Entirely New
Diamond Log: 73A-42X
We have just received the missing Gems, Ponies, and Humans from the abandoned Gem colony of Sector 7. The Crystal Gems, Elements of Harmony, Ruby Squad, and the Human Team, along with a few extras that escaped the station had recovered fairly well on arrival. Though, with the news of their current wanted status, the situation is becoming more problematic. for them, anyway. It won't be very long until White Diamond would try anything against them now. I have no doubt in my mind as well that she will be against me as well, with my previous actions against her wishes. I'll try to figure it all out. ...
The message left in her personal log did make Blue Diamond think quite a bit on the situation, one way or another. The fly away from Sector 7 towards the next planet was not as fast as the Sun Incinerator was, but in that regard, it was plenty good to get off of the Jungle Moon before any associates to White Diamond would arrive on them, though alert was still fairly high to those controlling her warship. If a tracker was placed on the incinerator, then odds are they would be looking for them as well. Better safe than sorry.
This time to chill out on the main ship itself did give them all some pause for thought as they were going, the Mane Six and Crystal Gems taking their own time to relax and catch up on a few things. Steven, Connie, Amethyst, Pearl, Jasper, Lapis, Peridot, Garnet, Fulgurite, and the Mane Six were all in the same room, catching up on some things with eachother now that they actually had time to do so, and it was all fine and well at first, with Connie going over her own little bit of venturing up to the point of return, and then some. She hadn't seen either of them for a while anyway, given how she lost her memory and all. And of course, she was caught up in their shenanigans for similar reasons. If they could say anything though, they were just glad that Connie and Steven were back on better terms again.
"So how much further until we get back?" Steven asked.
"Blue Diamond said it'll be a while. We're not going straight to Homeworld, so who knows how long it'll be?" replied Lapis. The idea of going home was a good thing, but the concept of everything from home being ... well, gone, was something to think about.
"Good. If White's going to look anywhere, she'll look there first," Garnet stated.
"Why there? Why not Earth?" Connie asked, confused.
"Because she knows her fellow Diamonds too well," Garnet replied, adjusting her shades. Guess future vision came up with this statement.
"Hey, by the way, you feeling better now, Connie? Your legs aren't as ... broken," Rarity pointed out. Connie looked down to her legs, even giving one of them a stretch, and feeling them no longer ache.
"Yeah, I know. I could've swore that I was gonna end up in a wheelchair the rest of my life," Connie stated.
"I was wondering about that: such an injury would've scarred you for life, but you came out alright," Twilight pondered. Fulgurite stretched and laid down.
"Eh give her some credit: she is half-gem, so surviving this sort of thing's kind of a no brainer," Fulgurite shrugged. Though, she didn't realize the wide-eye stares and blank expressions until she looked to them all.
"... What?"
"Repeat that again?" Rainbow asked. Fulgurite then realized the problem, hand to forehead.
"Oh, right, he didn't tell you, did he?"
"Who?" asked Jasper.
"Discord. He stopped by after Connie's uh ... "accident", and apparently since you've been fusing so much Connie, some of our DNA got stuck with you. In your case you get regenerate now, I guess." Fulgurite explained. Connie just stayed wide-eyed as she looked to herself. She looked to her hands, and then to her legs, imagining the type of DNA flowing in her now. As shocking as it was, it made a surprising amount of sense.
"OOOO, we got TWO halfsies now! This is getting interesting," Pinkie beamed, and indeed it was, especially when Amethyst's mind began to go to work about it.
"Hold up. So, if Connie's getting Gem DNA. Then, does that mean I'm getting human DNA?" Amethyst wondered.
"Maybe, who knows? We'll know when you start bleeding or something," Fulgurite answered, taking it in her stride.
"That explains a lot," Connie answered, thinking back to the prostatic she was supposed to get.
"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well ... I haven't been as hungry lately ... and my limbs didn't get hurt as bad as they should."
"Obviously, but that's great. Right?" Rainbow asked.
"We'll have to deal with it later. For now, we should be going off to the White Diamond Space Station. We'll be going there to get Pearl back, and rescue the Zooman. Blue Pearl will tell us when we get there in just a bit," Garnet said. And as she expected, the doors to their room did open up, but instead of Blue Pearl, in came Flint. And Flint looked wanting to talk to them about something himself, as the group turned to him. Behind him were a few of the other Gems: Bismuth, Diopside, Jade, Star, Onyx, and Topaz.
"Close enough," Garnet said on seeing him.
"Hey, Flint! So, we arrived for the rescue yet?" Pinkie Pie asked, ready to go, even doing some front hoof punches. Flint looked a little puzzled at first.
"What're you talking about, Pinkie?"
