My Little Universe II

by EquestrianKirin

Snowfall Stars PT1

A lone bus going through the countryside. With the winter snow along the ground every which way, the entire world alongside the traveling locomotive was a blanket of glistening white, some trees looking like cauliflower they held so much snow up, and farmland and open grass a landscape of cold, quiet snow dunes. Passengers riding in the bus were only seeing a few wild cows going about the snow like semi-domestic tanks, pushing the snow away to get to the grass underneath. As for the passengers, at least one of them was both sight-seeing on his way back home, and writing down his thoughts within his own journal he had with him.

Dear Diary: There has been a unfortunate snag in my efforts to get back home in time, but now I'm working my way back to Beach City. I'm more than looking forward to returning to my town again after many a week in my acting career attempts. I don't think my heart can take anymore disappointment. One more rejection would destroy my fragile heart. Alas, my heart still is beating for the one waiting for me. My Sea Angel, my dearest Lapis Lazuli. I hope I didn't tick her off because I was late for the bus for a few more days, but I'm sure the holidays will rekindle that pain. Well, the Equestrian Holidays, we don't have anything this time of year. Besides, I believe I got a grand return that could make up for it. Anyway, Let's wait and see.

…….

"Ok, Spinel, watch closely," Steven instructed. Spinel, curious about some of this new stuff, kept her gaze ever so focused right on the objective in front of her, chin on the table counter. Steven actually joined her in doing so, with one hand holding something else to add into the object in question. Steven made it very careful to not add too much flour into the container, stopping almost perfectly on the line.

"Is that it?" Spinel asked, a bit surprised how mundane it actually was.

"Yep. Now we got our mixture, we can get it onto its pan, and right in the oven. We'll have our banana upside-down cake in no time. Spinel, if you would do the honors," Steven concluded, reaching to find the cooking pan as he gave the baking mixture to Spinel for the final piece. Spinel looked to the mixture and then to the pan. She had been watching this whole process go down for at least an hour, something had to give.

"Alrighty, here we go … here we go, one. Two. Here we go!" Spinel attempted to roll the container along her spaghetti arms like a basketball. She got that part down right, and she even landed it right in her hands so it was upside-down. But she did NOT plan for the splash back. Plop it all at once made plenty of it fly out of the pan, some of it on the floor or on their faces.

"... Uh … Spinel?"

"Why does this work for Pinkie, and not me?" Spinel questioned, her elastic tongue licking all of the mixture off of her face in one clear sweep. "... Still delish though."
Steven did the less gross option and got himself a towel instead, wiping off the dough.

"If you EVER want to compete with Pinkie Pie and her baking, you better get your big boy pants on. You need to be expert level before attempting to do any of her tricks. Trust me, I've tried … didn't end too well," Steven explained. :Let's just say it was a much bigger mess when he tried it WAY back in the day. So with what mixture they got left in the pan, all they had to do was get the pineapple in it. As he was reaching for it though, the tropical fruit wasn't there.

"Hey, did you move the pineapple?"

"Don't look at me," Spinel shrugged. Before any of them could even look, suddenly there was the Pineapple, held right in Steven's face.

"Here you go," said Flint. Guess he got to it first, though he acted like it was no big deal.

"Thanks, Flint," Steven said, taking the pineapple from him and placing it on the cutting board. Flint stood nearby, hands behind his back as he casually observed Spinel and Steven proceed to cut up the fruit. Spinel was a little sloppy with her cutting, but it came out alright in the long run.
Soon they got two different sides to the Pineapple Upside-down cake: Steven's side with flat rings, and Spinel's side with diagonal for some, and halves for others that look like triangles of cheese.

"I think we did pretty good," said Spinel.

"Not bad for the second time," agreed Steven. Spinel and Steven high-five'd eachother, but before Steven could actually move it into the oven, Flint stepped in again.

"Can't I just put it in there? You might get burnt," Flint suggested.

"Flint, the oven's not even on yet. Just have a seat, we can handle this," Steven pointed out, his hand inside the oven and waving it around, not feeling any heat. Flint didn't give Steven anymore answers and while Steven and Spinel got the oven on and the upside-down cake inside, all Flint could do was go right back to the couch, and sit right back down.

He was not enjoying himself at all.

"There. Soon as that's done, we can go right on to decorating it. What kind of icing do you want?"

"Yes, chef, all of em," Spinel replied after licking her lips. Steven and Spinel chuckled, but they soon heard Flint groan from nearby, as he tried O SO HARD to actually relax. He turned to his side. He laid on his stomach.

"This is getting ridiculous," said Flint in a groan, "How can any of you stand to not do … anything? It's not the first time I've handled myself."

"Yes, but as Jade and Sapphire said: you're not allowed to worry about anything else anymore. Besides, last time you worried about something you nearly let yourself get shattered by a Fire Mammoth! Taking time off of work is gonna be good for you," Steven said. Flint could only find comfort in laying on his back, as if he were in a coffin.

"That's all very well for you, but there's another thing they say too: an idle conscious mind is a Diamond's personal kindergarten."

"Pfft, who says that?" Spinel asked.

"I do," Flint simply replied.

"Okay, if you need to take your mind off of something, why not watch some TV, or play some video games, or …" the idea struck Steven quick, him snapping his fingers, "oh wait, I got it! Why not get into literature? You look like a book type more than a TV type anyway."

"Books, Steven? I dunno about -"

"Hey buddy, why not show him that thing you showed me? That book about that Human and that, what was it uh, big chicken?" Spinel suggested.

"It's called an Eagle," Steven said with a chuckle, "But yeah, "Unfamiliar Familiar" can work!"

"Come on guys, there's so much to do -"

"AH AH AH, no worrying for you," Spinel said, her arm wrapping around his mouth like a rope, "The gang's got the fort down!"

"mmkay," Flint mumbled, only then Spinel releasing him. It was the only way to get that problem fixed quickly. Flint could tell they weren't gonna make this easy for him (ironically), but then his attention shifted over towards the cooking oven.

"... So why're you baking that cake again? Hearth's Warming?" Flint asked, pointing to the oven. Steven walked over to the oven.

"No, that's what the mint candy cake's for. This cake's for someone else important," Steven said, even patting the oven top. The only thing was to wait for it to even finish. Spinel slid over next to her bestie on hearing that.

"Yeah, speaking of which, you never said who this "special someone" is yet. Who's the surprise guest today, Mr. Universe?" Spinel asked, hand on counter with another hand on her hip.

"Let me go fetch them. Be right back guys. … for real, I'll be back," Steven promised. It was the one detail Steven wanted to not just blabber on about, as to not overwhelm the upcoming folks for the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. They were gonna find out soon as the cake's done, but since they were insisting, Steven went right over to the Warp Pad and NOT using the Portal Key, to get right to the destination. Spinel and Flint were left alone by then.

"You don't look as worried," Flint said, seeing Spinel look more relaxed about it. At least it seemed to be. Spinel brushed it off.

"I know Steven for a long time, he won't lie to me. If he says he's gonna be back, he's gonna be back," Spinel said. Flint just gave Spinel a blank face.

"You only knew him for a few days," Flint remarked.

Regardless, they didn't have to wait for very long (half an hour at most), as the Warp Pad went off again. They saw Steven amongst the figures in the Warpstream, but three of the figures they didn't exactly recognize all too well. Two of them got their footing upon arriving, but the third one fell onto the floor. Gravity was always tricky in the warpstream. And who exactly were the girls he brought back with him to Beach City?

"Happy Welcoming Day, Dazzlings," Steven announced.

"Owie!" the girl grumbled, picking herself up off the floor because her sisters weren't going to do it. Flint sat up immediately on seeing the three, even if he didn't recognize any of them, and Spinel grew curious over the trio.

"Hey, Steven, who's the trio?" Spinel asked.

"So THIS is where you live?" Aria asked, looking around at the Beach House for a bit, though she didn't look too impressed.

"Ooooo, cozy," Sonata said. Not too impressive.

"Yep, welcome to the Gem Temple girls!" Steven introduced with his arms outstretched to show the place. He then turned to the two Gems.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet the Dazzlings: Adagio, Aria, and Sonata," Steven said, allowing both Flint and Spinel to see the trio of Sirens. Adagio and Flint were taking some mental notes, but it was Spinel who got to talking first, going over to the other two first as the emo spaghetti arm Gem checked them out. At least THEY don't know what happened to her, so she could be a bit more forward.

"So you got music names. Are you girls in a band or something?" Spinel asked. Aria was about to speak, but Sonata already remembered she had a mouth and decided to use it.

"Yep! We sing all the time," Sonata said, "Dagi's our lead, and we're the backup, and we're all super good! People will do whatever we -"
Aria clamped Sonata's mouth shut.

"Already, idiot?" Aria whispered, just to look to Spinel and say, "We sing from time to time, but we're taking a break."

"Oh. Well, anyone who's friends with my bestie Steven is someone I can handle," Spinel said with a smile. Aria and Sonata looked between her and Steven after Sonata got her mouth un-clamped.

"Your Steven's bestie?" Sonata asked.

Spinel just pulled the smuggest of grins as she wrapped her arm around Steven Universe's shoulders. This reminded Steven that he had the others to introduce to the Dazzlings. Yep, Steven's HER best friend.

"Oh yeah! Dazzlings, these two are Flint and Spinel, some of the Harmony Gems," Steven introduced, not really trying to make Spinel let him go. Not that it would matter.

"More Gems. Well, good to meet some of Steven's friends," said Adagio, looking more to Flint basically.

"Likewise," agreed Flint, "I'd assume you and him met while he was out of town? He did mentioned you while he was away from Beach City."

"We gave him somewhere to stay as he was passing through," Adagio explained, "He was all by himself, so we felt it was only right to have him brought to Vidalia's apartment for a while with us."

Flint immediately caught the lies in Adagio's Siren lips, crossing his arms.

"Really. I'm sure Steven appreciated his clothes being thrown in the garbage can," Flint said with his usual brand of suspition. Adagio and Sonata actually didn't know what he was talking about, but Aria did clam up. Adagio only needed to see her face one time to work out what happened, but Aria just took it in stride.

"She had a bad day, and wasn't in the best mood," Adagio said, though she silently gave Aria a look that said "watch it". Steven and Spinel both could feel the tension and needed to quickly change it. Lucky for them, the Bing from the oven got them thinking about something else.

"Soooo who wants some welcome cake?!" Steven said, as he and Spinel got to the oven.

"Welcome cake? Is that what smells so yummy?" Sonata asked, sniffing the air for the smell of dough and pineapple.

"Yep. Aaaand Out it comes!" Spinel said, as Steven opened the oven and got the finished cake out (with oven mitts of course). Boy did that cake look delicious, and it was enough to make Sonata's eyes sparkle. It'd been far too long since they had anything that looked this delicious.

"That looks sooooooooo good," Sonata said, almost drooling at the sight of it.

"You … made that for us?" asked Aria.

"Sure, why not? Help yourselves, just keep it to one plate," Steven offered, setting some paper plates aside and a knife for them to work out. Sonata was more than happy to take a big slice of the stuff, particularly from Spinel's side of the cake with the specially cut pineapples.

"Go on, try it! It's my first time doing this baking thing," Spinel encouraged. While normally that's a red light to normal people, Sonata nodded and then she took a good bite of the Pineapple welcome cake. One chew. Two. Three …

"OoooooOOOOOO YOU GOTTA TRY THIS!!" Sonata beamed.

"Don't you have any pride at -" before Aria could finish, Sonata shoved a forkful of the pineapple cake into her mouth. It was enough to make her shiver. … Even a tear came down her face.

"It's good right?! I haven't had anything so yummy in centuries!" Sonata beamed.

"WOO, first customer of Spinel cooking," Spinel beamed, "I'm soooo glad you're lovin it, Sonata."

"You have the recipe for this? We could really use some cooking while we try getting back to our world," Sonata inquired, just a little too quick for Aria or Adagio to stop her. Strangely, that little detail didn't faze Spinel, and in fact she stretched her arm and snatched Steven's nearby cookbook.

"Your world? Sonata?" Flint asked.

"DUH. We've been stuck here WAY TOO LONG and it just SUCKS here! There's hardly any good food," Sonata said, taking another bite of the O so delicious Pineapple cake. "Mmmm so good."
Adagio and Aria REALLY wanted Sonata to stop, but they couldn't just jump in there to do anything unless they want them to get even more suspicious. But what question came next sealed the deal.

"And what world are you from?" Steven asked.

"Me? I'm from Equestria!"

Aria and Adagio felt like they've been shocked by lightning. NOW what're they gonna do?!

