//------------------------------// // Diopside // Story: My Little Universe: Season 2 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// "Hello?" "Hey, Connie!" Chilling out in the Beach House for a bit, Steven thought it would be a good idea to check on his human friend after sometime. Steven hadn't seen her since Sombra was involved, and it would be a good idea to check in on her over the phone. For Connie, she was in her own room, on her bed, and extremely happy to finally hear from Steven after the days since the incident. "Steven! You're okay?" Connie gasped in shock and surprise. "Yep, I'm better now. But more importantly; are you doing okay over there? If I remember, Sombra hurt you pretty bad," Steven asked with concern, more worried over her than him. Sure, he'd gone through a bit of trouble, but, Connie was a bit more important to him than himself. Connie took a glance down at her feet, which were actually bandaged up as if they were boots. "I'm doing fine, the doctor said I'll be better after a week or two," Connie answered. "What about your mom and dad, are they okay?" "They're doing better; Mom's still trying to calm herself, and dad's -" Connie was interrupted by a distant, loud sneeze from her father in the other room. "- still having a cold." "Sorry I couldn't help you Connie." "No, no, Steven it's fine. Sombra had us all in trouble for a while, but he's gone now. By the way, how're the new Gems doing there? Are they giving you any trouble?" Connie asked, still remembering Jade and Peridot, at least. Steven lazily spun around, laying on his back so his head was upside down. "They're cool; Peridot showed me some awesome Homeworld techno stuff. But, one of them broke down our door ... again ..." "Again?" "I think it was the fifth time," Steven sighed, referring to Jasper in particular. With her anger, the door was a constant victim to her temper. The door still was strong, and put back in place, though if Jasper continued, it wouldn't be the last time it'll get broken. "I hope things go a bit better for you, Steven," Connie said afterwards. "You too, Connie. Bye," Steven said. He heard Connie hang up, and Steven did the same. Amongst many people, at least he had one child friend he can talk to as things were settling down since Sombra's excursion. After that, he heard the door in the back open up, seeing another of the Crystal Gems, Garnet, come out herself. She had a bubbled Gem within the palm of her hand, and a chunk of her square head seemingly bitten off, telling Steven she'd recently had dealt with another corrupted Gem today. Garnet got her hair to normal, as she then got the bubble to disappear. "Hi Garnet!" Steven beamed. "Hey Steven," Garnet replied, having a seat. "Did you bring me anything?" Steven asked in hope. Garnet promised she would get something, so, Garnet got out Steven souvenir. In this case, the young half-gem got a bit of coal from where she got the corrupted Gem. Even if mundane, it was good either way. "Cool! Thanks!" Steven beamed. Garnet nodded, happy to see Steven happy about his gift. As Steven looked at the gift, he then began to remember the corrupted Gem Garnet brought in. His own experience gave him a taste of how it felt, and the fusion sitting next to him sensed the change in mind, and started to think a little bit. "Garnet? Do you think the other Gems are happy now? Or are they all sad? ... Garnet?" Garnet didn't answer Steven at first, but she did eventually get up, and looked down to him. She knew very well what Steven meant, and what he must be feeling with the fact. Still, there could be one thing they can try. "I'm not sure, really. You wouldn't happen to know where Flint and Jade are, do you?" Garnet asked. When it came to Gems, Garnet had a respect towards the two, mostly because they saved Steven from an otherwise inescapable fate. Steven took a second to think, but he just shrugged at the end. Garnet sighed. "That's alright, they'll come around eventually." ~~~~~~ It took a while, as Garnet figured, but Jade and Flint did eventually come back around to the Beach House. As for those two, there origins did come from Homeworld like Peridot and Jasper, but one thing lead them off that planet, and onto a new one. For trust, Flint was still wary, especially since Homeworld Gems were staying for a while. They didn't go off their home planet to stay with Homeworld Gems. Still, like them, they had nowhere else to go really. Jade kept quiet, as Flint kept his eyes and ears open in alert mode, as the two went inside. Soon, the two ended up in front of Garnet, whom had been waiting for them both. "Hello you two. Can I talk to you?" Garnet asked. Flint stayed in front of Jade, just in case, before Flint spoke. "What do you want?" Flint asked. "I'm hoping you two can help me." "Help you?" Flint asked, though he was more suspicious than curious. Even if he and Jade helped out, he wasn't a Gem to take risks, even with a Gem such as Garnet. "It won't be very long, I promise. Come here," Garnet assured, starting to walk away to