"Our rescue to save Pearl and the Zooman from the Space Station, remember?" Pinkie said, as if Flint already knew. Flint did get the idea, but -
"Oh that. Well, that's what I came to talk to you about: you're not going."
The reaction following was kinda immediate.
"Well, ok, we'll get them back, and you can wait back in Equestria -"
"All of you are not going," Flint corrected. He might as well get that over with before the wrong idea would go around. NOW the reaction was unanimous with Flint being the exception: surprise dominate. None of them were going?! The first one to jump to him was Lapis and Twilight.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, why?!" Lapis asked.
"What do you mean why: we can't all just charge back into the base, that's what White Diamond would want us to do. Don't pretend she didn't place those obvious clues and NOT expect us all to go in," Flint explained. As reasonable as that may be, the idea of her still being gone was quite a bit of trouble all the same.
"But Pearl's trapped on that station, we're not going to just leave her."
"I never said we were: I already got a team together right here. We'll find them," Flint explained, presenting the team in question behind him.
"And why'd you do this without telling us first?" Jasper questioned.
"Because I knew you'll all try to charge off anyway. I wanted to wait at least until we're closer to Earth before -"
"WE'RE AT EARTH ALREADY?!" gasped Steven. They didn't realize that this "while" went quicker than they thought, but when the ponies looked outside, sure enough, there was Earth coming closer to them! Bismuth went on over to them next.
"Whoa, we're fast," Fluttershy said.
"Don't you worry about a thing, you guys: I'll make sure we'll get em out," Bismuth promised, giving a wink and a smile. A good promise from a good Gem, though it was still out of the blue.
"But what about the rest of you?" Fulgurite asked. She didn't want to come off as rude, but she didn't want to feel left out of this same as the others. Flint got it all covered apparently.
"This is a rescue mission, and they all got the right qualities: Diopside can see better than anyone else can, including night vision with her Gem eye. Star Quartz is very stealthy, and can remain out of sight as well as I can with my camo cloak, and as for Onyx, she knows the Space Station top to bottom, so she's coming as our navigator. Topaz is coming for our extra muscle and guard to get them all our. Plus, Aquamarine's trapped in there too so she wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. Jade can heal us as well if it does come to blows," Flint explained. He wished Jade wouldn't come, but Jade wouldn't take no for an answer, so he just had to watch himself a bit more as all.
"You can see in the dark, Dio?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It works as good as in the day," Diopside answered, one hand over her normal eye as her Gem eye adjusted like a camera. Fare enough. With the idea the station might not have much light, that would be useful too.
"We all got this. Besides, it's about time you all deserve a holiday. Trust me, we got this," Bismuth reassured.
"But you think we can't handle it?" Jasper questioned.
"I didn't say that at all, but -"
"You need a break."
Everyone turned over to Star Quartz, not expecting her to say that.
"Star?" Applejack asked, as she walked over to them.
"You've all done a lot. And she'll be after you the most, right? I mean ... I might be wrong. But after the trauma you've gone through, why would you want more? That doesn't sound it makes much sense." This was specific, and towards Lapis and Jasper in particular, with the memory of the fusion they made together coming through both of them. Malachite's birthplace was on that space station, after all.
"Eh Tu, Star? That's something I expect from Flint to say. Eh, no offense," Rainbow said.
"I would've said the same. But she's right: you all need some time to wait. Besides, what about Earth? Who's going to be keeping an eye on that if we all go back? Someone has to stay and watch over things."
"I'll buy that last one," Applejack admitted.
"Look, it may be out of nowhere, but it looks like we'll be dropping you off soon. So, we'll be going to the station, and figure it out from there," Flint concluded. Garnet though felt a little bit uneasy about it, but not because of some future vision she had. But more over she'll have to wait behind as this went down. She glanced off to the window, and to Earth. At this point, it really was a crossroads on who'll be staying and who'll be going.
"Something wrong, Garnet?" Applejack asked, the first to notice her trouble.
"... Flint."
"Garnet, if you're going to convince me not to -"
"Be careful."
To be honest, this was a bit of a surprise. Garnet removed her shades for the moment, and looked to Flint eye to eye. Even Flint was a bit surprised. Typically it was a bit of butting heads between these two, and lately they would just agree mutually. But now, it was Flint who's right, and Garnet had to agree this time. Talk about a switch.
"You're right. Please be careful in there, and get them back. If anything happened to you, or them, I'll never forgive myself." Her final part was met with a tear going down her face. Flint simply nodded.
"You may not have to worry about that."
And as if waiting for her cue, Blue Pearl came on by, looking into the room.
"We're here, everyone," she said. Well, it was now or never.