…

"OOOHHHH, so that's why you're all colorful! I'm not gonna lie, I thought you three were a group of Gems," Spinel admitted, feeling embarrassed. Adagio and Aria couldn't believe their ears, but Sonata didn't feel anymore worried about it.

"Really? Hmm, what kind of Gem would I be?" Sonata wondered, actually thinking about it more than she would usually do. Suddenly Aria couldn't take it, and actually yanked Sonata away before she could blabber on any further.

"Excuse her, she didn't have her breakfast this morning and isn't thinking straight. Anyway, we're so glad you could invite us to your home, Steven, wouldn't miss it for the world -"

"Wait a minute. Adagio, what's this about? Are you trying to keep this a secret from us?" Steven said. Adagio stopped. Was he actually wising up to their scheme? She couldn't jump him for it though, trying her best to keep her composure. Adagio tried to think, but being the sly one she was, she got a new story thought up quick. Her troubled expression quickly relaxed.

"OKAY you caught us, we are from Equestria. But really, it was all just a big mistake," Adagio explained.

"What is?" Spinel and Sonata asked. Adagio ignored sonata, but answered anyway.

"You see, me and my sisters were found out one day by this evil unicorn back in Equestria. We tried our hardest, but in the end, he took not only our forms away, but sent us all the way here with no clue how to do anything, and with no food or water. We've been lucky to survive as long as we did."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Steven asked, feeling his heart sink.

"We just didn't want to bother anyone else here, that's all. And with what you've been through, who needs our problems mixed with yours, you know what I mean? … That wouldn't be fare," Adagio even put in some "tears" for good measure, wiping some away from her face.

It was just enough to pull it off.

"Adagio, of course I want to help you. Why did you think I offered to let you live here? I wasn't going to leave you three like that."

"Live here?!" Spinel asked, blindsided. Steven suddenly covered his mouth.

"Ack! Oops I was supposed to save that!" Steven said, as if ruining the surprise. "Eh … surprise!"

"Wait a second, you letting them live here Steven? Didn't you at least talk to everyone else, you already got Spinel living here," Flint said firmly.

"Huh? NO, now here here, Little Homeworld here," Steven corrected, "I promised them after working things our I'd give them a new home in Little Homeworld. You know, after working everything else out."

"Little Homeworld? Where's that?" Sonata asked. Steven smiled.

"You know what, I can show you guys if you want to. We can just go through town and catch up -"

"NO! Er … no. We can just take the shortcut. I really want to see what you made for us," Adagio insisted. Last thing the trio needed was a whole town trying to drive them out again. A slight red flag, but given Adagio's earlier story, Steven decided not to jump at them for it.

"Oh. Uh, okay, hang on a second," Steven said. Steven went over to his bedroom from there, opening his drawer and getting out his handy dandy portal key. So much for the scenic route to the Little Homeworld. Steven got the portal key working for the front door, the similar magic light shining the way. Steven held the door open.

"After you," Steven said in a polite manor.

"Why thank you," said Adagio, "Come on girls."

Well what else were they supposed to do? It was either this or risk getting their cover even more blown by the public outside. The Dazzlings eventually went on their way, but Sonata made sure to take the rest of the Pineapple cake with them. She was NOT wasting any of it today. Spinel of course was more than ready to go.

"Wait for me, Steven," Spinel said, ready to go off with him. However, before she could go, Flint suddenly grabbed her by the arm, and then pulled her close, looking her right in the face.

"Make sure nothing happens to him," Flint ordered, his tone very slow and serious.

"I understa-a-and," Spinel said, trying to mimic the serious tone. Only then did Flint release Spinel.

"I don't think you do. Clearly something's going on with those three. All that stuff they kept saying, it sounded like they made it up on the spot just to be on good terms with him. So since I'm … not allowed. I need YOU to keep an eye on things for me, and for Steven, just in case that Dazzling trio tries to work in some form of scheme. Do you think you can handle that for me, Spinel?" Flint asked.

"They sure looked nice to me, but if it's gonna make you freak out, then I'll watch him. You can count on me," Spinel promised, giving Flint a Diamond insignia salute before she stretched her foot through the portal and pulled herself in. It was all Flint could ever do, and soon he was all by himself.

"... So where were those books at?"

~~~~~~

Beach City itself was going through its own but of renovations thanks to the snow, though not in the means of decorating if not more cleaning up the place. Much of this new snowfall had made Beach City much brighter, but a bit more cleaning needed to be done. Whether is it just using a snow shovel, or driving through town with a snow plow, the heaps of snow was being handled with relative ease. AKA, shoving the snow into the sea. It's still water, so pollution was out of the question.
Despite the success, not every plow truck was handling all the snow with ease, one particular driver accidentally hitting the gas to the floor instead of the breaks, shoving a wave of snow off of the street, and onto the sidewalk. Or, it would've landed on the sidewalk if not for a startled Unicorn's quick-acting magic.

"Sorry bout that!" called the driver.

"It's all good," replied Starlight Glimmer, as she levitated the snow back onto the street for the driver to continue his service. Even with the time close to Hearth's Warming, Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all were heading off through Beach City towards the nearest bus stop.

"Okay, so Sapphire predicted he'll be showing up any minute here, let's just chill out til he arrives. So … how do you wanna approach this?" Starlight said at one point, the whole group stopping once they reached the bus stop.

"Speaking from experience, darling, the first thing anypony should do is give Jamie some time to calm down and then start giving him the latest news," instructed Rarity.

"You sure we shouldn't just go in and tell him? I mean, last time we saw her, she didn't look, Oh … good," Starlight said, recalling Lapis's current state of mind.

"And make the king of all drama worry all over again about their love story going kaput? No way!" Pinkie said, "That'll break his heart into teeny teeny tiny winy pieces, and we won't be able to find all the pieces and put it back together again!"

"... So in other words, we're not gonna tell him yet."

"Not right away. Unless he asks outright, then we'll tell him," Rainbow Dash said.

"Guys, here it comes," said Fluttershy.

And sure enough, right on cue, a familiar transport bus started coming into town. The ponies there all moved out of the way of the main stop, as the bus itself made its stop in Beach City. The passengers started to go out, one by one, but at first none of them were seeing Jamie come out of the bus, but eventually it came down to the last one.

And he presented a bouquet of red flowers.

"For you, my sweet watery goddess of the stars.~" Jamie said, drama mode activated. With his eyes shut though, he didn't see who he was presenting the flowers too, as the bus drove away.

"Oh no, he's love-confused too," Pinkie said in dismay.

"Uh, Jamie?" said Fluttershy, tapping his side. Only then did Jamie open his eyes, just to see his bouquet of love now in Rainbow Dash's face. What a lovesick goof. Jamie immediately straightened up, the flowers now behind his back and his face very red.

"... Sorry. That was uh for … someone else."

"I won't tell if you won't," Rainbow Dash said, feeling equally embarrassed from the flowers to her face. She even found a small red petal on her head, which she shook off.

"How're you, Jamie? It's been a fair few weeks," inquired Rarity.

"It's been going well," replied Jamie, "I uh ...wasn't expecting a welcoming committee for me. I'm a bit flattered."

"It's no trouble, dear. We're looking forward to how your acting went. Did you manage to get into any roles?" Rarity asked, starting with a subject she thought would make him happy. However, the Human actually felt hesitant to talk about how his time went, glancing to his bag, which held his diary. It's one thing to speak through written words, but another to actually say them to people.

"Um … did I say the wrong thing?"

"No, no, sorry. It's just … *sigh* I didn't do well," Jamie admitted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"Yeah, life is crazy," Jamie cut in, taking a few steps away from the ponies and looking on to the sky, "One day you're right here in Beach City delivering mail and then the next thing you know, you're on a bus to Kansas, following your dreams of becoming an actor. "Follow your dreams," they said. But no one said anything about all the rejection and sadness there was to be found. So many auditions day after day. So much rejection day after day. …"
It was actually enough to bring some tears to Jamie's eyes, which he went on to fix up and wipe off his face.
"Sorry, guess I got caught up in the "drama zone", you know? At least I still have my love waiting for me. My dear, sweet Sea Angel."

Oh boy, already.

"Yeah. … Uh Jamie? We got something to -" Starlight would've just gone on with it, but Rarity quickly "zipped" Starlight's muzzle shut through magic before she spoke.

"Can you give us a second, Jamie?" Rarity quickly said. Jamie simply nodded, and suddenly the pony group was walking off a short bit, giving Jamie some space as the guy sat down on at the bus stop's bench. Rarity made sure to unzip Starlight's mouth.

"What're you doing?" Starlight asked, checking her lips for any zipper still there.

"Sorry, but didn't you all just hear him? He's already feeling so much pain, we can't tell him right away about Lapis Lazuli," Rarity concluded.

"Huh? But Rarity, this was your idea, you're just gonna bail out now?" Rainbow Dash questioned. Jamie did technically brought up Lapis, sooner than they expected but still brought it up nonetheless. Rarity recoiled.

"I know. I just. Changed my mind, that's all," Rarity said. Not that she wanted to admit it, but seeing him looking ready to crumble was just too much for her to take.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Fluttershy.

"Jamie's heartbroken. Obviously now isn't the best time. It's not like we can just show him Lapis Lazuli," said Rarity.

However …

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Starlight said. She was about to go back to him, but Rarity quickly went in her way.

"DON'T! I didn't mean that!"

"We can't just leave him like this. Besides, maybe Lapis seeing Jamie again might trigger something in her head and make her remember something," Starlight concluded.

"Perhaps, but -"

"She forgot about me?"

Uh oh. The ponies looked to Jamie, who only now just heard what they were talking about. Apparently, namely the Lapis Lazuli part from Starlight.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! … Maaayyyybe?" said Pinkie.

"What's going on? Where's Lapis?" Jamie simply asked.

Ok, NOW they don't have a choice.

"Look, we'll show you," decided Starlight.

…….

"Is she still there?" called Starlight.

"Yep, she's still huddled on top of the hill," Rainbow replied.

That basically summed up where they were after walking off from the bus stop. Kinda fitting too that, after a short Portal Key teleport, that they managed to get themselves near the top of Brooding Hill, and sitting at the very top in her sorrow was Lapis Lazuli herself. She did not react to the cold much at all, not budging an inch from the wind coming at her. Any stray snow just settled on top of her as if she was a literal rock.

"Lapis …?"

"She's been sitting up here for three days," said Fluttershy, "She's been so sad."

"Did any of you talk to her?" Jamie asked.

"We tried. But let's just say she's a little bit edgy," admitted Starlight.

Jamie looked back over towards Lapis Lazuli. They weren't exactly sure if she was hearing any of them or not, but if she was she wasn't doing anything to them yet, or making any attempt to escape. Jamie knew well what the signs were for a broken-hearted angel, and Lapis Lazuli was showing all the signs just from this one moment. He had his bouquet of flowers still, so he attempted his approach …

One step got Lapis to react: her water wings sprouted out, but this time it took the form of sharp cold ice. Jamie gasped in shocked, the flowers being chucked out of his hand in reflex. Luckily for Jamie, Starlight quickly jumped in and got a forcefield up right between him and the oncoming ice shards, the spikes shattering on hitting the shield, but destroying the bouquet Jamie had.
All that remained of the flowers were stems and holed wrappings.

"Y-Yikes," Jamie gulped.

Only then did Lapis turn around.

"Oh. It's you again," Lapis simply said, sounding like a shallow shell of her past self now. Jamie remained in initial shock for a little bit more, but soon he got himself back together.

"Hi, Lapis. How're you uh … feeling? You feeling any better?" Starlight asked.

"Does it look like I feel any better?" Lapis questioned, a sharp coldness to her voice. Lapis didn't really bother to answer the unicorn further, but instead brought her attention to Jamie. She simply looked and kept her look, Jamie meanwhile trying to get what remained of the bouquet of flowers. Second verse, same as the first, as he cleared his throat and tried again.

"For you, my sweet watery goddess of the stars.~" Jamie said, same flair as before, only this time NOT in a pony's face. Lapis simply stared at Jamie for a bit more, looking to the currently wrecked flower bouquet in front of her. Only one flower didn't get torn to pieces amongst the bouquet of stems. Jamie had high expectations that this would be plenty to rekindle their relationship … of only Lapis had her memory in tact. In fact, the flowers were only giving her a headache if anything.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Lapis hissed.

"Uh … A joke?" muttered Fluttershy. To show that she wasn't interested in the most blunt way possible, she raised her hand and SLAPPED the bouquet out of Jamie's hands. It was like he was struck by Fulgurite's lightning, and stung like crazy.

"My bouquet!"

"Lapis!" exclaimed Rarity.

"I just got dumped by one love. NOW you think I'm pathetic enough to go out with that?!" Lapis demanded, finger aimed directly at an already stunned Jamie.

"No, no, that's not it at all!" insisted Starlight.

"Then take your pet, and go away," Lapis demanded. She turned around again, and went back over to her spot on the hill, leaving Jamie absolutely speechless. Sure, forgetting him was one thing, but THIS was something else.

"L-Lapis? Is this a joke or something? Or tell me, do you really not remember who I am?" Jamie meekly asked. Lapis placed a hand on her head to try and handle her headache.

"Go and bother someone else, Human. Whoever you're talking about I'm not her," Lapis made perfectly clear.

"N-No wait. Lazuli, it's me Jamie! There must be something - … wait, how about this?" Jamie went into his bag, and looked around inside. Eventually his hand pulled out what looked like a hand-written letter, but this one wasn't from Jamie as evident by the water mark on it. "Surely you must remember the letter you gave me!"

Lapis opened it up, looked it over slightly … and, again with a headache, tore it up right in his face.

You could probably hear his heart shatter like glass.

"I didn't write that," Lapis simply said.

"But it's true. Look, this face. Isn't it slightly familiar? Huh? Isn't -"

*SLAP*

What a nerve. Lapis, irritated by her headache turned migraine, gave Jamie a hard slap on the face to keep him from walking any closer to her. She may be heart-broken, but not desperate.

"Hey, hey, watch it prancy! We're only trying to help," Rainbow shouted, immediately jumping in between the angry water Gem and the hurting Human. Lapis simply slapped Rainbow Dash away, back-handedly.

"I'm not asking for anyone's help! I don't want your help!" warned Lapis.

"So what, you're just gonna sit up here and mope for the next century?" Rainbow asked.

"I never said that," Lapis said, before getting out her wings. But while she did get airborne, she hovered over Jamie. Just looking him in the face was giving her a migraine for whatever reason, she couldn't stand it.

"As for you, Stay away from me, or I'll do to you what I did to your … your … YOUR THINGS," Lapis made clear, before she turned and flew off on her way to who knows where. Jamie reached out, eyes filling up with tears and his hand unable to reach her.

"T-That's not my beautiful angel …"

"Maybe the direct approach wasn't such a good idea," said Starlight gravely.

"You think?" Rainbow remarked.

