So yeah, I wanted to write one more thing for this story before going back to writing for Gift of a diamond, and I decided on this. Thanks goes out to the guest reviewer who suggested it. He wanted it to be on this instead of my anthology fic, so here it goes.

Like I said, this is based off the steven diamond and monstar au's, where Toffee is married to Moon. This is actually expanding on an idea I'm saving for the 'Mathmagic' chapter, but until then, enjoy.

Also, since this is an alternate universe, these two act differently than how I usually write them.

This is a short chapter, and also the first of the chapter's I'm going to actually title for now own, so look forward to that.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Based on the number of times you would see the Princess do it, you'd probably assume that looking out the window, gazing aimlessly at the horizon, that it was her favorite thing to do. And in all fairness, there was a certain calm charm that it always held.

But the Mewman heir to the throne didn't sightsee because it was her pastime, or because the view was particually beautifully in anyway. No, she gazed because it was the only time she could fully appreciate looking at the kingdom in its fullest, without hateful or fear filled eyes gawking at her every move. It was the only time she could say she felt comfortable in her own skin while also technically being outside the walls of the castle. She didn't need to be protected by any means; she learned long ago how to protect herself, but there was always a sense of precaution she always needed to hold whenever stepping out.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

The sun always felt refreshing on her gray scaled skin, to run in it, bask in it, be engulfed in it's comforting warmness. Her father often disapproved of any going out of almost any kind. Whether it was for public appearances, parties, special holidays or reunions, or even a sleepover, the less time spent outside, the better. She couldn't blame him, he was the one that made it possible for their people to be together, and as such, his main duty was to help negotiate and maintain peace between the Mewmans and monsters. He had to worry, he had to make sure nobody, especially his own family never got hurt.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Her mother would, as much as she love her husband, often encourage going out. The Queen was a fearless, unrelenting, 'cool warrior mom'( as she delicately described it long ago) that was hardly mindful or hurt by the many people that sent her sour looks or even threats. She was the first queen in mewman history to work side by side with a monster in a joint effort to save Mewni, and the second queen to ever marry a monster. She didn't care that the people thought she betrayed traditions and let the monsters take over. She didn't let bias stop her from doing what needed to be done.

And she certainly didn't let hate stop her from having her, Star Butterfly, the half Mewman, half lizard princess.

SNAP. CRACK. ZAP.

"Hey! Watch it!" Star immediately jump in the air after having her tail singed by something bright, shocking, and hot. Preparing for a fight, she landed in a predatory stance and immediately charged at her attacker. Not giving a single moment to rest or relent, she grabbed the small figure and wrapped him around her long, slithering tail. Clearly having the advantage, she took this chance to flip him over, pinning him down by the arms as soon as he hit the ground. Her hair messed up, her breathing slightly erratic, she took a long gaze at who dared to strike her from behind.

To her slight shock, but mostly annoyance, she saw that her assailant was even smaller than she realized, with young, chubby features that was all around his body. He wore an outfit that she would have seen many of the knight wear, except it was mostly black, with patterns of yellow scattered across the torso and arms. His face was one she immediately recognized, neatly combed spikey black hair that was so stiff that they were practically pins and tacks laid across his head. The most distinguishing feature, however, was the eyes. They were a bright yellow that burned through his skinned due to how much they shined through his skin. And his pupils, so unique, so impossible to miss or forget, pitch black, diamond shaped, pupils.

"Oh, it's you." The princess calmed down as she got off, a little miffed at the little guys actions. "What the hell where you thinking? I've could've disemboweled you if I gave it another second's thought." She warned, hating the fact that he was still smiling despite her attack. "And I'm still up for it."

"Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh, is that what you think would've happened?" The little child smugly asked, unworried, and unphased by the threat, in fact, he seemed very amused by it. Taking noticed of Star's annoyance, he rolled his eyes as he picked himself up. "I was merely stopping you moping before it became depressing. Any more sulking, and you would've been like mother whenever she's forced to stay at any of father's peace seminars."

"Rhinestone…" The princess groaned her brother's name as she facepalmed. "Like any rock I encounter, you are far too dense than you need to be."

"Ohhh, a rock joke, because of the thing placed on my chest, sooo clever." The brother, taking false offense to her comment. "That's just as refreshing to hear all the other ones, like how I have a cold dead stone for a heart, or that I'm easy to crush under pressure, or how I'm an emotionless pebble that should be tossed to the side, or that having a giant yellow rock in the middle of my chest makes a pretty easy target for a lethal blow."

The reptilian girl blinked once in shock, knowing that she never said those last two. It scared her how he was able to take in such a serious comment with so much casualness in his voice. "Ah, I'm pretty sure those were threats."

"Jokes, threats, in the serious times that we're experiencing, I find life way easy to get though if I refrain myself from knowing the difference." He shrugged off, jumping on the ledge Star was gazing out on to sit down. "I laugh more that way."

"Rhiney.." Star spoke softly, ignoring the glare her brother gave her. He absolutely hated the shortened nickname she chose for him. That made him sound like some sort of prissy ass. He was royalty, captain in training, and his name always needed to reflect that. "..who said that to you?" She places a caring hand on his shoulder, showing how serious she was. "If someone threatening you, you need to tell someone, better yet, tell me who said it so I can go down there and rip their arms off."