~~~~~~
The flight was a bit of a fare one, but the arm warship found a good spot for the group to be dropped off at. The humans, Mane six, Off-Colors, and Crystal Gems in particular were placed on down in the drop zone, which turned out to be from a Warp Pad by the barn. It was probably the best spot they could do without everyone below freaking out of a giant arm flying in the sky, and with some modified Warp Pads on the ship, landing was out of the question. Bismuth, Flint, Star Quartz, Onyx, Jade, Topaz, and Diopside didn't show up with them for the sake of the mission, which while it was a bit unfortunate, it was at least a explanation that they could go by. They will be back, they were sure.
With them all back though, the Off-Colors got themselves off right over to the barn, happy to see it unaffected by anything White Diamond had done. Sure, it did look a little bit shaken up on the inside, but really that was about it, possibly for them trying to avoid her. Either way, the rest of the group left them to their reacquaintance with the barn, and went on through the beach over to theirs. They were joined by some of the humans, namely Lars and Connie.
"Well, the Off-Colors were glad to be home," commented Lars.
"I'll say: I never seen Rhodonite so psyched to be back, hugging and kissing the pole like that," Amethyst noted. Of course, it was out of her happiness to be home, let's not get that twisted.
"Who could blame her for being homesick? We all were locked up not too long ago," Twilight reminded.
"Yes, noted. But it's good to be back home. Oh, I'm not gonna do anything for a month."
"It's not here," Garnet suddenly stated, stopping on the spot. It was here that they all saw the Crystal Temple, or lack there of as it turned out. Not any scrap of the Beach House remained, and not even a Warp Pad was evident inside. The only thing left was the back door, but seeing Steven without a room of his own, or even a house for that matter, was quite the shock. Everyone went over to the front cave, that itself looking like it hadn't been touched by anyone, Gem included.
"You really weren't kidding," Lapis gasped.
"I'm very sorry guys," Lars replied, rubbing his arm. He wished he could've done more, but there was just so much one person could do.
"There must be something left," Garnet stated, going right to the back door. She got it opened no problem, and the first room she checked was the Burning Room. Lars knew exactly what was on the otherside, and when they all saw just how empty and lifeless it all was, it left them ... well, at a loss for words. What other saying could be said here? All of their work over thousands of years, now gone as if they did nothing. And the fusion was simply dumbfounded.
"All gone ... all of them ..." Garnet felt weak in her own legs, and she fell backwards, for Jasper to catch her. It was rare to see Garnet look so defeated like this, really, and with seeing this, she really felt like her mission had hit the restart button, which probably summed up the situation best.
"I can't believe it! She can't have taken all of them, there was thousands in here!" Peridot said, remembering from her own visit in here. Seeing somewhere so bright with the light of bubbles and Gems, now empty and dark made that very hard to believe, one way or another. Amethyst than thought of something.
"Wait." Amethyst closed the door, and activated her own room to be sure. However, her room laid as empty as the burning room: not an inch of her junk anywhere inside. No T-Rex skeleton, no furniture, no extra trinkets over the years, not even a spec of paper. Just a large seaside cave with crystals and seawater, and that was about it. Still, Amethyst was pretty ticked off to seeing all of her junk gone.
"COME ON! She took this too?!" Amethyst yelled, rushing in to try and salvage whatever was left. She might understand all the stuff from Steven's place, but Amethyst's junk too? White Diamond was paranoid if she thought taking this away was a good idea! Amethyst looked up and down her room for some sort of reminisce of her pile, but there was nothing left but crystals and sand. Seeing all of this, much of the ponies tried to comfort the Gems, starting with Fluttershy who went on over to Amethyst, a hoof on her shoulder. So much for all the memories.
"Well now what do I do? I don't even have a home here at the Temple anymore," Steven wondered, looking back to where the front of the house would be. Funny looking at it now with everything removed.
"Alrigh' everypony. It does look bad now, but we're still alive, and we got eachother. I mean, let's face it, it could be worse right?" Applejack brought up.
"Yeah, no matter how bad things get, there's always someone worse off than us. And anyway, there's always Greg, he can let you live with him," Rarity reminded. While not the best home ever, it was the best shot he would ever really get at this point with no house at the temple to live in.
"Yeah. But it's all gone: my TV, my fridge, my toy collection, my bed, my Portal Key -"
"Portal key?! She took that from you too?!" Connie gasped.
"All of ours: she grabbed all of us and managed to confiscate our keys before she locked us up. Didn't want us makin a portal back home from her ship," Applejack explained. Bad enough that the main Warp Pad was seemingly down, but the portal keys gone meant that the Mane Six were basically stuck down there on Earth, this time without any Discord special key. White really had planned everything out aside from them it would seem.
"And if the Warp Pad is down ... then I guess we're trapped here now. This time for good."
...