~~~~~~

Steven's arrival back to Little Homeworld went without a hitch, and the Dazzlings soon found themselves from a comfy-side wooden house, to a fairly busy future-esque city. Gems and Ponies were still as busy as ever, the production on the city still going and now just beyond 50% completion. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata checked out the whole place in their stroll, Sonata and Spinel enjoying the pineapple cake the whole time.

"I feel like we missed something big here. What's with the circus?" Aria questioned, admittedly weirded out by some of the Gems going about within. They were used to colorful horses, but these colorful weirdly-shaped people were just a little bit off to them, especially since they were once corrupted for the most part so they had a stranger look even for normal Gems.

"It's a long story, but the summery is that all these Gems used to be corrupted. But now, not ONLY are they healed, but they're making their lives free and independent right here in Little Homeworld. Here, what you want to do is you're own choice," Steven explained. It sure seemed like it.

"You're free to do what you want," repeated Adagio, actually finding the idea rather interesting. Spinel then hopped up in front of the trio.

"You bet! Take me for instance: back on Homeworld I was made to be lovable, innocent … stupid," the word Stupid made Spinel look annoyed actually, "But now here, I can actually be smart, and with my best friend."

"Huh. And I thought you had to be stupid to be lovable and innocent," Sonata wondered, thinking what she said wasn't controversial in the slightest.

"Then you're not doing it right," Aria commented.

"What do you know about comedy?" Sonata bickered.

"More than you do," Aria replied. Sonata and Aria were going to bicker on some more, but Adagio caught them quick this time and split them apart before they could go into another skirmish.

"Can't this wait until Steven shows us to our new home?" Adagio questioned, "You can complain all you want then."
Aria and Sonata decided to just drop it.

"Does this happen a lot?" Spinel asked.

"You have no idea," Adagio sighed. All of her time spent with them over the years was more than proof enough, and she didn't need to lie about THAT.

"Now, Steven. You were showing us to our home?" Adagio asked.

"Alright, alright, I think it's -"

"Steven!"

Before they could go any further, a new voice was heard off nearby the main town Warp Pad. Let's just say that Steven wasn't the only one with some special guests coming by Little Homeworld today, and when they looked, they saw Connie Maheswaran waving to Steven from the pad itself. Her company though was a little bit more of a surprise. You know, outside of Pearl, who was carrying some things for her as Pearls typically do.

"Oh, Connie!" Steven said, "tour's on hold for a second."
Steven happily went right over to Connie, the two going in for a good hug with eachother. Spinel meanwhile had the urge to join in on the hug, even hugging herself for a short bit, but the reason she didn't jump in to join them was because her focus shifted to the company that was with her. She brought not just a Pearl, but a small Draconequus, and one pure white figure in particular. This figure was clearly in a kind of "public disguise" in a way; a heavy looking brown coat, black sunglasses, and a large sun hat for her illuminating hair. Spinel felt a cold shiver run through her back … And in a way, that same figure started to feel uneasy too. The Dazzlings kinda did the same thing for the Draconequus.

"No. Way. Is that …"

Discord suffered no such problem, and joined the hug with Steven and Connie.

"It's so good to see the love doves pair up again during this time of year, isn't it?" Discord remarked. Pearl willingly (kind of willingly) pulled Discord away before the moment could be ruined.

"Hello Steven. I see you're ready to go already," White Diamond said.

"Uh, yeah but … what's with the disguise? We're all friends here, there's no need to hide," Steven inquired. White Diamond flustered, and tried to keep some of her hair more under the hat as a few of the Gems were looking over her way. Discord slid over by Steven.

"Eh, just let her do her thing. It was the only way to get her out of the barn," Discord simply said. It was such a struggle to even get her this far anyway.

"Great to see you, Steven. How's the cake coming along?" Connie asked.

"Actually it turned out great. My special guests love it, that's for sure," Steven replied, referring to Sonata mainly for she was still enjoying it to no end.

"Oh yeah, you did say you're bringing surprises. Who're they?" Connie asked.

"He told her about it?" Spinel thought, feeling left out. But rather than have Steven introduce them, Adagio decided to take one for the team and stepped forward first. Not as if the other two were wanting to anyway.

"Adagio Dazzle. And these are my sisters, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. You must be …" Adagio said, acting friendly, and holding out her hand. Connie shook her hand with a smile.

"Connie Maheswaran. Steven told me about you three: you girls met him while he was in Fairfax?" Connie asked.

"We had some fun at the ski resort. Well, until a giant spider showed up, but you know," Sonata answered with a full mouth. There was NO HIDING SECRETS with this girl! Adagio slapped her forehead in annoyance, as Aria just turned away. Did they have to improvise AGAIN?
Lucky for them, the focus shifted when Spinel actually went over towards Steven, feeling uncomfortable with who Connie brought with her.

"Buddy, can we uh have a private chit-chat for a second?" Spinel asked. Spinel technically didn't wait though, already kinda pulling Steven along away from them for a brief moment. Once they were at a seemingly safer distance.

"Steven? You didn't tell me … she'd be here," whispered Spinel, referring to White Diamond.

"Spinel, I didn't know she was gonna be here either," Steven insisted. However, Spinel was a little smarter than that, despite her goofiness. Steven caved in.

"Okay, I asked her to bring her here. But it's not as bad as you think, I promise."

"I believe you there. I mean, she clearly looks like she lost a few miles of height, but … are you sure this is a good idea? It's White Diamond," Spinel said. Steven looked back to White Diamond, who didn't really say a word and actually looked almost as uneasy about this as Spinel was.

"I know you and her didn't have the … best time ever. But she's really trying to be better now, we both know that right? Think about it, she wouldn't be here if she wasn't trying."

"Or she just couldn't go back without getting laughed at by everybody. I … don't know if I wanna go," Spinel said. Which actually didn't sound like a bad idea. Steven started to look more stern with her now.

"Spinel, everyone's been giving you a chance to make up for what you did, so why can't you do the same for White? You might've been put through a lot because of her, but she's been through a lot too. You're not the only one going through issues," Steven made clear, speaking from personal experience. Spinel though was not buying it.

"Oh yeah, the great "North Star" herself has been through worse than me. What'd she do, try to shatter herself or something?"

Spinel meant it as a joke and even chuckled at the idea, but Steven found himself clamming up on that response. Out of ALL things Spinel could've said, that was the most awkward one she could've said.

"... What? …" Spinel asked, feeling the awkwardness start to build up more and more, but before they could go any further, some of the others were off over to the two.

"Looks like we're having a nice conversation, now shall we be on our way to Canterlot? I heard wind they're gonna be making some Gingerbread houses, and that sounds delish right about now," Discord offered.

"Is everything okay here, guys?" Connie asked. Spinel and Steven were a bit hesitant to answer, especially when they both saw White Diamond again. Steven cleared his throat.

"Everything's fine guys," Steven answered, "Now, who's ready to go to Canterlot?"

"Wait. We're just … going? Right now, we're just going? … How?" Sonata asked, legitimately confused. It was one thing to teleport one place to another, but one world to another was a bit more complicated than that.

"Through the Warp Pad?" Steven answered, bringing their attention to the Warp Pad at the center of town. The Dazzlings, despite the seemingly easy answer, did have some doubts.

"Is that it? I don't know too much about magic, but I can guess traveling between worlds takes a LOT of it," Aria said, not exactly buying it.

"What magic? They're just built in. It's one of Gems' technology quirks, and this can be used by anybody," Connie explained. Well that would explain the Equestrian ponies casually walking around Little Homeworld. Adagio Dazzle actually looked very pleased. NO WAY was she passing this up.

"Well if that's all it takes, then let's be on our way. We can't make it by just standing here."

"Huh? Don't you want to see your house?" Steven asked.

"Oh, that can wait. It'd mean the world to us to see Equestria again," Adagio replied, seemingly eager to go back to Equestria. Spinel kept close to him, not only for White Diamond but for the Dazzlings as well.

"They're from Equestria?" Connie asked. Spinel simply nodded. They got all the time to explain to them later on once they get there.
Canterlot was waiting for no one today, and Steven took the lead in getting onto the Warp Pad. Well if they were going off to the celebration, then why waste anymore time in getting themselves there? Steven though could feel some bit of tension between not only Spinel and White Diamond, but strangely with the Dazzlings as well. Connie for one could already see it.

"Hey, Steven," Connie said, hand to his hand, "Let's have some fun today, okay? Happy Hearth's Warming."

"... Happy Hearth's Warming," Steven said.