the back. However, Flint and Jade didn't go. "Hold on, tell us why first," Flint enforced, keeping himself in between Garnet and Jade. "Flint, I wouldn't ask you to do this if it will hurt you or Jade. Please, I'll explain when we get there," Garnet said, trying not to start any trouble. To prove she meant it, she took off her shades to show the truth in her three eyes. Flint looked back to Jade first. Jade hadn't spoke very much, but she had some trust in Garnet for helping them out as much as they helped them. Flint gave a look to Garnet, before sighing. "This better not put us at any risk," Flint reminded. Garnet nodded, and began to bring them to the back, keeping the shades off for the time being. Garnet went through the door, and soon brought Flint and Jade to where she was putting the corrupted Gems, including the one she got earlier that day. Flint and Jade had some mixed feelings on seeing so many bubbled Gems in one spot. "So what is it you wanted us to do?" Flint asked, Jade continuing to look around at the many Gems. "For years, Pearl, Amethyst and myself had to protect humanity from these corrupted Gems; bubbling them, and bringing them here. It was all we could do," Garnet explained, bringing one of the bubbled Gems to her. She wished she didn't have to do this to any of them ... "We didn't knew there was anyway to change any back ... But now -" "No." The sudden answer made Garnet's hope-filled voice stop cold, turning back to see Flint's rough gaze. "Why not? Think of how much good -" "how much danger you mean. Garnet, you and I both know there's too high of a risk for Nephrite; Jade and I can't try again if it screws up the first time." "But -" "I said no. Be lucky we got Steven back at all," Flint finished, cutting Garnet off again. Flint may be acting a bit hard on Garnet, but he knew what he was talking about, Jade too. If he knew she needed Nephrite for this, he wouldn't had even come back. Garnet's wish to save the Gems has been scuffled. As they were talking, Jade looked up to some of the bubbled Gems, when one Gem in particular caught her eye; a spherical green Gemstone, with a black wavy line at the center leading to a secondary circle ... "Okay, okay. Just thought I'd ask," Garnet said, as Flint began to go. However, Jade reached out and stopped Flint. "Look, over there ... Is that - ..." Jade got out, pointing to the Gem in question. Flint saw the Gemstone too, floating just in his reach. The appearance caught Flint's attention first, as he grabbed it and brought it down to a better level. Jade and Flint weren't sure just yet, but the Gemstone seemed, more or less, different from the rest. Jade held the bubbled Gem in her hands as Flint turned to Garnet, who'd seen what Gem they had got a hold of. "How long had you had this Gem?" Flint asked. "Roughly a year now. Why?" That seemed to make some change of thought for Jade and Flint, both seemingly getting the same idea. They both looked to the fusion, Flint being the one to speak. "Garnet ... We'll try, but only this one time. Hold this," Flint said, giving the perticular Gem to Garnet, as the two got themselves ready. With their minds set, Jade and Flint both started to perform their fusion dance together. Garnet simply stood aside for a while more, as in no time at all, Nephrite soon was standing in front of her, fully fused. Nephrite brought its hand out to Garnet, awaiting for the Gemstone she was holding. Garnet nodded to Nephrite, and she gave the Gem over. However, Nephrite can't really do anything with the Gemstone still in the bubble, so, with a simple poke of its finger, the fusion Gem popped the bubble, and the Gemstone was free. Just seconds after the Gemstone was out, a bright light started to glow as the Gemstone started to regenerate. Letting the Gemstone down on the ground, Nephrite and Garnet both watched the Gem recreate itself, a human-like shape taking form. It got to the point when a large amount of spiked hair jutted out, but after that, the body suddenly began to alter from a human shape into a more insect like shape. The extra formation was quick, and when it got to it's physical form, it didn't appear to be like any normal Gem. The body was elongated, like a centipede, with gem-like shells along each segment of its back. Despite the insect like shape, it was about as long as an alligator, with a hissing attitude to match. The head had an appearance like a buzzard, but with the "beak" lined with serrations to look like teeth, with the aforementioned Gemstone just behind the jaws, blocking the throat. The spiked hair turned into a white mane, like Lion's but a bit more spikey and less flowing. For curing this corruption, it was going to be a bit harder to do; for a start, the Gemstone was in a harder spot, and once more, the hissing insect Gem wasn't going to let Nephrite touch it so quickly. Garnet kept her distance, not wanting to bother Nephrite as it was trying to work out on how to exactly do this. At least the last time Nephrite did this, the Gemstone was in a much easier