"I wouldn't say that," said Lapis.
"Lapis, you saw her take all of our keys away. She took mine, Twilight's, Pinkie's, Fluttershy's, Steven's, Amethyst's, Garnet's -" before Rarity could continue, Lapis's gemstone started to glow a bit, and after a short while, something started to come out of it. It was encased in a small ice orb, which Lapis brought out in one of her water wings. And what happened to be inside when Lapis brought it out?
Peridot and Pearl's Portal Keys!
"OH YEAH, I forgot we did that!" Peridot realized.
"Did what?" Twilight asked. It was Garnet who answered.
"I suggested for her to keep better track on where her key was. She kept losing hers in the Temple," Garnet explained. Peridot felt herself cringe before clearing her throat.
"Yes. Noted, Garnet. So after some conversation, I had Lazuli hold onto it for me until I could find a proper place for it. Good timing, right?" Peridot finished. Well that surely was a lucky break on their part, as Lapis gave Peridot her Portal Key. With the Warp Pads down, looked like it was back to square one again. In this case, back to the portal keys. Sure there was only two, one of which not able to work without its owner, but it was better than nothing.
"Good planning on your part, Garnet, but seriously, they couldn't have taken everything. There anything you can think of that they can't get to?" Fulgurite asked, trying to figure something out. Garnet thought for a bit on the Temple's structure, and what rooms could and couldn't be accessed through a simple Temple door, until one particular room came to mind. Rather than say what that was though, she went off passed the others fairly quickly, reaching the back where most of the crystals were, and soon another pathway showed itself: a tunnel with crystalline veins coming from the top.
"On stars, please don't have her take it," Garnet told herself, and as the others caught up, Garnet rushed down it.
"Hey, hold up!" Fulgurite called, rushing to catch up with her. The others did the same, and after what actually was a nostalgic rush through the tunnel, they got to the next room. Steven remembered this part fairly well, albeit vaguely during a runabout to get a "together breakfast" going, but now it didn't look as bright as it was before. The room they managed to get to was the main central hub of the Crystal Temple: a room where all the others connect to in some way, shape, or form.
The room appeared to be fairly empty, though it naturally was as no one really claimed this room like the others prior to this. Two doors stood across from eachother, one leading to Amethyst's room and the other to Pearl's Room if one were to go through. What was an impressive sight though was what stood up on the ceiling of the room. A large, red object, connected to the walls of the room like tree roots, and it giving off a sort of very faint glow. Not as bright as Steven remembered it, as if it got severely weakened somehow, but it was still there. A single vein touched the floor, and went straight down in a matter like a fire pole. Garnet stood there looking up at this thing with a few mixed emotions.
"WHOA. What's this room?" Connie asked.
"The Crystal Heart," Garnet answered, though she didn't turn to any of them. "It powers the entire temple. ... Though, it looks like the soldiers drained its power while here."
"And the good news?" Lars asked meekly.
"It's still here. ..." AND that was the best news they got at all. They all paused for a minute, taking the time to hear the faint thumps from the Crystal Heart. If this Temple was indeed alive, then it won't be for very long at the rate this heart was going. It sure explained the darker atmosphere of the Temple itself if the core was low on power.
"Wait, maybe I can fix it. Someone fly me up there," Steven said.
"Way ahead of ya," Twilight said, picking him up and flying him up to the heart itself. He didn't want to lose his home, not like this. So, with a lick of his hand, and with some focus, he got his healing powers to work on the Crystal Heart. ...
Nothing happened.
"Maybe I didn't get enough spit."
"Come back down you two, that won't work on this," Garnet instructed, as disappointed as she was on it.
"Well then what do we do, Garnet? If thyat's the battery to your temple, it won't -" Fulgurite didn't even finish her sentence to realize where this was going. "... Wait, you don't mean."
"No, no, of course not. ... Steven. Why don't you go to Beach City with your friends. We have some discussing to do here, and they need to get home too," Garnet instructed.
~~~~~~
"Eh, ok. So, you sure they won't freak out too much?" Lars asked, as he, Connie, and Steven were heading off over to his house. Sure he may have tried some more confidence in his approach, but the idea that he would just pop back into Beach City with a complete body paint job from oranges to pinks was going to set someone off in some way, shape, or form. And Lars was especially going to be a bit put on the line when it comes to his own parents.
"Don't worry, we'll explain everything, and we'll be there right by you," Steven promised. Lars tried to calm down, hand going through his hair.