And the Warp Pad went off. The group was off and on their way from Earth to Equestria, though it seemed most of them didn't realize that a snow-covered flower pot had heard exactly what was going on. Once they left, the "flower" slipped away.

~~~~~~

"What … the heck … was that?" Lapis thought, her head still pounding. She couldn't even focus on her terraforming properly, as whenever she tried to get back to molding the world to her image, her head would pound and make her stop. The water Gem tried to at least re-work her water tower outside of Beach City, but not near Brooding Hill. She just couldn't make it work.

"Keep it together, Lazuli. Something isn't right here … since seeing that thing …" just even thinking about it was making her head hurt. It was like something deep in the back of her mind was trying its best to actually speak to her, to tell her something important. But she was more concerned over how it was hurting her rather than what it means.

"It must've did something to me. I just got to keep away from whatever THAT was, and I should be alright. Now, just relax …" Lapis told herself. She took a very deep breath, and attempted to focus her energy on her work. With Jamie being pushed out of her head, the headache slowly started to fade away to just a minor sting, one that she could more properly handle.

"Now. … If I bring this over here like this … and bring this part upward a bit -"

"LAPIS, YOU OVER HERE?!"

Lapis felt herself curse something awful, again the call making her loose concentration. Who was there to bug her THIS TIME? The construct she was working with over by the water collapsed into a wave of cold water. At least this case she wasn't met by the ponies again (not yet), but she then saw another Gem come up. Fulgurite. And Fulgurite wasn't alone either, accompanied by a smaller passenger she was carrying on her back, and one floating above her with his hexagon disc.

Rather than answer, she raised her hand, and a huge water hand stopped Fulgurite, making her slam into the cold hand.

"You want to talk to anything, talk to that," remarked Lapis.

The ice hand was opened by a ice door.

"I'd rather talk to you," said a new, unfamiliar voice.

Not even a break. Lapis turned over, and sure enough there was Sapphire, her making a door out of her own barrier (she even had a doorknob and everything).

"I just want to work on my terraforming. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!" Lapis asked in agony. "Take whatever situation you have, and do it somewhere else. AWAY FROM ME."

"Told ya she's doesn't remember," Fulgurite whispered to Sapphire.

"Yeah. But you didn't mention how rejuvenated she actually got," Sapphire said, concerned with her determination to make this work.

"I can hear both of you, you know?" Lapis remarked.

"Easy, Lazuli, we just wanna talk for a second," Emerald said, not wanting to tango with her for a second time.

"No thank you. I got better things to do than talk to two Off-Color rejects."

Her words stung like bee stings.

"Don't make this personal, for stars' sake," Emerald muttered.

"I'll talk to her," Sapphire simply said. Sapphire was NOT approving any of this, but she could see that she got her mind pre-occupied about something. Without fear, Sapphire walked over to Lapis's side. At first Lapis and Sapphire didn't say much as Lapis kept working. Eventually though, the silence was too much.

Sapphire had a plan.

"Yes? …"

"I'm just admiring your work, that's all," Sapphire said, "The towers really compliments the décor, and you even lined up the surfaces like mirrors."

Lapis rolled her eyes. "Someone making you say that just to make me stop? Because it's not gonna work."

"Why would I stop creativity? That's bad parenting," Sapphire replied, "And from what I see … you're an excellent artist, Lazuli."

And just like that, Lapis actually began to relax a bit.

"... Oh. Well, thank you. Nice to hear someone appreciates me," Lapis said, actually feeling a bit better just from Sapphire's words. The ONE THING they didn't do, and Sapphire just did it. Fulgurite just slapped her forehead, as Emerald looked on in annoyance.

"I could easily make it look much better if I didn't have any distractions," Lapis added, referring to Fulgurite and Emerald.

"Can you now? I'd like to see that," Sapphire encouraged.

"Huh. Well, alright," Lapis said. She opened up her water wings, and she got right to work.
She pulled up more and more water from the sea, easily tons upon tons in a matter of minutes to work into the creation of hers. She even gotten a bit cocky, closing her eyes as she continued her work. Part of her kept driving her along her task to keep to her schedule, but another part of her was actually enjoying her work. Enjoying the art. Whether she meant it or not, and they began to tell that she was working it as more of an art piece than a actual construct. Could be Sapphire's compliments taking hold at this point, but the big construct looked more fluid and flowy.

"The heck, Sapphire? I thought you were -"

"Give her a minute to finish," Sapphire insisted to Emerald. Emerald had no idea where she was going with this, but as Lapis started to get more and more into the piece, something was starting to take shape. And by the time she finished ...

"You clever, clever pebble," Fulgurite remarked.

Guess who's head Lapis accidentally sculpted out of the water?

"No!" Lapis gasped, suddenly dropping the construct into the water all at once, making a wave of water crash along the shore, dousing them all in water. For some reason, Sapphire didn't budge from the impact, but Emerald and Fulgurite were hit to the wall. Sapphire smiled, but Lapis was flustering all over again, her head pounding.

"You didn't see any of that," Lapis said with a even bluer face, as she tried to re-work the construct how it should look.

"Sorry. I guess you had something else on your mind," Sapphire said. Lapis began to feel her headache again, losing concentration again but quickly tried shaking it off. That feeling again.

"That's none of your business, Sapphire. You're giving me a headache," Lapis remarked, feeling a little colder again. Sapphire took it in stride, and actually look impressed. Clearly something was working, but to keep Lapis from just flying off again Sapphire went back to the constructs.

"Alright, alright. … Still, imagine if you had an audience to appreciate what you're doing, instead of just sitting here all alone."

"Well, not everyone likes what I do. Something about sea animals, or whatever," Lapis said, not caring much for it. Sapphire turned to Lapis. Sapphire secretly signaled the other two nearby to join her in what she was about to say next.

"Why don't we find somewhere else then? I know some art-lovers from Canterlot who'd love stuff like this," Sapphire said.

Clever indeed.

"Canterlot, Canterlot … and where's that?"

Fulgurite, catching onto the idea, was the first to speak up as she slid into view of them both.

"Oh yeah, that's what we came to talk to ya about: we wanted to invite you to the Hearth's Warming shindig back in Canterlot. And trust me on this one, Lazuli, there's plenty of high-society people that would love to see you," Fulgurite explained. The moment she said "high-society" Lapis became more interested. For days she'd been stuck with grass, sand and dirt, and THAT was just the thing she could go for.

"You mean there are ACTUAL ARISTOCRATIC CUTS I can talk to? And you think they'll like my work too?"

"I don't foresee any doubt, but how about a water bouquet? The clarity would like that," Sapphire answered.

"C-Clarity?" gasped Lapis, imagining a very regal Gem accepting her "bouquet" with admiration. Lapis suddenly snapped out of it, and pulled some water out of the sea.

"What does a Bouquet look like? That pony's pet said something about it, let me see. A-Am I doing it right, I don't want to make any mistakes here," Lapis said, working the water to match the bouquet how she saw it. Fulgurite, Emerald, and Sapphire were honestly surprised how quick Lapis was going along with this, but they weren't complaining. Pretty soon, Lapis Lazuli got herself a finished bouquet of glistening ice flowers, wrapped gently in a watery bouquet paper.

"It looks perfect. Now there's a Warp Pad in the closest Gem settlement. It's operated by control panel. Set the coordinate to "Equus", and its the first castle on the mountainside. Enjoy the holiday."

"Yeah, sure, thanks," Lapis said, opening her wings and already taking off to her "home". The three waited until Lapis Lazuli was far enough out of sight.

"Did I forget to say how happy I am you're back, Sapphire?" Emerald said.

"So don't tell me, Sapphy," added Fulgurite," we go fetch Jamie for the Hearth's Warming festival?"

"No need: Starlight will already be taking him there to cheer up his broken heart. Let's just go and enjoy the holiday," Sapphire said, starting to walk on her way.

Good enough for them.

…….

"Did I do good, Mr. Grogar?" asked Sumu, once she finally got herself back to Grogar's army and their location. It was always harder during winter for any plant to stay awake, and Sumu was feeling just a bit tired in trying to stay up and atom like Grogar wanted her to. The ram did look pleased.

"Very good, lass. So Steven is going off to celebrate "Hearth's Warming" in Canterlot, is he? And with quite the company too," Grogar said, pacing back and forth as he thought about what to exactly to do. This time there was quite an audience by him: Nichrome, Tempest, Stubby, Bray, and Budgerite in this case. And at this point, his entire current line of high-ranking members.

"Hearth's Warming," wondered Bray, "Should I know what that is?"

"It's a pony-esque celebration over the "Fire of Friendship", and how it united all three pony races and how Equestria became something. In other words, it's ANOTHER holiday showing how happy everything is so Windigos don't kill everypony," Tempest explained, not entirely thrilled over what should be a grand holiday to her.

"Another holiday? GAG, I REALLY wonder how ponies get anything done with a party every week," Nichrome remarked, finding the idea both stupid and somewhat gag-worthy. However, Grogar was actually snickering.

"On the contrary, Nichrome. It's perfect," Grogar decided.

"Sir?" questioned Nichrome.

"Think about it: a holiday during winter, the coldest time of year. Nights grow longer, snow grows colder, and yet everypony up in Canterlot's too busy hanging treelights, and cooking their sweet sweet cookies. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"... You're sounding WAY too evil for what you just said, care to explain?" Budgerite asked, Bray and Stubby nodding in agreement. Grogar stepped forward, making them move back.

"Course you don't get it. What I mean is that they'll be so busy with this celebration, they won't even have the time to set up any defenses. No one at their posts, no one setting any alarm, not even anything to attack with!"

"That's always one problem with ponies: they'll put so much effort in celebrating and party time when there's so much more they could be doing for themselves. Like decent ways to guard your house," Tempest remarked, actually sounding almost disgusted with the idea. No one really can say she was wrong, since the Unicorn could probably think of several moments off the top of her head with how much Equestria's been put under siege, with the guards doing JACK.

"Soooo what're you suggesting exactly?" asked Bray.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I demand that you all prepare yourselves for our assault on Canterlot. Once we overthrow the remaining Alicorn and the leading White Diamond herself, Equestria AND Homeworld will be ours!"

"Eh, not to damper the mood my king Grogar, really I don't wanna, but didn't Storm try to take over Canterlot already?" Budgerite inquired. Grogar turned to her, inches from her face.

"That fool thought he could do it without my aid, and took that gamble … AND LOST. Unless you all think you can do it without me."

"NOPE, not me!" chirped Budgerite.

"Nu-uh!" added Bray, shaking his head quickly.

"I'm good too!" Stubby added.

"Good. Captains, inform the troops. We invade by nightfall, when everypony is asleep," Grogar instructed. Tempest and Nichrome both bowed before him and went off to do just that before the ram looked to whoever remained.

"Budgerite, Bray, Stubby, Sumu. You four are gonna mess with their heads a bit. Sumu, didn't you say that Pink Diamond had something involved with them?" Grogar asked. Sumu nodded.

"I think so. Something about how she lied to everyone, stood up against her other Diamonds, and kinda made an entire war happen. … At least, I think she did," Sumu said, trying to remember that story correctly. Grogar though was already in his own plan to give her time to think.

"Use that. They still got some complicated things with that Pink Stone, and I want to use that against them. Make it blunt, put on a show, I don't care how, just be sure they DON'T get too comfortable. And strike them where it hurts. Got it?"

"Got it!" Stubby, Bray, and Budgerite said … before they all walked into eachother.

"Hey!" said Budgerite.

"Hay's for ponies!" Bray remarked back.

"Bicker later, go now!" Grogar demanded. THAT was enough to get Stubby, Bray, and Budgerite running off on their way. All that was left was Sumu and Grogar by that point.

"Anything else I can do?" Sumu asked.

"Go with those three stooges, help em however you can. Make sure they get it right," Grogar simply instructed. Sumu nodded, and rather than "move", she just shriveled away as her conscious moved somewhere else. Grogar had his own plans for the upcoming invasion on Canterlot, but his sights were far more focused. One hybrid will make it all worth it in his eyes.

"STEVEN …"

~~~~~~

Canterlot. Just before the big day of the year. Despite their initial setback thanks to the Storm King, Canterlot had recovered pretty quickly and the whole kingdom looked simply splendid. By the time Steven's company arrived into town, they were all greeted with festive lights, and a few banners to boot.

"Wow, look at all this! How much is here?" said Spinel, checking everything out.

"A lot. Equestrians LOVE to celebrate, they always bring their best," Connie explained, just as some of the ponies of Canterlot were finishing up their decorating for the day by hanging up some red bows along the windows of the nearest shop.

"Canterlot hasn't changed much," remarked Aria to the other Dazzlings.

"I know," agreed Sonata, "They're still using white blocks for the castle?"

If there was a time to go off though, Adagio found this to be the perfect time. After some walking, Steven turned to the others.

"Sweet, we're still early," said Steven, "So what do you guys want to do first? We can go check on some snowmen, build some gingerbread houses, or -"

"Actually, Steven, me and my sisters are just going to explore on our own for a while. Take in the sights, see what we've missed," Adagio decided.

"Oh. You sure?"

"Yeah. We wanna take some time to get to know Canterlot again," Adagio said. Before Steven could get another word in, she got Aria and Sonata moving away from the main crowd, and off on their way through Canterlot. A bit sudden, though Spinel at least felt a bit safer now. Flint didn't have to worry about those three if they weren't around.

"Okay, what do the rest of you wanna do?" Steven then inquired. White Diamond cleared her throat.

"Well you might have to explain this uh … holiday to me, Steven. I'm not entirely familiar with this custom that much," White Diamond requested.

"A GOOOOD question!"

"AAHH!"
Out of NOWHERE, though they probably should've expected it given who actually showed up, one grand party pony Pinkie Pie of the hour came right up from a passing basket of reefs, springing out in a confetti and streamer explosion to see the group herself. Pinkie was looking very festive herself, now wearing a reef around her neck and with red, green, and white confetti in her mane and tail. Some bits of confetti got onto the others.

"Happy Hearth's Warming!" announced Pinkie Pie, her hooves stretched out and giving Connie, and Steven a great big hug, strong but gentle and full of joy. Now, THIS TIME Spinel was having a little more trouble keeping herself back, but Pinkie Pie only needed one look and smiled.

"Don't think I'm forgetting about you, c'mere Spinny," Pinkie said, her hoof out and pulling Spinel in for a hug too. Spinel's eyes sparkled. There was something special with Pinkie Pie's hugs, though she couldn't put a finger on it. Eventually though the hug was released, the pink mare checking out who they brought with them, immediately seeing Discord, Pearl, and White Diamond with them.