spot, but here the stone was somewhere where it was not only hard to get to, but easy for the corrupted Gem to bite it at any moment. Nephrite first tried to reach, but as expected, the centipeetle almost immediately snapped its jaws towards the fusion, giving off another loud hissing to keep Nephrite back. As it did, a green liquid seeped down from the bottom jaw; literal acidic saliva. Seemed this creature wasn't taking any chances with any Gem, even if they wanted to just help it. Nephrite wasn't deterred (the Gemstones not on its hands anyway), and it tried again, despite the constant hissing. Nephrite kept an exact eye contact with the centipeetle, keeping both hands gently on the sides of the creature's head. The centipeedle tried to get away, but as gentle as it was, it was also a firm one so the centipeedle couldn't just bolt off. Nephrite focused again, trying to block out the hissing, which turned into threatening growls. As before, the Gemstone started to glow, and the centipeedle stopped trying to get away. Garnet and Nephrite both hoped their best that it will work, as the centipeedle's body began to give off a faint glow. Suddenly, a much brighter light covered the centipeedle's body, Nephrite letting go for just the moment as the transformation started to take hold on the animal. The body itself started to morph and shapeshift from its insect-like shape, into a more docile human-like shape, much to Nephrite's delight. Once the transformation had completed, the Gem had a much less intimidating appearance to her. She looked about as tall as pearl, though not as thin as her. The white, mane-like hair was spikey and long like that of a Quartz Gem. Her skin had a dullish green color to it, her clothing a black color with the shoulder blades making a signature V, going around her shoulders to her chest. She had pants that went down to her knees, leaving her feet were bare, along with her hands. When the full transformation was done, the Gem regained her mind, and began to look around with a sort of blurred vision at first. Nephrite separated, Flint and Jade returning to their normal forms before she could fully regain her vision. She looked to the many Gems around her that were bubbled, and turned to see Garnet standing nearby. She didn't do much at first, as she got to her feet, not moving her gaze away from her. She had a normal right eye, and her Gemstone covering her left eye. The Gem looked around a little bit, trying to adjust her vision until she noticed the door ... Before Garnet, Jade, or Flint could do anything, the Gem suddenly took a quicker route; bolting right for the door! She just got past Garnet, and the fusion, along with the other two, tried to get her. In a panic, the reformed Gem was running around in a complete blind fear, trying to get away from that place. However, she got out at the worst time; the other Gems (excluding Jasper and Steven) was in the beach house by that point, and they all saw her rush out! She skidded to a stop, but stumbled when she hit the front Warp Pad. It didn't activate, but it did make her fall head over heels until she hit the wooden floor. Garnet, Flint, and Jade got out as she stayed frozen. "What the?" Lapis said in surprise. With her mind racing, she couldn't exactly take the time to recognize anyone. Flint went over, and tried getting her, but she jumped when she felt his hand on her shoulder, and she ran at the other Gems. By mistake, she ran right at Pearl, knocking them both onto the ground. The new Gem jumped up onto the kitchen counter (unwittingly knocking Amethyst down too), and made another big jump to one of the Beach House's roof support beams. Her hands and feet dug into the wood like a scared cat as everyone looked up to her. "Come down," Garnet said, but the sound of her voice made her cower even more so. "Who is that?" Fulgurite asked Garnet. "Good news; we reformed a Gem. Bad news; she's too scared," Garnet summed up. While the news was good, they needed to deal with that same Gem first. As she was shivering up on the beam, Jade took center stage, looking gazes with her. "Please come down. It's me, Jade, Flint too." "W-Which one?" She got out, not believing them. "We're not going to hurt you, please come down from there. We left from Homeworld together, remember?" Jade said, hoping something will calm her down, and regain her memory. The scared Gem stopped shaking, but she didn't dare leave her perch with the others under her. "... J -Jade? N-no, no, she wouldn't be with any other gems like this! Never! They nearly shattered her, my Jade would know that!" She got out. What was she talking about? Flint and Jade glanced to each other as they looked back to their Gem friend. "We're not going to harm them, nor you," Garnet said. "Liar! I'm not being harvested!" She yelled, nearly loosing her grip on the beam. The only one who didn't knew what that was was Amethyst, the term mainly for Homeworld rather than Earth. "What's she talking about?" She asked Peridot. "It's a Homeworld punishment, when a Gem's