"Yeah, sure. But can you leave out the whole "away from life" bit? I don't think my folks will be fine with having a zombie as a son," Lars asked. Made sense, though what could they come up with for having Lars all pink like this? Both Connie and Steven nodded, and Lars was just about ready to go on inside. Gathering his nerves, Lars went on to knock on the door, but at first, nothing seemed to happen. Yet, they did begin to hear something going on inside, faint voices from in there seemingly from Dante and Martha. Soon though, the door opened up, fairly quick too, and made Lars back up a bit as his dad came out. Lars didn't know what to say at first, but he went to smile.
"I'm back," Lars simply said with a nervous grin. Dante just stood there wide eyed. In fact, he needed a double check to make sure his eyes weren't tricking him. Yes, this was his son, but yes, he was as pink as Lion. Martha eventually came up.
"Who is it? Oh, if it's that two-bit mayor again, I'll -" Martha stopped herself on seeing Lars.
"L-Laramie?" Dante said. Lars gave a few nervous chuckles.
"Yeah, it's me. You two okay?" Lars asked. Steven and Connie stood aside, as both parents went on and hugged their child. Lars kinda expected that at least, and Connie and Steven couldn't help but smile at the heart-warming moment.
"My baby! I thought we lost you for good! OH, I'm so glad you're alright," Martha said. However, the surprise Lars was back at all did kinda blind them for a moment on the obvious concept, which Martha herself brought on up.
"Laramie? ... Why are you all pink?"
"Eh ... I-It's a long story. But I'm fine, really," Lars reassured them, hands up in front of him. He had some explaining to do, surely. Martha and Dante looked to one another for a minute, Lars feeling a little nervous. What could they be thinking now? He glanced over to Connie and Steven, who were just as in the dark as he was.
"Well you have to be hungry after your trip. Come in, and we'll have a nice breakfast," Martha said. Mundane, but whatever. He would have time to explain himself in there anyway.
"You two can go now, I'll take it from here," Lars said.
"If you're sure," Connie said. Lars nodded before going on inside. Well, that was one person down. Looking to Connie, Steven knew where they'll be going next.
.......
Next up was Connie. If Martha and Dante were anything to go by, Priyanka and Doug must be WAY over their heads by now. It was difficult enough just to get this far so it was anyone's guess on where this will go now. It was a bit of a walk to get to Connie's place, a bit of help from Lion as well, but they honestly weren't in that much of a hurry. Lion stopped over by the garage, and Connie and Steven got off. Connie may not have the physical differences that Lars had, but that didn't mean she was off the hook just yet. That would be up to her own parents to decide. ... Oh joy. Steven gave her some silent reassurance, holding her hand, but before they could even get to the door, the door swung open with Priyanka and Doug coming out. They were so stressed out they didn't even notice her just yet.
"We'll never figure out where they went off to, and we're losing time! Who knows what they're doing to Connie. Hi, Connie. What are we going to d-" Priyanka's scared rambles halted immediately on what she just said, and soon both she and Doug looked over to their daughter standing there, looking fairly okay overall.
"I'm back," Connie said. Guess she took a replay of Lars's situation, because she was a bit nervous. However, both Doug and Priyanka were right up to her, crying up a storm as they hugged her tight, especially Priyanka. Well, they're happy, but Steven wondered what they're going to do next, and he even backed up a little bit.
"Steven?" Doug said. Steven shivered. "... Everyone okay?"
"W-Well. Yeah, we're fine," Steven said, though he didn't know if it was a sincere question or a suspicious one. Doug was a cop after all, and he could be charged if he didn't watch it.
"Alright, Universe. You have some explaining to do."
Connie began to freak out.
"W-Wait, don't blame him! I decided to go off and save him, not him, don't be mad at him please. He did so much for us, I had to do something to help him out, really! He saved us, he saved me, he -"
"OK, OK, one thing at a time!" Doug instructed. Connie clammed up, and Doug cleared his throat.
"Now, as I was saying. ... Maybe you can explain this "DNA sharing" business. Hmm?"
... Out of all the things they could've asked him, and they chose something he barely knew about. All Steven could do was shrug nervously.
"I kinda just found out this morning," Steven admitted. And here they all planned out for the obvious disappearing act both of them did on them and they bring up a subject both of them barely found out. Hard enough explaining fusion to these two, how were they going to get a grip around this? Steven tried to get some sort of answer for him, but eventually Doug decided to give him a break.
"You know what, nevermind. Apparently you've gone through enough. Thanks for bringing Connie back to us," Doug said. They still had the memory of White Diamond's invasion in tact, so whatever she had planned for them must've left em' shaken up so no point in rocking the boat any further. Steven smiled, and watched the parents go on inside with Connie, and Steven was left with Lion. Well, he would go in, but he wasn't sure if he really should try or not, given everything. He'll check back with her later on and see what the deal is. Lion gave some reassurance in a lick to the head before they began to go off.
.......