"Oh, wouldn't that be a sight to admire." The prince murmured with a small smirk forming at the corner of his mouth. "As much as I enjoy roughing up simpletons and thoughts of bloody murder, I'm afraid that my misfortunes are not why I came here." Standing up on the ledge, maintaining a perfect balance despite the worry on his sister's face. "I came for the same reason why I zapped you: your bumming me out." Star tried to look away as he accused her. "You've hardly stepped outside the building for the past few months, and I'll be damned if I let I continue a second longer." Not waiting for a reply, he jumps off the ledge and grabs ahold of Star's tail, pulling her in the other direction towards the door.

The was no moment. About ten seconds later, the gray skinned princess had yet to move from her spot, her little brother running in one place as he went nowhere. "We both have enhanced strength, clod." She insulted as she pulled her tail back, making Rhinestone faceplant himself with the floor. "And yours doesn't work that well against one that's has at least 5 years of more development."

"You can't stop me from helping you." The determined prince shouted as he grabbed on to his sister's hand this time, pulling with twice the strength he had done before. "And you know I'm not above anything to do so." He pulled harder and harder as seen by the discomfort on Star's face. Despite what she said to him, Rhinestone was fairly stronger than her, at least during moment where he seemed to need it most. They seemed to come out in burst, fading away almost as quickly as they appeared.

It still wasn't enough to force her to budge. She wouldn't move for anyone. She could stand here forever if she so desired to. Nothing was going to get her to move, not even the slight numbness that was forming around her fingers...

rip

Once again being thrown on the ground, both Star and the younger sibling found themselves gasp at what just happened. In the struggle, Rhinestone hold on Star's index finger was so strong that it ended up tearing off her hand altogether, very cleanly with no blood spilt. Star herself didn't feel much pain at all as she starred at her damaged appendage. Rhinestone was more disgusted at what just happened, rather than worried or panicked, knowing what would happen next. A small crinkling sound emerged from her hand, the broken bone repairing itself, marrow and all. Soon veins, tendons, and muscle formed around it also, becoming a complete replica of her missing finger, as if no damage ever came to it. "Ow." The princess simply stated, mostly to voice her annoyance.

"I said not above anything, you know." The repeated himself with a sigh as he tossed the finger to the side like garbage. "We both know I'm not going to stop, so might as well tell me what's wrong before I begin pulling off more body parts."

"Okay, spill it, why are you so insistent on helping me all of a sudden?" She said accursedly. "I know it's not out of the kindness of your heart, we both know how limited you are in that."

"In kindness or heart?"

"Both."

"Touché." He shrugged, getting to his point already. "Well, it was mainly because Ponyhead kept insisting on checking up on you after your last get together. She said how she was afraid she pushed you a little too much at the bounce lounge."

"Heh, that girl is too caring for her own good." Star laughed a little. If there was one thing Pony wasn't, it was pushy. Star sometimes wonder how she was able to take care of herself when she's always watching over her, her sisters, whatever dumb boy that tried to take advantage of her(Star always knew how to take care of them properly, so no problem there).

"I said you where fine of course, and then she pestered on and on about how you didn't seem comfortable at all, and how you murmured 'it's pointless' occasionally whenever you dozed off." Rhinestone continued to explain. "At first, my first instinct was to ignore her worry and focus more on swordsmanship. But, like I said, you're literally depressing me, because every time I let my guard down, I'm hit with a massive mood swing that almost unbearable to feel." He points to his own cheek marks, showing off what he meant. "I can recognize my own feelings and emotions from yours, and, well here we are." He stares straight up at her, matching eye contact perfectly. "Tell me what's wrong, and don't lie to me. Aside from an empathic connection, Dad helped me develop a natural B.S sense, so it's impossible to lie to me."

Skepticism on that statement aside, Star figured it was pointless not to tell the truth anyway. He'd probably just tell Dad about it, and everything from their would be like a long day in court where she'd be on trial. "You know I'm a freak, right?" Star blurted out, widening the prince's eyes just a little.

"Star, you've had this talk before. Dad said to be.."

"I'm not talking about what other's are thinking about me, I'm talking about what I think of me." She corrected, not wanting to be corrected or lectured. "And, what I think, is that I'm a freak." She stressed out again. "And not just among the Mewmans, among the monster's too." Now confusion began to enter Rhinestone's head. "I'm the daughter of two of the most controversial figures in recent history. They stopped the war, they banished them from this dimension permanently, but they don't get love from either side." She moaned as she turned away.

"No, instead of being hailed as heroes and trying to bring some good for once, they're mocked, they're shunned. The commission think's mom is the second Eclipsa, Dad fight's daily to prove his loyalties to monster's and mewmans, and that leaves me, the daughter in the middle that can't fit in either side."

"Star.."