"Okay, your turn. Hearth's Warming hugs for everyone!" Pinkie said, White Diamond stepping back as the mare jumped and gave her a hug too. Her entire head turned from white to pink, and even a little red almost immediately as if the hug was warming her up. White Diamond patted the mare on the head.

"Sooo, you want to know about Hearth's Warming, I hear?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"W-Well … in a way," White Diamond said. Pinkie Pie released her and sprung off of her and to the front of the group.

"Sure thing. But first … Presents!" Pinkie revealed. The pink mare had a LOT of retainer, going about the group with a lot of gifts, one for each of them, and colored as brightly and as pretty as ever. They didn't even question where the present even came from, at least not at first, as some were more eager to see what was inside the gift. Steven, Spinel, and Connie were the first to open their gifts.
Spinel got herself a warm, cozy looking sweater stitched by Rarity herself, with a lot of white fluff along the neck and a lovely color of festive green with cute little stars along the coat like rings. It felt so soft~
Steven got something a little more close to home from his childhood: a Cookie Cat plushie, this one with a space suit and helmet included too.
As for Connie ...

"Oh my gosh! The latest "Unfamiliar Familiar" sequel edition?! How, I thought they weren't gonna be released until next year," Connie gasped, not believing her eyes. Pinkie smiled.

"I may have hinted about it in my letter to the author. And she was very happy to give you the first edition," Pinkie said with a wink.

"Uh. Thank you?" White Diamond said, opening her gift. The gift looked … confusing, and looked like a space-techy thing. The galaxy represented as a wind up toy. "... What is it?"

"I stopped by Bismuth's forge and got her to whip up a model of the Galaxy, Steampunk-style. Why, ya don't like it?" Pinkie asked.

"No, no, of course not, that would be silly of me. Besides, judging anything based on appearance is WRONG," White Diamond insisted. For some reason the word wrong she REALLY tried to push out.

"By the way, where's everyone else? I thought they're gonna be here with you," asked Connie.

"Oh that, they all off on their own Holiday Adventure with Lapis and Jamie since they started hanging out together again. But don't worry, we got it covered, you all can focus on your holiday-based episode today," Pinkie Pie said.

"That's good, thanks," Steven said. That was another bit of responsibility not hanging over his head, so that was all good. Then the pink mare looked over to White Diamond.

"As for the presents, it's not always what the gift is that matters, it's what the gift means!" Pinkie explained.

"What it means. Oh, you mean function," White said.

"Nope, it's about how it makes you feel!" Pinkie said, suddenly holding a small toy, "A small toy can mean "I love you!" -" she then held onto Connie's book briefly, "-Or a good book can mean "Have a nice day!" -" and after giving the book back, she then had a scarf, "- A scarf can mean … well, usually that means "you look cold" That one's easy."

"I … don't think I follow," White Diamond said.

Then something seemed to trigger something from the pink mare. Before the mare could speak, her tail started to quiver. Next her legs started to shiver. And next thing they knew Pinkie Pie was shaking like crazy, a gasp escaping the mare before a smile returned to her face.

"Pinkie, w-what's wrong? Something going to fall, is there something crazy about to happen?" Steven immediately asked, looking around. But nothing seemed to happen, and Pinkie looked very cheery still.

"NOPE! If a doozy's about to happen I go all bouncy, and then I get all SUPER DUPER SHAKY. THIS time it's a tail twitchy, leg shaky, and THEN I get all super duper shaky."

"Which means …" Connie asked.

"That means a SONG IS COMING OOONNN!~"

"This should be good," Discord said with a smirk.

Without wasting anymore time, Pinkie Pie got the entire group moving on through Canterlot, feeling more festive than ever now that a great big musical number was about to begin. And what better time for one than on Hearth's Warming itself, not to mention everything looking so festive to begin with. Pinkie of course lead the group at this point, her trotting in tune to the song she was about to sing, and the music playing along with her.

Pinkie; Take a look at everything around you
All the smells that surely will astound you

The first stop they've seen was by the edge of town square, where some ponies were hanging up some Hearth's Warming Bells, them even ringing a little to the music and adding some extra chime to the song. Nothing wrong with some bells a ringin'

Pinkie; Open up your heart, it will surround you
In the magic of Hearth's Warming Eve

Pinkie Pie sprung up and tossed the reef she had around her neck, and got it around White Diamond's head, knocking off her hat but the reef looking like a necklace. Not too bad really, and still festive. The group soon got off to the main town square, seeing many a pony doing all sorts of things for the holiday, but the overall feel was still welcoming. And there were so many examples all over Canterlot for what this holiday meant. The first one was a kind pony giving a cold young mare some warm hot cocoa.

Pinkie; The little things that make it better

Another example was a group of fillies and colts singing a carol for a elderly mare.

Pinkie; Little children spreading cheer

Next one was from Pinkie Pie herself with some more stuff to give. Namely, as apart of her next set of lyrics, she gave a young filly a doll, a hug to a sad-looking stallion, and an older mare a warm fluffy coat.

Pinkie; Give a toy, a hug, a sweater
Memories that last all year

The mare brought her attention over to the group again, singing along once more. Though this pink mare wanted the others to join in with her, so in Pinkie Pie fashion, she got on some tap-dancing shoes on Spinel, Steven, and Connie.

Pinkie; The present's always filled with presents
Large, medium, and small
Sometimes the most important things
Aren't very big at all

What catchy tune was complete without a dance number? Pinkie Pie took the lead and did a few good tap-dancing steps to start things off. Steven and Connie, being more familiar to these dancing cues were soon to join in on the fun and started tap-dancing away. Steven did it the best out of the three, and while Connie was a little bit slower, Spinel tried joining in but was a bit sloppy. She nearly fell over her own feet but was caught by Steven and brought back to her feet to re-join the dancing. Good timing too, because now it was Steven's turn to sing as he and Spinel continued dancing.

Steven; What a party, there's so much to see here
Can't believe you didn't want to be here
You'd have had a blast, I guarantee here
This is the spirit of Hearth's Warming Eve

Steven went on with his dance some more, and conveniently there was somepony passing out cups of hot chocolate, which Steven gleefully took a few, passing them about to those not apart of the song.

Steven; Cocoa's flowing, this is living
Come on and feel the beat

Pinkie; Life is better when you're giving
Each time you do it feels so sweet

During this whole ordeal, they weren't completely left alone. Hidden away, just off out of sight, the Dazzlings actually didn't go that far away, and found themselves watching the whole musical number play out hidden away. Only Sonata really seemed to enjoy it though, as the group in the open continued with the song.

Pinkie; The present's always filled with presents
So come on, open your eyes
Spend time with ponies just like you
And watch your spirits rise

Steven; The present's always filled with presents
Take a look around
The reason for the holiday
Is quite easily found

Pinkie+Steven; Yes, the reason for the holiday
Is quite easily found

"And the reason is to be with your friends!" finished Pinkie Pie, the song concluding with an explosion of confetti. Even if they weren't apart of the song, a good crowd did give their applause for the performance they all made. Pearl also joined in the applauding, but mainly out of principal: her master was up and performing, why would she NOT applaud?

"Excellent performance, Mrs. Maheswaran!" Pearl called.

"Thank you, Pearl," replied Connie.

"What're we waiting for?!" Spinel beamed, holding onto Steven's arm, "Holiday's are here, let's do something with it!"

"Ok, ok, easy Spinel we got all day AND tomorrow," Steven said. "... but there's still a lot of cookies that're begging to be eaten."

"Okie dokie lokie! Now if you excuse me, I gotta get back to the others before they start wondering where I've been for the past half an hour. See ya!" And with that, Pinkie Pie bolted off on her way. Her purpose of showing White Diamond what the holiday was about was now completed. They'll probably meet up with her later.

"Okay, we've done our holiday musical, let's go and see what the rest of the holiday has to offer," decided Steven.

"Lead the way. I wanna get into this holiday," Spinel said, staying right next to him with her signature big grin.

…….

"Me too! Happy -"

"Keep it down," Adagio demanded, pulling Sonata away before they could be seen out in the open. "You want to ruin the plan?"

"No. … What's that again?" Sonata asked.

"You can never keep track of anything," Aria groaned, "To get our magic back."

"... OH YEAH. But I thought you said -"

"Forget what I said, listen to what I'm saying. Not ONLY are we back in Equestria, but we're in Canterlot - the heart of magic. As soon as we find out the source of our magic, we'll get back our power, and this world will be at our mercy in no time. It's just a question of how," Adagio concluded.

"And as soon as we start getting our magic back, we'll just get banished back to the Human World again," Aria remarked.

"NOT if we keep a low profile and have Steven on our good side. If anyone asks, we're just a group of Human friends stopping by for the holidays. Okay?"

"But I don't want to be a Human anymore. I can't even fly," Sonata complained. Aria and Adagio just gave Sonata a sort of a long look.

"... How about this? Sonata, just act like you're lost, okay," Adagio decided.

"That can't be too hard," Aria remarked.

"Okay, I can do that. I'm lost most of the time anyway," Sonata said. Adagio and Aria didn't answer her there, and just walked off to try and work this out, dragging Sonata away with them. They got a bit of work to do to figure something like this out. The sooner they can regain their singing and magic source, the sooner domination can -

*HE-HAW!*

"Who's that?" wondered Sonata.

"Just ignore it," Adagio replied.

Easier said than done though, as all three then started to hear a loud bang from not too far away, not to mention a stray paint can just rolling on into view.

"What the heck, Bray?!"

"Hey, YOU try tying knots with hooves, you'd find it's not as easy as it looks!"

Curiosity got the better of the three. Looking passed the next corner a ways, and avoiding getting paint on them, the trio of Dazzlings saw that they weren't the only odd ones out in Canterlot today. Off in the back of one of the buildings in town, Bray, Budgerite, Stubby, and Sumu were together and getting to work on … well, something, the Dazzlings weren't sure what. A lot of work, whatever it is, mainly involved in making some props for what they could assume to be some form of show. And Bray and Budgerite had to pull themselves out of a mess of rope, Budgerite getting out quicker than Bray did.

"Why're we doing this again? Grogar said to make Steven uncomfortable, didn't he?" Sumu asked, confused a little bit.

"I know, he also said we can do whatever we want to do that, and I WILL NOT let that slip by. Why'd you think we've been making the Candle Queen look so familiar, huh?" Budgerite said, pointing to a rather large looking figure made entirely of wood.

"Huh. …"

"LAY OFF, ROPE, go bind something else," Bray said at one point, getting very frustrated and incapable of getting the rope off of his tangled mess.

"Wait, wait, hold still," Stubby said, getting his teeth on one part of the rope and tried pulling it off like a dog to a chew toy, tugging and pulling as much as he could.

"I swear, this rope's trying to strangle me!" Bray yelled, tumbling and struggling to even stay on his hooves. It was sad, really. Budgerite tried helping him out too, but Sumu mainly was just watching the stooges do their business. Until she saw the secondary stooges standing not too far away, which Stubby was unknowingly backing right into.

"Got a problem, mutt?" Aria remarked.

One look at the three humans, and …

"WE'RE FOUND OUT!" Stubby shrieked, the rope whiplashing right back at Bray, whipping him right in the flank. After another loud *HE-HAW*, he actually bolted out of the rope, free. But hurt. As Bray handled his flank, Stubby bolted right back to the others, getting some distance between himself and the Humans that just randomly showed up.

"Uh-uh-uh-what're you doing here, this is public property you're not allowed here!" Budgerite suddenly squawked.

"But aren't they the public?" Sumu asked.

"Okay, calm down," Adagio said, hands raised in submission, "Me and my sisters are just passing by and were just checking on the noise, making sure things are okay."

"We're cool over here, both literally and not-literally," said Bray, "Just fought a rope that tried to bull-tie me, no big deal."

"Is that what that was?" Aria snobbishly remarked, unimpressed by the so-called "fight".

"Anyway, why don't you three just run along and we'll wrap up things here?" Budgerite insisted, trying to push the Dazzlings away. This sort of worked for Adagio and Aria, but Sonata slipped by Budgerite and looked more focused on the large being in the back. It was enough to actually make her snicker.

"What even IS THIS? It looks just terrible!" Sonata chuckled.

"I worked all morning on that thing," snapped Bray, jumping at the blue girl for insulting all the work he put into it.

"Which is why we should keep working on it before the show," Budgerite said, quickly going over to Sonata and pushing her along towards her sisters so all three can just go on their way. Sonata was pulled over by Aria.

"Can't you just stop being dumb for once?" Aria questioned.

"That's not dumb, that's curious! There's a difference," Sonata retorted.