So from Connie's house, it was off to the next stop, this time being Greg. If there was anyone that would be happy to see him again it would be his old man. In a quick portal hop, Steven reached the carwash in no time at all, and as he was hoping for, Greg's van was parked off not too far away. And just as with the other folks, Greg was a bit nervous over what was going on, pacing back and forth, trying to think.
"Hey Dad!" Steven said, smiling. Greg stopped and saw Steven, his mood quickly changing from worry to glee, as he and Steven met up in a hug. Lion sat down nearby, but he wasn't going to get a break just yet, as someone else popped out of the van on hearing the voice.
"Blue! Good to see you too boy," Steven said. And the Gem dog was more than happy to see them too, barking happily as he gave Steven a few doggy licks. Steven laughed a little bit, as Lion went over to Blue , the Gem dog happy to see Lion as well.
"Oh! Thank goodness you're okay! I saw one of those diamonds come back, and I tried to find you ... BGut you're okay! Guess she was no match for the Crystal Gems," Greg said, his arm in a flex as a visual point.
"No way, they were super strong!" Steven said.
"But you were able to beat them back?" Greg inquired.
"No. They totally stomped us! This warrior, Rupee, was super beefy and knocked me unconscious. Then they abducted me onto the Space Station because they wanted to take me away forever. And then we broke out and I almost died!" Steven may sound enthused, but Greg really lost his own confidence. He wasn't even smiling anymore.
"What did they want with you?" he asked, a bit panicky in his tone.
"They wanted me to be apart of some hybrid experiment project."
"A-are more Homeworld Gems coming after you?!" Greg asked in a stammer. Steven no longer felt as confident in sharing his story so clearly.
"I... uh... Maybe?"
Greg's face showed he was clearly distraught. Not a good enough answer apparently.
"Steven. I-I'm supportive and very proud of you. And I'll be right back." On that remark, Greg made a dash to the front of the van, and into the driver's seat, as he began to scramble through some of his CDs.
"Ok, ok, gotta calm down, where's my relaxing music CD?" he asked himself, scrambling through a number of them in his hand. He could barely keep still as a few of them fell to the front of the car. In his shaky hands, he did manage to pick one out.
"T-This one?" He popped it into the holder, but unfortunately he ended up with blasting rock music instead.
"Wrong one! Stop! Eject!" Steven could clearly see Greg wasn't taking this all very well, him even punching his radio just to get the music to stop so he could relax a bit. Steven didn't know exactly what went down in Beach City, but whatever it was, it sure had quite an affect on everyone, be it from losing family or losing memory alone. Steven wasn't sure if sticking around was a good idea, given that the simple story alone was enough to scare Greg like this. Lion and Blue paused their own version of catch-up to see the situation.
"Hope Twilight's having better luck." Steven thought.
~~~~~~
Dear Princess Celestia:
I'm not sure if you do still remember me or not, considering White Diamond, but if you do, I'm happy to report that I've returned with all of my friends safe and sound. And I also want to report that I've made a brand new friend while there, and she had agreed to take me on as her teacher. Just like how you taught me the meaning of friendship. I know it might not be my call to make, but I feel that it would bring a better future for all of us. I will always strive to spread friendship across Equus, Earth, and beyond as best me and my friends can, old and new. Your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle.
P.S. In case you don't remember me, I've attached your previous lessons to this letter as a memoir and proof I am indeed your student. I promise it'll all make sense.
It took a bit for Twilight to finish up her letter to Princess Celestia, taking time to write it out alongside Spike over by Sugarcube corner, the alicorn hoping that the brainwashing effect didn't come to Equestria as well. While Beach City may have confirmed problems, Twilight and her company weren't sure if all of the issues were resolved, or even started back in their world. Many of the residents still recognized them in some way, and even if they didn't the sight of an alicorn princess was still something they got notice of so they didn't want to upset her (make that what you will). Soon after she finished up her message, Spike sent it off on its way, and he had to gather up his fire in order to get it all through.
"AND there off," Spike concluded.
"Thanks for the help, Spike," Twilight replied, as she and Spike began to go off from there, and towards the direction of home. Now, this wouldn't be too bad in the grand scheme of things, but both of them did feel a bit distraught about the situation.
And here's why: upon arriving at their destination ... well, typically they would see a library in the tree, a balcony up on the upper level, a nice front door, a couple windows, a book sign for the Golden Oak Library as well, and the inside, multitude of books, and Twilight's home. ... But now. All that was there was a simple tree. No additions, no pony-made constructions, not even a door. Some way, somehow, this tree was restored to its origin state, and any and all evidence of Twilight and Spike's home had been completely removed altogether. Just like the Crystal Temple. In fact, the only thing that was left was the bee hive that hung from its branches, but that was about it. All the books Twilight had in there, all the memories it held from years, and the only thing showing for it now was bark, leaves, and a couple of branches.