"I wake every morning with a tail attached to me, sometimes it lifts half of my body in the air, other times it knocks away the bed altogether and I end up on the floor." She rubs her tail, still feeling sore in a few areas. "I'm suppose to represent the unity and future that both people can have, but all I do is end up confused. I'm suppose to be this refined and dignified royal for Mewmans, but I have to get dirty and rough and possible punch people in the face whenever I deal with monsters." Her voice raises in tone and anger as she begins banging on the stone of the ledge. "I literally have to hide a tail between my legs at every gala and ball, but I have to sharpen my teeth everyday to keep them healthy. I bathe in the finest water available, and yet drink from the swamp at least once a week." Cracks on the stone begin to form, becoming larger and larger with every pound. "I have to deal with both acne and shedding. Nothing about my life adds up or fits!" The stone finally give in, sinking both of her fists into it, though that hardly matter to her as she rest her head on the now busted ledge. "It just hard to feel comfortable in my own skin, and the scales really don't help."

The boy, still processing the giant load his sister just let out, stood their silently for a while, just staring at his sister. He thought about everything she just said, and just how well she was able to hold this all in. He knew that this couldn't have been a recent thing, this was something she gave a lot of thought about before saying anything.

He thought about he didn't figure this out sooner, finding out his sister's secrets was something of a little hobby for him, it was always fun, exciting, adventurous when it had to be, and something he could always go to talk to his dad about. Both Star and Mom were terrible at keeping secrets, so it was always fun comparing who kept the most and which once were the most funny. To this day, it is still very undecided.

This however, was something he needed to keep to himself. As far as sibling relationships go, they had something of a friendly rivalry with a slight cynical edge to it. They could insult each other from time to time, but that never distracted from how they truly felt.

"Star, remember, about three years ago how we snuck out the castle during that commission meeting both and dad were holding?" Rhinestone recalled, joining his sister's side, resting his head on the ledge as well.

Through the groaning and self-placed misery, Star turned and nodded her head. "Yeah. I wanted to get out and show how well I could protect myself, and you went along because you were afraid of the guards they left to watch over us."

"And we were fine until those Mewman traditionalist attempted to ransom you." He spoke with fear. That day still haunted over them, because despite how many dangers they've faced, how many of them seemed impossible to get through, that day was the closest the two of them had ever come to death. "I, I was afraid that they were do something, something horrible to you, they held that knife close to you, and the fear, it, it was like nothing I've ever felt." His eyes began to sadden as he continued. "The best and worst thing about sharing empathy with someone is that you're always know what they're feeling. And I felt your fear. I, you, you thought you would die, didn't you?"

"Yes." She silently replied with a shudder. "But that was before I knew about the regeneration thing."

"Yeah, but in that moment, it, it overwhelmed me." His voice became even more distant and empty. "And, and you know what happened next. The power, the shear power that flowed through me, the energy, so consuming, so deadly, I, I, I..."

"You almost killed them." She finished. The prince could only nod in agreement, his nerves being too shaken to finish that sentence. "You couldn't have known what you were about to do. And, and they lived, and you regret..."

"I regret nothing." Now Star was taken back by that sentence. "I would've felt better if they didn't. I think about that night, and I can't help be wonder, what if I did? Would the castle be better for it? Would you be better off for it." He tries to turn his head in shame. "I wonder, with the power growing inside me, the energy all building, waiting to be used. I feel like a bomb just abiding it's time to go off."

"Rhiney, why, why are you telling me this now?"

"I guess for the same reason why you did: because I want you to know now. I want you to know that you're not alone in feeling the way you do because maybe, maybe I've felt it for as long as you have." He tries to walk away. "You're not the only one who's not comfortable being who you are."

He would've gotten out the door if it wasn't for Star's tail dragging him back to her. She gave him a serious, compassionate look before embracing him completely. Hugs like these were far too in-between. They didn't really take a moment and just breathe air together. They always took too long to realize how much one needed the other.

The prince didn't even try to fight it back as he returned it fully. It was very comforting to know he had someone like him to talk to. "So what do we know?" Rhinestone asked curiously as the hug ended.

"The only thing we can do. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves, move on with life, and be there for each other whenever the other messes up." She scuffled up his hair with a mischievous smile. "So try not to screw up next time."

"Wait, wait, who's the screw up?" Rhinestone lifted an eyebrow as he accepts Star's bait. "I was the one who helped you out of your funk! You're the one screwing up."

"Yeah, no, I'm the future of the kingdom, a Queen in training, so if anything, my funk was what got you out of your funk, so, yeah me helping you was a lot more impressive than you helping me." She retorted with a huge smile.

"Ah you know that B.S detector I said I had, it's going off right now." He replied with an equally huge smile. Things were now back to normal.

"Is that really how you were able to tell a lie?"

"No." He replied with a lot of smug in his voice. "Your tail twitches every time you do."

"Oh really, is this a lie?" She tackles him to the ground once more and pins him down. "You're the worst brother ever."

"I don't even need to see in order to tell that's a lie." He smiles as he begins to fight her off. "I already know I'm the greatest person you've ever met."

Yep, everything was back to normal.

Next: Lobster Claws

The royal siblings find themselves in disagreement when the opportunity to change someone presents itself.