"Hard to tell with you," Aria replied, releasing Sonata and letting her fall. Adagio didn't need dumb and dumber making anyone suspicious, so she stood in between her sisters and Budgerite to get the half Gem's attention.

"Ignore them, they act like this all the time. We're not here to make any trouble, we're just a trio of Humans visiting on Steven's behalf, so if you want us to leave, then we'll go do that." Adagio promised.

"...…. You're humans?" Budgerite asked, legitimately confused.

"Yeah, clearly," Aria said.

"And … Steven invited you here. Steven Steven?" concluded Stubby.

"Yes, indeed. We're all friends here."

…

"Give me the rope," Budgerite quickly instructed.

"Huh?" said Sonata. Bray was already on it and threw the rope to Budgerite, who quickly tackled Adagio to the ground, and worked the rope to tie her up. They were so blind-sided, they hardly had time to react. Next thing they knew, Aria, Adagio, and Sonata were tied up and tossed together over by the nearest wall.

"Good going, Adagio," Aria groaned.

"Shut up, what did I even do?" Adagio groaned, just before Budgerite slapped on some gags over the Dazzlings' mouths.

"Oh great, great, GREAT, NOW what're we gonna do?! Guys, any ideas?" Stubby asked.

"Give me a second, this just happened! Obviously we can't let em go, they'll rat on us to Steven," Budgerite said, struggling to figure out what to do with these three. It was risky all together, but they weren't taking any chances. Adagio though was a bit intrigued by that herself. They sure didn't sound like Steven's friends ...

"Rats? That doesn't sound too bad."

"That means they're gonna tell Steven about us being here, SUMU."

"Oh. I still don't see the problem," Sumu shrugged.

"You don't get it plant! No one's supposed to know we're here, and if we screw this up, Grogar's gonna make me cry! You don't wanna see me cry, do you?" Bray yelped, looking very scared about it himself.

Sumu gasped in surprise. "No!"

"Mmmm! MMMPH!"

The four looked over to Adagio, who while joining the other three in trying to get free, actually was trying to speak passed the bind in her mouth.

"Not now, Human, we're thinking here," Bray said.

"Well think of something, donkey, before -"

"Before what? Budgerite?"

Budgerite gulped on the voice, and felt even more cold when they all saw a shadow from one of the rooftops. Sure enough, next thing they knew, the king of Tambalon himself leaped down to confront the four.

"G-G-Grogar! Y-You're here already?" Budgerite stuttered.

"I am, lass. … And what do you call this?" Grogar questioned, taking one look to the three Humans tied up in knots. The sight of Grogar made the trio halt in their efforts, the tyrant of a ram moving towards them. Sonata looked the most freaked out.

"A trio of Steven's friends," Bray said, "but we got them tied up, we just wanted to know … what to do with them?"

Adagio had to go through some good handiwork before she finally forced the bind out of her mouth, letting her breathe and talk properly.

"Wait a minute, I think there's some misunderstanding here," Adagio said.

"What misunderstanding, you JUST SAID you were friends with Steven Universe," Stubby said from behind Grogar.

"No, wait, just hear me out. Maybe we can work something out … something with Steven in mind, perhaps?" Adagio suggested, smirking.

"HA! You think we're just gonna keel over because -"

"HOLD! … I will hear them," Grogar decided. All of Grogar's subjects moved out of his way, as he stood right in front of Adagio, staring her eye to eye.

"But if I don't like what I hear. Then you'll share his fate. Agreed?"

"Mmm?" Sonata asked.

"You won't regret it," reassured Adagio.