"I really miss this place, Spike. We had so many wonderful memories here," Twilight sighed, as she went around the tree. To think that just a week or two ago, this was her home.
"We did, didn't we...?" Spike replied.
"Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry. Of course losing the Golden Oak Library was hard for you too," Twilight said, before she and Spike shared a hug. It'll be a while before they would end up finding out a home again, wherever that would be, and whenever it would be. Well. At least the tree was still there ...
All of a sudden, a notable letter: after a quick burp from Spike, the letter came back, with Celestia's notable mark onto it. Well, Twilight could say it was a hint she did remember, only confirmed once she opened it.
Twilight Sparkle:
Indeed, I do remember you. I want to deeply apologize for what had happened, and I'm trying to make it up to you. You and your friends don't deserve any of this after everything you've done. I would've made it to Beach City myself, but I'm afraid White Diamond had destroyed the Warp Pads. Beyond repair. And with what I had been told, I'm afraid a direct Warp Pad to Homeworld would be too dangerous for everyone. I know that may be sad to note, but I've managed to hear this from Blue Diamond, and in the end, I had to agree. If there was another way, I would've done so. I wish the best in your future endeavors, and my best regards to the Crystal Gems.
Yours truly: Princess Celestia
Twilight felt a tear come down her face as she read this, but in the end, she knew down in her heart that it would've been the only option, especially with White Diamond lurking who knows where.
"Well ... It looks like we really are back to square one again," Twilight sighed.
"Square zero point five: we don't even have our keys now," Spike said. As if they needed a reminder. Twilight held the letter in her hooves for a bit, holding it to her chest as a sigh escaped her muzzle. Spike sat down next to her and looked up to the tree. Twilight needed to keep a more level-head though.
"Don't worry, Spike. We'll figure it out, we always do," Twilight promised. Spike hoped they would.
"Well, hey, like Applejack said, it could be worse. I mean, we could've ended up like that other timeline Starlight dumped us into," Spike pointed out. What a time to say it though, Starlight was coming up not too far away.
"Oops."
"Don't worry. I know," Starlight said, as she walked over to them. Twilight and Spike both turned to her.
"Twilight, I'm ... I'm very sorry about all of this. If I just knew this was going to happen, I -"
"No, Starlight. It isn't your fault. I'm more wondering how White Diamond made the library back into a normal tree," Twilight wondered. There was some silence, but when they looked back, Starlight was looking down at her own front hooves, her ears turned back, and her eyes tearing up. Twilight didn't need any words to figure out what happened to her home, but she was less upset and more humble. All Twilight needed to do was lift up Starlight's chin, and give her a gentle hug. It'll be a while before it's all sorted out appropriately.
One step at a time.
.......
Back with Steven, the walk through Beach City after his talk with Greg was, for a lack of a better word, relaxing. After their big trip, it oughta be, and something Steven had hoped for as he went on through Beach City with Blue. It was a nice sight, and a good day to go out too with clearer skies. He took a scenic route through his hometown, and on the way got the main idea of what was what. On his walk, he saw everyone else going about their day in some sort of way:
The first one he saw was Lars Barriga. Even with his pink body, he actually found him hanging out with Sour Cream, Jenny Pizza, and Buck Dewey. And what was he doing: break dancing! With a radio playing nearby for some beats, Lars was dancing to the beat with full confidence in himself, and a big smile on his face. Lars had a pair of earrings in his ear loops, each with a heart in it, and Steven even saw him doing the arm wave at a point. With how much had happened to him, clearly he's taking his own steps to being confident. Then again, he did survive what could've been his death sentence, so he oughta be a bit more open now.
Steven and Blue went on down the road and saw Jamie next, him hanging out with Lapis Lazuli as the two were simply chatting with eachother. Sure, there was a paper route they were doing, but seeing both of them happy together sure made Steven feel pretty good. Lapis got one of the boxes, and flew it up to another door. Another package happily delivered.
Next stop was down by the boardwalk, where the most activity was taking place at. And as they went along, there was a bit of commotion as the Onion Gang were showing off their boxcar around. This one was a bit new and improved though, as they got themselves a thruster from the Barn House, as they zoomed along up and down the boardwalk, having a blast with it all. Good ol' Onion.
Steven took the time to head on to the carwash next, taking time to check in on his dad. He may have gotten freaked out as it was already when the news had hit him, but he was pretty good now that Steven and everyone else were safe and sound and that he had time to gather himself. So long as his son was alright in the end, that was fine by him, and the details were a bit unimportant here. Steven took some time to help him out with a few cars while he was at it, who which was a bit of a surprise: the Maheswarans. They were just as happy, if not happier, that their daughter was back home, and it appeared that they were glad to see everyone else alright too. Of course Connie and Steven were glad to see eachother, no doubt.