bubbled and isolated. Like your Earth's version of a jail house," Peridot stated, her touchscreen showing an Earth prison hold so Amethyst can get a better idea. Just because they knew what she meant, didn't mean she was going to come down. Still, Pearl and Amethyst could recognize the Gemstone after a while. Before anyone could do anything else, suddenly the screen door opened up. "Hey everybody!" Steven, just coming back from walking Blue. Course, he didn't know what happened exactly, or the fact he was standing right under the reformed, scared Gem. Strangely, when the Gem heard the voice, she turned from being completely hysterical, to being surprised. She looked down and saw Steven, her Gemstone eye actually adjusting like the lens of a camera. Curious, Steven looked up and saw the new Gem perched above him. To get a better view of her, Steven went up to his room, the Gem locking gazes with him ... "Wait a minute ... Centipeetle? They fixed you!" Steven beamed. As for the previously Centipeetle, her face suddenly had a big smile, her memory coming back a bit better that time. Suddenly, it almost seemed her emotions made a complete 180, as she hopped down onto Steven's bed. "Steven! It's you! Oh I missed you so much!!" She beamed, hugging Steven tightly. Jade and Flint didn't realize she had encountered Steven already, or had a close friendship either. Her fear popped back once she heard Blue bark, cowering behind Steven. "No no no, he's friendly," Steven assured her, the Gem peeking around Steven's shoulder at Blue. As she tried to calm down, Garnet turned to Flint. "Is she usually like this?" "Not really," replied Flint, as Jade went up the stairs to Steven's room. The other gem backed up when Jade neared her. "Listen. Diopside. I know you've been gone for a long time since we left, but, it really is us. Please, we won't hurt you," Jade said, trying her best to comfort her. The small Gem then turned to the others. "Right Gems?" Jade asked, trying to get some support. Throughout their time together, this was the most talkative Jade had ever been, and all just to try to calm Diopside down. Of course, being stuck in a bubble for a long time thanks to a few Gems the first time around would leave a sort of lasting impression, even if one of them she had come to better terms with. Lapis, Pearl, Fulgurite, Flint, and Amethyst all agreed, yet Peridot didn't seem to really pay too much attention to Jade and Diopside at the moment. Flint though, with a grunt, got Peridot's attention. "What?" Peridot asked, annoyed. Flint got her attention to the worrying Diopside, but, Peridot groaned again. Flint's rough expression and grunt though quickly changed her mind. "Alright, if you insist," Peridot sighed, not wanting to fight Flint. Still, Flint was acting rather rough to the Gem who pretty much saved him, yet the fact she was still a Homeworld Gem left him with a 50/50 mixed feelings - a grudging truce if you will. For Diopside, Flint's behavior actually seemed to click something in her head, looking to Flint and Jade as if just realizing what they were really talking about. "Flint! It is you!" Diopside gasped. Flint felt a bit embarrassed that his rough behavior was what convinced Diopside on who they were exactly, but, at least it finally got through to Diopside. Diopside didn't moved too far from Steven though - her only friend during her corruption if any. Now calmer, Diopside could think a bit more clearly on who was actually there, and who she can recognize and who she can't. Her worries towards Garnet were still evident, but they weren't as hysterical as a few minutes ago. Diopside recognized everyone but Lapis, Fulgurite, Blue, or Peridot. Her memory of Jade, Flint, and Steven were fully intact, and her memory of the original three Gems were a bit vague, but just enough for her to remember a little bit. "What happened? ... How long - ..." "Come here, let's catch you up," Steven decided, getting up. Diopside, keeping a wary eye on the others there, only nodded as she got up. Flint and Jade too followed her as Steven decided to bring her outside, though Diopside's paniced words did leave some questions to the others; specifically what happened to Flint and Jade back on Homeworld ... ~~~~~~ Just outside along the coastal shores, Diopside took a bit to get used to walking around without the tons of legs behind her. The sand under her toes was a nice, and refreshing one to Diopside. Steven still wondered what Diopside had in store, and what happened to Flint and Jade back on Homeworld that forced them to leave. The first thing Steven did was help catch Diopside up on what happened since she was last bubbled. The information also included Steven's first time in Equestria, his own time as a corruption, and the involvements with King Sombra. All this new stuff was a lot to take in, but Diopside took it in either way with full attention. It was some information both Jade and Flint got as well, not being with Steven as long as the others. "- and that's how the Gems defeated Sombra, Tirek, and