"We'll see about that …"

~~~~~~

Despite all of this festivities though, one particular new arrival to Canterlot had a more direct goal in mind, as she flew in from the sky above.

"Finally," Lapis thought, "Some more familiar ground. The Terraforming on Earth can wait just one day. At last, I'm in a place where I can be with my own people instead of being surrounded by those -"

And then Lapis Lazuli actually landed. She did not see any Gems anywhere. The only thing she saw were aristocratic ponies, not anything remotely like her. … Well okay, they were dressed the part, albeit somewhat festive but that was about it. She didn't dare try to wreck her bouquet, but …

"You kidding me?" Lapis grumbled. She felt like she had been … well, had. At least she can say they were aristocratic on some way, so this wasn't as bad as they figured it would be. They looked clean at least.
With her now standing there, looking around, one of the ponies among town took notice of her arrival. The ponies sure looked fancy in their own way, especially the stallion with his almost full body tuxedo suit with golden buttons and a purple bow tie, monocle over his eye, white gleaning fur and his blue mane and tail that almost seemed to glisten in the sun it was so well-kept.
Joining him was a mare of equal status, a slim unicorn with a flowing light pink mane and tail that almost flowed down her head like a waterfall.

"Well, they look the part at least," Lapis thought.

"Oh, it's you is it? Lapis Lazuli of the Harmony Gems," said the stallion, going over to her, "The pleasure's all mine to be seeing you this holiday season."

"Well spoken too," Lapis thought again, though the Harmony Gems being mentioned did bother her head again for whatever reason.

"L-Likewise. Um … Have we met before?"

"Oh, yes of course. Fancy Pants, my dear. And this is my mistress, Fleur de Lis," Fancy Pants introduced. Fleur smiled to her, though Lapis didn't really know too much about these "Harmony Gems" or whatever that was. She just cleared her throat.

"Right," she said, putting on one of those fake smiles, "Well, I'm mainly here for one "Princess". I want to show her these, so if you could just tell me where she is."

Lapis then presented the bouquet of flowers to the two ponies, showing them what kind of gift she had in mind. Fulgurite did mention they would like such a thing, and it only took them a little look to show impressment and surprise, Fancy Pants readjusting his monocle.

"My word, this would make a perfect gift for the princesses. I must ask, where'd you get these?" asked Fleur, admiring the work. Lapis had to hold back a groan from the question.

"Get them nothing, I made these myself," Lapis corrected. Fleur realized her mistake.

"You made them! Oh, sorry about that, Ms. Lazuli. I do have to say, you've made such a beautiful bouquet. The princesses would simply adore it."

"Y-You think so? It takes a lot to get this right, and I wanted it to look its best," Lapis said, pretending that it took a lot of time over the literal seconds to make it work.

"Oh, no doubt in our mind," agreed Fancy Pants. "Ice flowers are always so difficult to make, but you make it look so easy."

"Well the tops are the hardest part. Just ask ANY terraformer," Lapis said, referring to the flower buds themselves.

"I personally find the stems hardest myself. They can be so fragile," said Fancy Pants, looking at Lapis Lazuli's flower stems. To each its own.

"Right. … So, uh, the princesses?" Lapis asked again. She had her priority to handle.

"Oh, the princesses would be in the castle, right over there. The rest of the Harmony Gems I've heard are helping them out with decorating the castle anyway," Fancy Pants pointed out, pointing to the main castle of Canterlot.
That word again. Lapis felt her head start to ache, making her grunt a little bit.

"Huh? You alright?"

"No I'm fine, Thank you, happy holiday, I gotta go," Lapis said quickly, ready to go and walk along her way again.

"And a Happy Hearth's Warming to you, madam," said Fancy Pants, before he and Fleur de Lis went off to enjoy the holiday some more. Lapis felt comfortable for the first time in days, taking off off towards the castle. With her head a little achy though, she took some more mental notes.

"Come on, not again. What's wrong with my head now, I'm not thinking about that one thing this time! What making my head hurt now?" Lapis thought, hand to her as she tried to calm down the headache she was gaining. However, her thinking of Jamie alongside the Harmony Gems made her migraine even worse, to the point when she actually had to stop walking altogether, and try to take a few breaths. She placed her bouquet down nearby, and brought both hands to her head, pressing into it and trying to will out the pain.

"Stop hurting! I'm not doing anything wrong," Lapis thought through gritted teeth. She had to think about something else - ANYTHING else, her fingers going through her hair and actually messing it up a little bit. In this headache though, there was something else going through her head.

Visions. They were very quick, but Lapis actually slapped herself to make them stop. After calming down, she began to reconcile. Something in her head … her memory …
Angry and still hurting, Lapis Lazuli got out her wings and started flying fast, forgetting her bouquet of flowers she left behind on the snow-covered ground. She had other priorities to handle before she'll poof from her migraine. Her flight path was fast, and swift as she looked around Canterlot from fifty feet into the sky for her answer.

"Where is that thing?" She thought through a mix of gritting teeth and clenched fists. At first in her flight around she couldn't find him anywhere, just lots of ponies and maybe a familiar Gem or two following her way, but no Jamie in her sights.

And soon she found him. He was still feeling grim over what happened earlier by the looks of it, the ponies trying to make him at least somewhat better. Lapis was too far away to hear what they were doing, but she didn't care. She started diving towards them, at full speed.

"Maybe we can go and find a tree to decorate, what do you say?" offered Starlight.

"No thanks. My broken heart can't be mended by sugar," Jamie sighed.

"JAMIE!" shouted Lapis Lazuli.

"L-Lapis?!" exclaimed Jamie, the whole group soon seeing her diving towards them. As if her headache wasn't enough, seeing the same guy again felt like she just got shot in the head. She wasn't stopping. Starlight and Rarity both quickly jumped to create a shield, but Lapis Lazuli fell down just a bit too fast.
Then came the hit: Jamie and Lapis tumbled together for a good several feet, spinning and spinning and rolling down the road until both of them finally stopped altogether, Jamie laying on his back and Lapis on top of him. Two stunned people, running into eachother unexpectedly.

In a yelp, Lapis jumped off of Jamie, right back on her feet as Jamie was left stunned more than hurt from the tackle. Fortunately, the ponies quickly went over to him, some guarding him from Lapis and some helping him back up.

"Hold it you, you keep away from him if you're gonna crash him like that!" insisted Rainbow. Friend or not, she was ready to fight. Lapis though didn't care for it.

"This. Is between. US." Lapis raised her hands up, and the snow around them turned to water which grabbed any and all ponies in her sights, throwing them aside so it was only her and Jamie. Jamie got up to his feet, alarmed.

"Lapis, calm down please. Y-You still upset about our last encounter? Don't worry, my heart is already shattered -" Lapis kept her gaze lowered a bit and halted Jamie's talking when she gripped his shoulders. And what did she say next?

"... You started this … NOW FIX IT!"

"...…. C-Can you be more specific, please?" Jamie asked meekly. Lapis went from holding him by the shoulders to holding him by the collar, freaking him out even more.

"Ever since earlier today, since you were dragged to me by those colored clumps of dirt -"

"Uncalled for!" called Rarity.

"- My head has been in a constant cycle of pain. Pounding, banging, over and over again, it's driving me mad! And each time it only involved you. Images are constantly appearing in my head each and every time, I don't even recall doing any of it! CLEARLY you did something to me, and you WILL make this stop. NOW!" Lapis explained, her anger driven by said headache, which kept growing from just looking at Jamie.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, I would never hurt you!" insisted Jamie. Lapis heard that last part echo in her head, and a strong migraine hit made her not only release Jamie, but drop the ponies as well.

"Oh no, Lapis you okay?" gasped Fluttershy, as Lapis had to step back and try to regather herself.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop -" Lapis kept repeating this to herself the more she kept feeling that pounding in her head. It was enough to make the water Gem start to lose her footing, but despite being pinned down just moments earlier, Fluttershy got herself behind Lapis to help keep her balanced, holding her behind her arms.

"Hang on, maybe I can calm her down," Starlight said, trotting over to her, her horn glowing. Lapis's head was soon wrapped in a soothing aura. It took a while, but eventually Lapis did slowly start to calm down as her headache began to fade away slowly. It was still there by the time Starlight Glimmer stopped, but it was far more manageable this time, leaving Lapis breathing heavily, eyes wide open.

"Lapis Lazuli …?" Jamie hated to see his angel in pain, but Lapis quickly turned around, NOT looking at him and NOT triggering anymore of her headache.

"Whatever you did, just go ahead and fix it. Make it quick," Lapis simply said, keeping her eyes aimed away from Jamie.

"B-But I don't know what I did … Not that I won't try, I'd hate to see you like this."

"I don't care what you want, just fix this so I can move on with my existence. I don't want to keep seeing you in my head any longer," Lapis demanded, getting impatient. As far as she was concerned, Jamie was just stalling time. Jamie could feel his heart shrivel in his chest on such cold words, but the more they thought about it, the more the idea was starting to give them a hypothesis to what was really going on.

"Wait. Lapis, what visions keep appearing?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know," Lapis remarked, "But they keep either involving you or some Harmony -" Lapis stopped when the headache began to come back, only this time the other ponies were quicker to react this time, and some soothing magic kept her from stumbling off her feet again.

"Ok, Lapis, don't freak out again," insisted Starlight.

"It's NOT my fault," Lapis insisted. After calming her down, Starlight began to work out her own hypothesis.

"Hey, Lapis? I'm not an expert on how the mind works, but I think your mind's trying to tell you something," Starlight pointed out.

"You mean something's trying to remind her?" Fluttershy wondered.

"Maybe. I mean, it's a little bit coincidental that the trigger words are either "Jamie" or "Harmony"," Starlight said. The unicorn covered her mouth quick, but Lapis suddenly felt a headache again.

"What are you trying to do?" Lapis groaned. The group began to see where Starlight was coming from.

"Alright, Lapis Lazuli, just one question before we attempt anything. Have you tried um … letting them happen?" Rarity asked. Lapis couldn't believe what they just said.

"You mean you DON'T KNOW how to fix this?"

"No, not at all, but maybe this might be a good thing," Rarity said. Lapis wasn't buying it for a second, but everyone else could see exactly what she was talking about.

"No, I'm not that stupid to let it happen," Lapis simply answered.

Shortly after that, Lapis simply stood there, back turned, as the group of ponies and one Human started talking about what to do here. She didn't want to hear anything else, so while she stood there she covered her ears to block any trigger words out. She did NOT need yet another painful migraine today if she could help it. Still, eventually she felt someone tap her shoulder, letting her take her hands of her ears.

"Can you turn around? Just for a second please? We want you to look at something," asked Fluttershy.

"... Fine," Lapis said.

Then she turned around, but she kept her eyes shut.

"Uh … eyes open?" Rainbow asked.

"Grrr, fine. … One … two … three."

Now her eyes were open, she saw the ultimate trigger. Jamie standing there, but she also saw the hologram of the Harmony Gems standing right with him! She recognized some of the Gems like Bismuth, Fulgurite, or Flint, but Starlight made sure to include a few more Gems in such as Pearl, Amethyst, and even Garnet and a younger Steven.

The sight immediately made Lapis jump back, holding her head as the pounding started to come back.

"No, Lapis, just breathe and relax," insisted Rarity, "everything will be okay. We wouldn't do this just to hurt you, I swear it's going to help."

"How long are you GOING TO TOY WITH ME?!" Lapis yelled, her water wings out and ready to attack them all. This alone made everyone start to move back, and they all thought she was going to either fly away or charge right at them. They didn't want to go this far, but Starlight had to make it quick.

"Sorry, Lapis," Starlight breathed, before she focused her magic on something else, and conjured up the one thing that changed Lapis's life more than anything else. The VERY FIRST thing.

A small. Handheld. Mirror.

"S-Starlight! Put that away!" gasped Rarity in shock.

"Too much?" Out of all the things she could've conjured up, this was by far the last thing they needed right now. Lapis saw her reflection in the mirror, seeing how angry, and in pain she was in, and Lapis actually grabbed it. Holding it, and staring at her own reflection. Did she really look like that? So anger-filled, and pain-driven?

"Eh, Lapis? You with us, buddy?" asked Rainbow Dash. But Lapis didn't say anything, just looking to the mirror more, the silence filling the air. The water wings even fell onto the snow-covered ground, not even retracting in her gemstone.

"...…. This ……. this mirror …" Lapis gently placed her hand onto the surface, feeling the smooth cold surface of her own reflection. Her migraine, which was what got her here in the first place, almost seemed to stop immediately as she just looked into the mirror.

…

Something began happening.

Lapis only blinked once, and suddenly she was somewhere else completely. Canterlot was nowhere, the ponies and Jamie weren't anywhere either. All she saw now was herself, her body in pure blue, and the once small mirror now growing to a human-sized fullbody mirror. Looking into the mirror, Lapis saw someone standing there. She could say it was herself, but there was something different with her. Could be the outfit he was wearing, could be the brighter color of his skin, could just be his smile.
Either way, Lapis felt compelled to come closer. The figure reached out to her, hand extended in friendship and to say "I'm you're friend".

All Lapis had to do then, was step through the mirror.

(Steven Universe - Isn't it Love? parody)

Lapis found herself in a whole new world. Somewhere comfortable, warm, and inviting. An open beach in the summertime. She recognized this beach since she emerged, but this felt different. As if she always knew this part of the world. Seagulls flew along the warm breeze overhead as the cool waters of the sea brushed up against her feet. Guiding her along the beach was a child, smiling and pulling her along to show her around the place. He looked like Steven, but younger than when she last saw him. For some reason, Lapis didn't feel like wanting to run away, and allowed him to bring her along towards a town.

Suddenly hot, I'm …
Suddenly cool, I'm ...

She was soon brought right into town. Beach City. For the most part, it looked relatively the same as it always had been, people going around and about their day, many a familiar face, but each window on each building seemed to act like a television screen, showing a scene playing out from what Lapis could confirm to be part of her life. Some good, some bad, but they all were there for her to observe all the same. She didn't feel any pain when seeing these things, feeling again that she must've known all of these the whole time ...

Suddenly a genius yet
Suddenly a fool, I'm ...

Lapis continued on through town, going down the sidewalk with this child, whoever it was. Still, seeing the screens playing began to feel almost nostalgic in some cases. All of the years she spent on this planet, here and in Equus and even on Homeworld were playing out more as she went along. At first the screens didn't show too much, mainly Lapis joining the "Crystal Gems" and joining them in their adventures from there, even including her overcoming her fear of mirrors at one point. Yet, when she and this "Steven" got towards the residential area of Beach City, something was happening.

Suddenly back to where I feel...
Stranger than fiction, unreal

Lapis only looked away briefly before she felt her hand being released, making her slow down to check out the screens for a short while. The screens continued showing some more scenes involving her life on the planet, but eventually numerous screens started to show her interactions with the very Human she threatened just minutes ago. Namely, how happy she was to be with him throughout the years, the first screen showing their first meeting when he mailed a package to the Beach House, and their small chat by the mailbox.

And turning away, she suddenly found him standing in front of her, looking just as surprised as she was. But not in the same way as before, but more like a curiosity than a fear-filled surprise.

But I'm suddenly back
I'm a walking contradiction!

Instead of following the Steven she was instead following this other Human around the place, finding it enjoyable and comforting as the whole world seemed to shift and time flowed by. The seasons came and went, the warm air turning cold as snow began to fall, which turned into rain by the time spring would come back, but Lapis didn't really mind all that much. She was too focused on the Human to really notice anyway, following him along as they both enjoyed eachother's company. Their walk slowly started turning into a dance.

Doesn't this have a name?
La-da-da-da-da
Couldn't this have a name?
Shouldn't this have a name?

Eventually, standing over in a field of grass looking over Beach City. Funny enough, they both stopped up on Brooding Hill, looking into eachother's eyes. All those screens, all those memories were coming back to her. And now, when Jamie brought out his hand, Lapis happily accepted.

And isn't it, isn't it, isn't it love?
Could it be, could it be, could it be love?
Should it be, should it be, should it be love?
Should it be
Could it be
Isn't it love?

…….

"Oooohhhh … what happened? I felt like I went all over the galaxy and back."

Lapis opened her eyes. Back in Canterlot, back on Hearth's Warming Eve, and back with Jamie and the ponies. She blinked a few times, no longer feeling her head hurting and actually feeling much better. As for the others, when they saw her blue scarf and gold star, they knew that could only mean one thing. Jamie was the first to speak, overjoyed.

"Lapis! I've been waiting all day!" Jamie exclaimed, rushing over and hugging her tight.

"J-Jamie, you're back from your trip! Did I forget to see you, I'm so sorry," Lapis asked.

"Oh forget the trip, Lapis I thought I lost you forever! My sweet angel," Jamie was close to actually crying he was so happy. Lapis, despite her confusion just couldn't help herself and giggled a bit as she returned the gesture.

"We got Lapis back! Oh, wait until Steven hears about this," Rarity said in glee.

"Yeah, he's gonna flip," agreed Rainbow Dash. THIS news surprised Lapis lazuli even more than everything else.

"Wait, Steven's back too?! Where's he at?" Lapis exclaimed, not seeing him around at first. Last thing she remembered with him was him being gone, in part thanks to her and Amethyst's panicking. Who knows how he was doing by now?

"I uh … don't know, but we last heard he's spending time here for Hearth's Warming. Come on, let's go find out where he went," said Fluttershy. It shouldn't be too hard, since Hearth's Warming was celebrated here more than anywhere else, plus most of his friends were here already anyway. The only regret now was that Jamie didn't have his bouquet to present to her.

At least, that's what he thought until he heard something get placed down nearby. Jamie glanced to said direction, and low and behold, a small bouquet of flowers were seen sitting on a nearby table, a note simply saying "Happy Holidays. She'll love these."
Why question good fortune?

"Before we go, I got something to show you," Jamie said. Lapis stopped, and Jamie turned back briefly. It may not be the flowers he had originally, but he showed the flowers of gold in their bouquet all the same, showing it to Lapis Lazuli. Why waste the chance to finally make up for earlier? Even if they weren't his.

"Um. For you," Jamie said. Lapis held the bouquet in her hands for a brief moment or two, Jamie waiting for what response Lapis had to say. Lapis looked to the flowers for a bit, but then smiled to Jamie.

"Oh, Jamie, they look beautiful. Thanks," Lapis said with a smile, before giving Jamie a kiss on the cheek. Jamie flustered up, and smiled wide. The ponies smiled when seeing this happen.

Before they could continue, Pinkie Pie finally ran back to them, skidding to a halt.

"Hey girls! So what'd I miss?"

~~~~~~

So, time ticked on for a while more, pony, human, and gem alike enjoying the festivities however it seemed to be. Steven's group had plenty of time to handle whatever fun there was to be had, be it either enjoying the gingerbread, playing some snowball fights, decorate some trees, or just relaxing and catching snowflakes. They had a lot of fun with it, but despite all of this, there was one particular detail during this whole celebration Steven noticed, and it involved White Diamond and Spinel.
No matter what activity they all did, those two would NOT try any of it together. Spinel wouldn't even talk to White Diamond half the time, and the rest of it she kept close to Steven's side despite Steven telling her otherwise. Both Gems acted like it was no big deal, either White just brushing it off or Spinel finding some excuse to not do so. Regardless, they were seeing that the two just weren't up to anything together. The closest they ever got was when Spinel caught White Diamond's snowflake with some stretching of her tongue. No talking, but literally that was closest they got.
This continued on as they began to head near the theater for the Hearth's Warming play.

"So what's this about?" Spinel asked.

"It's for the Hearth's Warming Eve Play," explained Steven, "They put on this show every year. It shows how Hearth's Warming began, what it's about, and everything."

"You mean like your pony friend did earlier today?" White Diamond asked. Connie and Steven actually had to think about it.

"Ehh … actually, it's kinda close, but more historical," Connie said.

"A display over the history of ponykind? That ... actually sounds like it's not a waste of time," White Diamond said with a smile.

"Good enough compliment," Steven said with a wink and smile, "So let's see what seats -"

"STEEEEEVEEEEN!"

Yet another interruption thanks to the pink mare, but this time Steven was more prepared and as Pinkie Pie galloped right for him, he braced himself and caught Pinkie in a hug just before Pinkie could just topple him over.

"Gotcha, Pinkie!"

"Wow, you've been getting better at that. I nearly got ya that time," Pinkie complimented.

"Oh, you're back. Did you come to sing another song, because we're already going to see the display inside," White Diamond asked, pointing to the Theater. Pinkie shook her head.

"Sounds super fun, but nope. Steven Universe. Guess who I saw today?~" Pinkie said.

"Hmm … a snowman?" Steven chuckled. Pinkie got off of Steven.

"Ooooo, you're good. But nope, I mean a somebody, not a something. She's ready to meet ya too, and yes, she knows who you are now."

"She?" Connie asked.

"Okay, ready?" asked Fluttershy.

And then the rest of them came over. Steven and company saw Starlight's group in toe, along with Jamie, but the moment he saw Lapis Lazuli in her newest form, Steven Universe immediately realized what Pinkie meant. As did Spinel.

"Uh oh," Spinel said, quickly jumping behind Steven to hide herself just in case Lapis would jump at her. There was a … bit of an awkward moment between Steven and Lapis Lazuli, both sides unsure how to approach eachother, both involving the same incident just before Steven left.

"Hey, listen I - … I wanna say - …" Timed a little too well, they kept responding to eachother.

"... You go first," Steven said, allowing Lapis to speak.