And from there, Steven went off along the road, seeing other people who remember him and were glad to see things were okay. If White Diamond's involvement was true, then Steven was more than glad that everything was back to normal as it could be. Of course with all of this, Steven knew that it wasn't over: White was still out there, several Crystal Gems were out in space, he still didn't have much of a home now, and with Pink Diamond alive again, who knows where it'll go? There were still many more battles ahead.
And he knew they will work through it. They always have, after all.
Well, on we go to Season 7, hope you're having fun so far. Had a bit of fun with the Jungle Moon, especially since I can add in my own aliens to the ecosystem (check back to the first two in case you wanna check em out yourself x3).
But yeah, as I've said and written, things are gonna be a little bit different this time around. Like how I'm focusing on the group chilling on Earth instead of the group running around in space. Or the fact almost all the keys are gone. And the Warp Pads. And the Golden Oak Library. ... Wow, that's a lot 
But hay, as they say: they'll always find a way. ... but which way? Well we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
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So wait, in this season 7 finale, will Starlight be Twilight's star pupil and everyone can live happily again, and Pearl will be back to normal and also, will White Diamond pay the ultimate price for her crimes?
8823819
you're just gonna have to wait and see
So many questions. Questions that only the future can tell you, and not even Garnet can tell you that for sure
Hey EquestrianKirin, can you perhaps please make a fluff chapter? I need a break from all the tension.
8824490
it would be time to chill out a little, won't it?
when the next one things are getting interesting
8828005
it'll be a bit, I'm waiting for the contest to be over before going on
nice drawing by the way
is the next about pink ,yellow and blue diamond
8828023
Can't really take credit for the drawing, but glad you like it ^^
8828025
And you're just gonna have to wait and find out ;)
8828023
you should really make improvements
8828122
I'll keep that in mind
8825666
Indeed.
Are you saying that i have to wait untill the contest is over
8831649
That's about it
When is this contest over
8832113
next week
8832331
really can chapter be released earlier
8833966
Well no: if someone does win the contest, I'll have to cooperate their idea and I don't want to stomp down on what they have in mind by putting my own in first.
Is it ready
Pretty good so far. And now that the contest is over you can continue.
8853615
Yep. Still be a little bit until the next chapter comes up, but it'll be soon I'm sure ^^
8853629
Oh thank you. The suspense is killing me! Lol
8854314
I'm sure many agree with you there XD
Is it ready yet
8857266
it's going, I promise you that
Is it ready now
8860639
I'm trying my best, I know you're excited as a puppy given a biscuit, but I'm working on it best I can.
Will connie be having a gemstone
8861892
You'll have to see, now won't you?
im sorry for bothering you ,it just i m dying to see the next chapter. is it ready
8862619
I understand your excitement. And it'll be out eventually, i promise.
The slight disconnect with the opening of this chapter is how it opens with Blue Diamond making the log. While it is nice to tie together that even she's invested in what comes next, at the same time it's a little weird to have her do the opening, unless we're going to be getting a bit more focus from her later this season. Although, from another perspective, it's a creative way to do a brief recap at the beginning for those just joining us.
Capitalize at the beginning.
Watch your spacing. Especially on each other.
I do find it interesting though that White Diamond is thinking like her diamonds rather than like the rebels. That she expects to find them back on Homeworld rather than them going home. Hmm, though given what we find, there's a chance she just expected them to move in to a new location.
You get REGENERATION. A noun, not a verb. Also, good that Connie's finally getting the truth of her slight alienation from herself. She'll need adjusting to the idea for sure, but it is of interest that there's no such thing as a "normal" for the core cast anymore. Gems, half gems, magical ponies? It's a lot of power.
So, in terms of the rest of the chapter, it seems to me more than anything that you're trying a clean slate protocol. Really trying to make the gems and ponies feel like they have nothing left to use/have in their world. Confirming that they lost their home, their rooms, their prisoners, their power. That it can't be the same anymore, because they have none of the old comforts to fall back on. And yet, with the whole "vacation" thing, it does feel weird because it's dialing things back down a bit, so there's a bit of mixed messages. Nothing is the same, but things are going to be moving down a bit.
Oh, and I'd be foolish not to comment how you're using small shout outs to Lars's Head for Connie's parents, or full disclosure for Greg and Blue. What raises my eyebrow the most though is White taking away the treehouse. Or was that White. She clearly would be a bit upset at the ponies after last time, but I always figured her ire was squarely towards the gems.
Anyhow, whatever comes, we know how they're going to tackle it: one day at a time.
9003129
White's just after everyone at this point x3