked out in the end."
"Don't be so modest. Hey, maybe you and I could sing something together, it looks like a lot of fun," Lapis offered. Jamie's face turned red, and since Lapis knew his feelings towards her a bit more thanks to those letters, she knew it was all in good fun. They all knew Jamie and Lapis were such an item together.
"Even if I wasn't formed during this fallout. I missed seeing you, Jamie."
"I missed you too, Lapis. It's been dull without you all here," Jamie then said, more calmly this time. Lapis smiled to him too. It was a nice moment …
"NOW KISS!" Pinkie suddenly said.
"P-Pinkie Pie!" Lapis said, suddenly flustered herself. Dare she try and jump like that?! The others couldn't help but laugh at the reactions from both sides, both Lapis and Jamie slightly embarrassed, but glad to see eachother again regardless.
Steven looked on to everyone else in Beach City, along with his Equestria friends. Other conversations abounded between one to another, and it looked pretty good for what it was. Loses may have been given, but in the end they were alright overall. He saw plenty of happier faces amongst the crowd, and Steven just couldn't help but smile himself, a few tears coming to his eyes.
"It's so good to be home," Steven sighed.
Then it began.
"Hello Earth! It's great to be back!" Steven announced, making a victory, joy-filled jump into the air, good and high. It only took them a few seconds to suddenly realize that there was something a little bit off about this particular moment, especially when looking for Steven. The second they found him, Steven was somewhere else. WAY somewhere else.
"Hey Steven! When'd you learn how to fly?!" Amethyst called.
Flying may not be the exact word, but the next thing Steven knew, he found himself easily twenty feet off the ground in one jump! One. single. Jump. and he found himself able to see all the way across town from the Boardwalk to Funland. They thought he was gonna just plummet straight down to Earth, but Steven was suddenly as light as feathers, and ever so slowly started to float down. It was a slow process for him to get back to the ground, but soon he was back on his own two feet, barely making a sound.
To say there was surprise amongst the crowd was understating it.
"I can't believe I caught that on video - WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?!" Ronaldo gasped in amazement. This ability just came right out of nowhere. Steven needed to better process this. Seem even a simply push of his foot got him off the ground ever so slightly. His eyes sparkled in amazement.
"Ohmygosh. It's a new power!" Steven realized.
"For real?!" Twilight gasped. Steven went and did a few more tries of this, going along the beach. It was as if someone switched down gravity on him, and Steven was floating around like an astronaut on the moon, and with a lot more fancy tricks as he tried out this sudden new ability of his. Blue was quick to follow him, super psyched to not only see his master but see his master perform some new tricks.
"I can jump really high and fall really slow!" Steven summarized, though that was pretty apparent as they were all watching him.
"Jump. Float! Jump! Float!" Steven kept repeating, as he kept jumping and floating down. It was a dream to suddenly be able to float around like this, everyone had dreams like this at least once, and now Steven was living it! His inner child was easily brought out by this excitement, and he just couldn't help himself.
"JUMP!" Steven them made a huge launch straight up. Before it was just a twenty foot jump, but now using his full strength in jumping, he suddenly found himself at cloud height, about the same height at the top of the lighthouse! Reminder, this was just one jump he did this, and Steven was just very psyched for this. After his mega-jump, he was just floating in the air, and getting an amazing aerial view of the entire town. A birds' eye view he could never get by himself. Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Lapis Lazuli flew right up to him.
"How's it feel to actually fly, Steven?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's amazing. I feel so free up here," Steven replied.
"Welcome to the world of flying, Steven. Hey, race you to funland!" Rainbow offered.
"You're on. Starboy Steven's airborne!" Steven said. The others began to fly right off to Funland, but there was one slight problem with this flying thing. Or, floating thing. Steven tried to get himself moving to catch up to the others, but he couldn't get himself moving. He couldn't even swim in mid air to move himself, finding he wasn't going anywhere except for down. There was always a catch to these powers, was there? Eventually, they began to fly back to him.
"Having trouble, sport?" Rainbow asked.
"Uhh, Starboy Steven's experiencing a malfunction. … I can't move."
"Alright, I'll get you down," Twilight said. They flew back down, with Twilight pushing Steven gently back down to earth. It probably wasn't the best idea to keep Steven up so high above ground on the first day. As before with his first jump, he gently landed down with barely a sound, safe and sound to the relief of some. Steven still found his powers working, though he made sure not to get so much to launch himself this time. Again, his inner child was having a lot of fun with this, and he went back out to the beach, with Pinkie Pie and Blue playing with him. As Steven went around the beach like a tumbleweed in the wind, the others were watching on with a bit of mixed emotions. Sure, it was nice to see Steven happy (since when wasn't it?), but seeing this power just show up was something new for all of them.
"So, Steven can fly around now. Did something happen while we were knocked out, or what?" Fulgurite asked.
"Actually, this is the first time this happened," admitted Twilight, "He was just fine before during the Fallout. Unless …"
"Well, this is a pretty clear answer," Flint said, "they said the Everstorm's Surge stage occurs after the Fallout, right? It boosts magic, so, maybe some of Steven's powers couldn't wake up until now."
"I'd buy that," Garnet figured.
"But what kind of power is this? Anti-gravity? Did his bones become hollow?" Connie asked, trying to think of some explanation for this. It was a bit tricky to think what kind of power would just happen like this, though they were kind of hoping hollow bones wasn't the right one. Then their attention went to Pearl.
"Wait a sec. Pearl, you knew Pink Diamond. Could this be one of her powers coming out?" Twilight asked. Pearl pondered a bit about this, as they watched Steven go about still.
"You know, it might be," Pearl figured.
"Pink Diamond was capable of controlling the speed of her decent," Garnet informed.
"Yeah, and she can control how fast she fell," Amethyst added.
"That's what I said."
"So you think he can tap into Pink Diamond's abilities now? I mean, if Pink Diamond had this ability before, then Steven can tap into all sorts of abilities," Rarity figured.
"I'm not sure," Pearl said. "The Diamonds are strong, naturally, but like Humans and ponies, each Gem does have their own unique form and DNA. This also includes abilities."
"Oh I get it: like Peridot being able to manipulate metal, or Amethyst's whip Gem weapon," confirmed Twilight. Both examples were a bit broad, but considering they never met a Peridot or Amethyst to have the same properties as their own Amethyst and Peridot, it was a pretty good example to point out.
"So Pink Diamond just found this ability too. How'd she find out she could do this?" asked Flint.
"Well," Pearl said, thinking back on it. "... Actually, it kind of just happened. In fact, she found out pretty much the same way Steven did." They could just imagine the scenario: Pink Diamond just finding out one day after jumping that she could just float around the place, and heck, even tumble about like Steven was along the beach. All the same though, if this was indeed one of Pink's feats, then perhaps there was a bit more to this than just coincidental magical boosting.
"It should be fine," Garnet concluded, "So long as we keep an eye on him. … and bring him down if he jumps too high."
"Fair enough - Steven, don't fall into the sea!" Flint called, seeing Steven going close to the water. Garnet observed all of this from afar, readjusting her shades. Her future vision took a moment to see on ahead, with all the information gathered from the conversations. Three sirens on Earth. Twilight as the new ruler of Equestria. Steven gaining Diamond powers.
The future's looking a bit more intriguing.