Jasper in one day," Steven concluded. "Woooow," Diopside said with an amazed expression. She missed out on so much! Afterwards, Steven sat down in the sand. "What about you?" "Huh?" "What was with all that you said? About harvesting, and Jade, and Homeworld stuff -" "You don't need to know," Flint stated roughly. He didn't need to just rush into that kind of detail that quickly, and the surprisingly loud statement made Steven jump a bit. "Flint, it's okay; we can trust him," Diopside assured him with a big grin. "You sure? You were ready to run a minute ago," Flint said with a raised brow. "How can you not trust this sweet face?" Diopside asked, playfully fluffing Steven's hair. Flint still found her behavior a rather odd jump from paranoid to playful. Flint was starting to remember a bit on how Diopside acts now ... "Listen, Steven. You really want to know?" Flint asked. Steven nodded. Soon after, Flint turned to Jade and Diopside. "Well, who wants to tell him?" Flint asked. Jade and Diopside looked to each other, as Steven waited eagerly to hear what their story would be. After a little bit, Jade soon stepped forward. Flint, with some encouragement, decided to use his head Gemstone to make some images for Steven to get a better idea. The first few images shown Earth, and a Homeworld ship heading for it. "It was a very long time ago. Homeworld had just started to colonize Earth." Flint managed to show Jade, Diopside, and himself working in a kindergarten-like area. Flint seemed to be at guard, Diopside with a touchscreen in study, and Jade seemingly healing a wound from another Gem. "I worked alongside Flint and Diopside, each one of us contributing the best we could. Diopside and Flint were doing alright, but Homeworld seemed to had other plans for me ..." Flint sighed before bringing up the next one; showing a taller, fuller, and purple Gem with Jade standing next to her. "Homeworld didn't believe I can keep up, and created another Gem named Lolite ... Homeworld wanted me ... Well ..." Rather than let Jade say it, Flint then showed Jade's Gemstone, and showed the Gem being shattered completely! Steven wasn't sure how to react, Flint closing his eyes to the fact. Jade could skip that part. "How'd you get out?" Steven asked. Flint spoke next, as the image showed Flint in particular protecting Jade from the other Gems. "Me; I managed to keep the other Gems away from them. Diopside helped us in our escape, and we had just managed to get ourselves out of their grasp. Jade and I were lucky to get out at all ..." Flint summed up. However, one thing did catch Steven; they didn't say what happened to Diopside. However, the images showed Flint and Jade escaping only. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where Diopside ended up. Diopside herself felt bummed out at that part, as Flint then showed the ship they escaped in, flying through space with a number of planets around them. "Jade and I kept traveling the cosmos from there; our main goal was to find ourselves sanctuary, away from other Gems. Our traveling had, after decades, had paid off with here." Flint showed another planet as the final image, showing their ship landing within a mountain range during a snowstorm; their refuge. After that, the images finished there, and Flint took a moment to chill; he wasn't used to using projections that much. "Happy now?" Flint asked, trying to calm a slight headache he'd got from the projection. Steven felt sorry for Jade and Flint, especially Jade. She tried, and Homeworld wanted to replace her ... Worst part; they kinda did now Jade went away. After a bit though, Steven then realized one thing ... "But, what about -" "Me?" Diopside suddenly butted in. The Gem took a moment, finger to lip in thought. Soon, Diopside ended up shrugging. "Don't remember too much, sorry. They got me after they left, dragged me off somewhere, and everything else was just a blur," Diopside concluded. Being corrupted for a long time still had its bad ends, as some memories were either blurry, or were gone altogether. Steven couldn't blame her though, since she was not only bubbled up, but corrupted as well ... Still, even if they isolated themselves, the other Gems at the Beach House had managed to overhear everything they had said. So that would explain the lack of trust at first, to some extent. The very idea itself was a bit surprising to some; getting shattered just because someone else was better. How harsh was Homeworld anyway? ~~~~~~ For the rest of the day, Diopside went around with Steven for the time being. While learning about Diopside's little involvement with Flint and Jade's escape on Homeworld did give some rough insight, Diopside didn't seem to let that slow her down. In fact, she was a bit more curious about Beach City and what was going on in it. Being a Gem, many of the stuff Humans were doing, even simple mundane stuff, seemed to be something Diopside was very interested over. Many of the stuff included driving around in their cars, selling food to each other with a sort