And boy did she. At first it started out small, but as the vivid memories of her last encounter with Steven went, alongside Amethyst. With her regained memory, that in particular went right through her head among other memories. Lapis looked calm, taking a long deep breath … before hugging Steven, tears shooting out like faucet streams. Lapis's tears showed her mood completely, though Spinel had to get an umbrella out of her own hand to not get drenched in her tears.

"Steven, I'm really really really REALLY SORRY FOR EVERYTHING! I should've stayed there and helped you, but I completely panicked like a piece of dirt and left you all alone! I never wanted you to think we hated you, or wanted you to leave home for good, I swear on my own gemstone! I wanted to go back out and find you, but everyone kept telling me to let you come back on your own, even if it's all my fault for making you think we all hate you! Please forgive me, Steven -

"Lapis, Lapis! It's all chill now, everything's okay. It's not even your fault anyway," Steven said, trying to now calm Lapis down. "I was the one who actually messed up back there, and thought running away was actually a good idea. But I'm never going to do that again, I'm staying here with my friends. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course," Lapis replied with a smile. Steven and Lapis shared another hug there, but as Lapis did that, she took one look behind Steven, and took one look at Spinel. …

"Everything's chill, I'm not a bad guy anymore, don't hurt me please," Spinel quickly informed before Lapis could get any ideas.

"In a minute," Lapis answered … whatever that meant for Spinel. However, it was White Diamond who actually had a nerve to intervene, walking over to Steven and Lapis, White joined by Discord.

"So … we're still here. And I think it's starting soon?" White pointed out.

"Oh yeah, the play! Hey Lapis, you wanna join us?" Steven offered.

"Are you kidding?" Lapis joked.

Nothing like a play to help enjoy the holiday some more. Now that both groups were present together, they all went over towards the theater, wasting no more time. The only one though that was halted by something was Pinkie Pie. She was all smiles to see everyone happy, as usual, but ever so briefly she suddenly started feeling something start to come up. It started as a small tingle, but quickly started shifting into a HUGE spasm freak-out. Her whole body basically freaked out for a good ten seconds or so, until she finally relaxed after flopping onto the ground.

"Woooooo, THAT'S a doozy! … Wonder what the big doozy is today? ……. Oh well," Pinkie shrugged, and she just went on to join the others inside. She'll probably find out later anyway.

As probably expected, the place was already pretty packed with numerous ponies taking their seats. Even if this place was designed for ponies, there still was a lot of room for the Humans and Gems to comfortably fit, and comfortably have a good view of the stage at the end of the large room. Even if she shrunk down a lot since her powers were taken, White Diamond still felt like the tall one out of the crowd (not to mention the light she glowed made her a lightbulb).

"Uh, maybe I should just stand over here, Steven. Wouldn't my aura bother any...pony?" White Diamond inquired, unsure how good that will end up.

"It's okay, White, let's just find you a good seat and let's enjoy the show," Steven suggested. Spinel took action.

"THIS looks comfy, Steven, let's try WAY over here!" Spinel suddenly said, before taking Steven and pulling him down to the further row closer to the theater stage. Leaving White Diamond sitting alone with Discord. Again.

"Spinel," Steven said.

"Don't cha want a front row seat? Besides, White can see over everybody, it ain't bugging anyone. Come on, it's about to start," Spinel said, hopping right to her seat.

"That's not the point," Steven said, but before he could tell her, the lights started to dim. Steven looked back to White Diamond, just standing there by herself. She smiled, acting as if this wasn't making her feel left out, but it just felt … wrong.

"Never seen one of these before. Hey, Steven, want some? I got plenty and I don't have to eat," Spinel offered.

"Uh I'm good, thanks," Steven sighed. He'll have to tell her later after the show.

If only he knew what was coming next.
With the crowd comfy and ready to listen, the display then pulled the curtains aside so everyone could see the stage. Nothing really looked like it was up on stage just yet, just an empty stage with a large piano, with the spotlight looking around as it would usually do when finding the main character for a show. Jamie, Lapis, Steven, Connie, and Spinel followed the light for a bit until they eventually found the main sign. The sign was a billboard, held out by a small hand and simply reading two words, bold and easy to read.

(【Gumi English】Candle Queen【Original Song Collaboration】)

Only for a smaller sign to pop up from below it, again easy to read.

(Parody)

"This … doesn't sound like Hearth's Warming. Or Harmony Day. Or any holiday for that matter," Steven realized, slightly confused on what the signs said. Unless they were talking about Christmas Candles, it didn't sound much like the holiday at all.
But then, as the signs were pulled away, the first pony started walking out. Well, not pony, but rather an all too familiar looking Mule. Regardless of the crowd, Bray trotted out onto stage, holding a fancy three-burning candle stand in his mouth, the Donkey dressed up in a red and white tuxedo, his tail raised like a flag and his ears folded back as he trotted towards the piano. It was as fancy as a Donkey could be.

"Oh no," Lapis thought.

"That's Bray. That is Bray in a tuxedo," Spinel pointed out, already feeling a bit troubled. Steven already figured that out, but he was more confused than scared. Sure, if HE was here, that meant someone else was somewhere, but why was he up performing on stage in a tux?
Bray got right over to the piano, placing the candle down beside the piano stand, and having a seat. It all looked like a standard set up for a professional pianist to set up things, and Bray got his hooves up and ready.

And the second he started playing the piano, the singer started coming in from Stage Left.

Budgerite; Ever since she had emerged
she always knew how to get her way
Just act a little bit WILD
and someone'll surely come to play

Out came Budgerite, though like Bray she had a new outfit. She had a sort of tuxedo herself, only hers was striped with green, white, and red like a Christmas present. She even had the present bow in her hair. Budgerite had a microphone by her head too, so her voice was good and loud through the speakers set up. As Budgerite kept singing, something started to appear behind the backstage curtain. It was a silhouette for something, but they couldn't tell who or what it was just yet.

Budgerite; It's a truth she took to heart
but humility, and patience didn't come to age
She's made to play this part
A Diamond's always center stage!~

The second she said DIAMOND, they all knew what was gonna come next. And as Bray pushed more on the keys for louder notes, the lights in the back lit up, revealing the pink outlines of the figures' hair and outfit for all to see. The colors though were more vibrant, as if she was glowing. Like a Candle Queen.

"We're doing this again. J-Just keep it together, it's just a play Mr. Universe," Steven thought gravely. What'd he expect at this point? White Diamond too meanwhile was mentally freaking out seeing THIS show up on stage, but Discord was smart enough not to poke an active grenade during a show. At least not without his magic.

Well, at least the song was catchy, so they both could focus more on that rather than the diamond in the background, as Budgerite started to get more into dancing to the jazzy tune of Bray's piano.

Budgerite; Toddler's cries that grow louder and louder
Relishing in untestable power
Glowing bright in a black and white scene
the one and only; Candle Queen!

Lighting flames that burn higher and brighter
wearing a burning crown of fire
Setting aspark, an extravagant scene
the one and only; Candle Queen!~

Onto verse two. But before that, Bray had a bit of fun playing his piano to the jazzy song, even getting off his own seat to "dance" on the piano, all four hooves keeping tune to the song too. As this happened, two more figures came in from both sides of the stage:
Stubby from the left, who came in doing a sort of jittery tap dance, his paws almost blurry he went so quickly. He wasn't in a tuxedo like the other two, but he still looked fancy with a candle hat tied to his head, legitimate flame burning on top of it.
Sumu from the right, who with some work with her vines made herself a small extra body that looked a bit like that of a pony doll. The body she had was doing well, as she came out in a Broadway dance of sorts, with her "dressed" up as one of those little people wearing green clothes.

As Stubby and Sumu joined in with Budgerite near the center stage, the figure in the back almost seemed to move on its own, facing the crowd briefly as her eyes glowed like, as they've said, candle lights. Good work on the Dazzlings to actually making this look legitimate, even if they weren't the ones singing on stage.

Speaking of, onto verse two, as the backdrop disappeared with the lights turned off.

Budgerite; Addicted to adrenaline
and always looking for attention
but to be so genuine
when she's suddenly met with -

Sumu+Budgerite; APREHENSION.

The scene behind turned from a single frame of a Diamond, into two Diamonds (take a guess on who they are). They were represented this time as Adagio for one Diamond, and Aria for another, seemingly working on a silent argument in the background as flames danced around them thanks to the light worked by both Sumu's extra vines and Sonata's handiwork

Budgerite; The fighting's just begun
And she'll do anything to keep ahead

An extra detail to this display then had Budgerite hopping up and thanks to some fancy footwork and timing by the Dazzlings' part, made it look like she was walking on top of their heads, hopping from one head to another.

Like using people as ladder steps
And sweeping egg shells under the bed.

Budgerite hopped down to the ground after that, landing on top of the piano and as Bray and Stubby kept the tune to the song in their little jig, Budgerite actually joined in and made the piano their little dancing stage. Sumu provided playing of the piano as the other three got on top of the piano for their singing trio.

Budgerite + Bray + Stubby; Toddler's cries that grow louder and louder
challenging her untestable power
glowing red in a black and white scene
the one and only: Candle Queen!

Stroking the flames that burn higher and higher
Flaunting a broken crown of fire
letting ablaze her extravagant scheme
the one and only; Candle Queen!~

After that verse, the lights themselves suddenly dimmed down into a more somber blue, and instead of Budgerite singing her song, it was Sumu's turn, as the others provided backup vocals for her, swaying their heads in tune to the song.

Sumu; ah, but there's hope for you still (Aaaaahhhh)
Before it all comes unfurled (Aaaaahhhh)
Ah, you just need to - (Aaahhh)

All 4; CHILL

Sumu: It's not the end of the world (Aaaaahhhh)

The chorus quieted down at this point, as the lights focused primarily on the figure in the back, who now didn't look like she was in a particular display, but just standing there and facing the crowd. Budgerite, Bray, Stubby, or Sumu couldn't be seen, but the vines started to reach into the figure in the back. A bit freaky, but still effective.

Budgerite; She couldn't help but be this way
She lost her true self long ago
Now all of her friends had been pushed away
Because a caricature is all they know

And suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the figure actually pulled the curtains aside and stepped out onto stage. A marionette of the Candle Queen, not a single sign of any strings on her as she waltzed out onto the stage to the song, her hair and clothing glowing bright for all to see her as if she were on fire herself. Her dancing wasn't so elegant though, as it did look like someone was just messing with her strings, "jumping" up and down in a mockery of a ballerina dance.

Time to wrap up this play.

Budgerite; Toddler's cries that grow louder and louder
Everyone rushing to disavow her
All alone in a black and white scene
The only and only: Candle Queen!

Hurt by the flames that scorch higher and higher
Clutching her broken crown of fire
All alone in her final scene
The only and only; Candle Queen!

What a pity.

All 4; The Candle Queen!~

The music continued to blast and ring around the entire area some more, as it seemed the whole stage started to light up on fire. As Budgerite, Sumu, and Bray danced off stage, Stubby lit up the marionette with the fire on his candle head, setting the Candle Queen legitimately on fire before bolting away. The Candle Queen burned, reaching out for someone above her head, only to find no one to help her, the marionette disappearing in the flames after a short while.
The crowd of ponies applauded the job well done, despite what they saw hardly had much to do with Hearth's Warming … at all.

"Don't worry, Ms. Maheswaran, I'll applaud for you," Pearl said, rapidly clapping her hands.

"Can't I just catch a break?" Steven wondered, knowing WHY they'd go this far. He was there, wasn't he?

"Oh boy. Maybe we should've gone decorating first," Connie admitted, but Steven quickly recovered.

"Nope, nope I'm fine, it's just a play about the Candle Queen that's all. I-It was actually pretty catchy, so yeah let's just get going, I think they're gonna start making Gingerbread houses," Steven insisted. Good thing there was a five-minute break, otherwise it'll be even more awkward than it was, as Steven made a go for it and out of the theatre. The others watched him go off.

"What's wrong with him?" Spinel asked.

Comments

[eric-emanwu]

It appears that the keys to the journey are in the pain. That even though we don't want to hold onto bad memories, they are in fact what made you strong. What made you grow. It is through our pain that we become who we truly are. That's why all the positive reinforcement in the world couldn't break Lapis out of her old state. It took her seeing the origin of her new life. Of the first domino that truly changed everything for every gem, every human, and every pony. The mirror. The prison. The mistake. The conflict. It is the source of all Lapis's pain. But without it, she would never become who she is now. Like Zuko from Avatar the last Airbender.

And Starlight made the right call there. That only through the pain could there truly be restoration. And as lapis began to walk through the memories, she eventually made her way back to her new self. The one with the crystal gem star. The one who embraced love in a a new way. The loyal, devoted soldier, the nuturer, the lover, the friend. Lapis Lazuli flies again.