of green paper, and other activities humans seem to do. Diopside did notice something however; each Human not only looked different, but behaved differently too. Some were talkative, some were athletic, some were a bit rough, and so on. It was hard to exactly tell if any of these Humans actually had any specific role, as each one wasn't entirely specified as with Homeworld. Everyone was doing their own thing, much to Diopside's surprise. During the walk about, Steven gave Diopside what she considered a sweet gift from the past; a bag of potato chips. Surely, a nice little nod to when they last met, and a nice snack for Diopside to have. As she was eating up the chips, she and Steven began to head on back to the Beach House. As they were going along the beach, Diopside began to wonder about a sort of clinking sound from Steven's pocket. She'd been hearing it for a good while, and it wasn't until they were going back to the Beach when Diopside got curious. "Got something in your pocket Steven?" Diopside asked, munching on another chip. Steven looked to his pocket, and then pulled out his signature dimension key. "It's my key. Pretty nifty, right?" Steven grinned. Diopside suddenly got excited. "Oh! That the key you were talking about?" Steven nodded with a grin. "Right! It's so cool; the other Gems got theirs too." "You think I can get one?" That question got Steven thinking a little bit. When it came to getting his key, it was purely his own guess, as he and the Gems got theirs at random times. Amethyst, Connie, Garnet, Pearl, the Mane six in Equestria, and even Peridot all got their keys at random times. Still, one idea did come along his mind ... If it was a good idea or not was up to the challenge. "Hold on," Steven said. He cleared his throat. "Hey Discord! You around here?!" Steven called, in some random direction. Diopside wasn't sure what he was doing, though he did mention Discord a little bit during his catching up with her. That didn't mean Steven screaming to thin air was any less odd. At first, no one seemed to show up from anywhere until ... "Long time no see, Stevie my boy." The voice of Discord suddenly got them both looking at Steven's key, the headpiece suddenly the Draconequus head Steven knew. Soon, jumping out from the key, Discord was suddenly standing in front of them both. Diopside was left kinda blank faced from seeing such a large creature come out of a small key. The Draconequus gave them both a good hug with stretchy arms. "It's so nice to hear from my friends again," Discord said, setting them down after a little bit. "So, you're Discord?" Diopside asked curiously. Discord soon popped up from her hair when she wasn't looking. "Indeed I am! And you must be Diopside, former Centipeetle I presume," Discord guessed, pinching her cheek playfully. Steven said Discord knew pretty much everything, but, Diopside didn't believe that until now. She didn't even remotely say her name and Discord got her name right away. "Hey, Discord? Can I ask you something?" "Shoot," Discord said. Steven showed Discord the key. "Well, you gave me my key. You gave the Crystal Gems theirs, and you even gave Connie and Peridot one. You think Diopside can have one too?" Steven asked. "Oh no no no no no, getting magic keys isn't like window shopping," Discord said, Discord looking over some conveniently floating windows. The news bummed them both out, but, how can one argue with the spirit of chaos? Discord glanced down at Diopside's bag of chips, which was nearly empty by that point. "How about some more chips?" Discord chuckled, snapping his talon fingers. Suddenly, tons of chips exploded out of the bag, soon covering Diopside completely in chips. Diopside's head popped out. "WOOO!" Diopside beamed, starting to enjoy the many chips. As Diopside was, Discord flew over by Steven. "So, has that melon of yours better after your little fiasco?" Discord asked, giving Steven a noogie. "Hehe, yeah I'm good," Steven replied, as Discord soon looked over to the Beach House, as another thought came to him. "And how's your new company?" "Them? Oh, they're doing great!" "Even Jasper?" "... She stopped breaking the door so, it's a start," Steven shrugged. Discord could only chuckle. "Good. Tell you what; you helped out with Tirek for me, so, I'll hang around and lend a helping law and talon, what do ya say?" "Really?" "Course! After all, a hard working kid like you deserves some magic from your local Draconequus, no?" "Well ... Okay with you, Diopside?" "Fine by me!" Diopside said from the shrinking chip pile. "Wonderful!" Discord beamed, confetti and streamers launched out of nowhere around him. Diopside had finished up her chip pile when Discord got her to her feet, as he, Steven, and Diopside went off to the Beach House. Even if Steven would to say no, Discord was gonna hang out with them anyway. Course, it might make things a bit more nutty, but, what else would one expect? ... Even if they were alone, their antics hadn't gone unnoticed, with a set of star marked eyes watching from afar ...