Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Her first experience was light and dust, as she found herself bursting out of the rocks around her at the exact same moment that she realized anything could exist. And she knew that the stone in her chest was her essence, and that this made her no different from the rocks that she had burst through, except that she was alive, she was in control, and she had possibilities. Other than that, she knew nothing about the world she was in. The rest would have to come from sight and experience, which began when she landed on the surface below: her right foot and left knee impacted simultaneously, with one hand placed firmly on each side for balance. As she landed, the ground cracked open from the impact of her mass.

First, she examined the body that she had just unknowingly created. The body had two arms and two legs, and dark robes were draped over her light blue skin. White hair cascaded around her head, draping around the blue gem embedded just under her neck–her life force, her soul, that would persist far longer than this body ever would.

And then she looked around her, expecting to find others like her. And there were others, many others. But all the gems around her—some scuttling across the ground, some bursting out of the rocks and landing the same way she had moments before—were so much smaller, with even the tallest not coming past the height of her knees. Several of these tiny gems were looking up at her with awestruck expressions, making it immediately clear that she was unlike anybody else.

And so her second experience was fear, that swept around her as she immediately realized that she would never be able to fit in, that she would always be singled out, with no hope of just being one of many, no chance of having her actions go unnoticed. The immense power that she already knew she held had permanently altered her future, even if that hadn’t been what she would have wanted.

She looked again at the minuscule gems around her. While there were still a few gazing up at her, most had averted their eyes by now, or had immersed themselves in other tasks. Her gaze was drawn to a group of several red gems with dark hair, who had assembled side by side and were facing a green gem with light hair.

“All right, Rubies,” the green gem was saying, sounding somewhat afraid. “I think that’s the entire squad, but sound off. I’ve been told if I send out another incomplete troop I’m gettin’ shattered, so I’m not cuttin’ any corners here.”

Each of what she now could call the Rubies shouted out a number, followed by two letters. She was delighted to find that language came naturally to her—that would be one fewer barrier between her and the others. As she realized this, she also noticed that the Rubies, as well as the green gem facing them, were beginning to look significantly happier as well. Perhaps there would be a chance for her to find her place among others who thought and felt the same way she did, despite differing so greatly in power and stature. And so her third experience was hope, which only grew stronger as she became more and more confident that it was an experience she was sharing with those around her.

Another one of the small green gems coughed as if to get her attention.

“Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I don’t believe one of you has ever come through here before,” the gem declared. “Please identify yourself, so that I may inform my superiors of this anomaly.”

She narrowed her eyes at the word “anomaly”, as that fear of exclusion began taking hold again in her mind. As her expression changed, she noticed the green gem’s expression also changing, from determination to slight worry.

“Perhaps a severely malformed Lapis Lazuli?” the green gem guessed. “Or some kind of off-color Quartz?”

She kneeled down and lowered her head to look closely at the green gem, who was appearing more and more nervous by the second, as was she. Even though she had the power to easily crush this gem’s body to nothing in her hand, she had no power to make this gem accept her, or view her as anything other than a distressing aberration in an otherwise structured system.

“But perhaps we got off on the wrong foot there,” the green gem tried. “What name should I call you? You’re certainly blue—Sapphire? Lapis Lazuli? Aquamarine?”

“Just ‘Blue’, thank you,” she replied. The rest could come later.

The green gem nodded. “Fair enough. Um, I’m Peridot. But they usually refer to me as Wheridot because nobody can ever figure out where my gem is. I personally believe the moniker to be crude and uninteresting. However, the Rubies certainly do seem to draw some form of amusement from it, and since it is a commonly used identifier for me I am willing to tolerate its usage.”

“All right, Wheridot,” Blue replied. This gem had said some rude things to her moments before, but Blue certainly didn’t want to alienate the first person who had ever been willing to speak to her.

“And since after that introduction you’re undoubtedly wondering where my gem is, let it be known that it is covered by my hair,” Wheridot added.

“It is common knowledge that claim is false, Wheridot!” another nearby Peridot jeered. “We all know your embarrassment dissuades you from revealing its true location!”

“Or perhaps I just have the decency to not go parading it around, 4EM!” Wheridot snapped back.

4EM grumbled, and then turned and craned her neck to look up at Blue. “What variety of off-color is this?”

“Unclear,” Wheridot responded. “What is perplexing me is that no injections were made in the rock surrounding her, and a standard injection cannot produce a gemstone the size of hers. It’s almost as if she was planned for. Do you happen to have access to the records on who was responsible for programming the injectors on the date she was injected?”

A screen materialized between 4EM’s fingers. “That was Peridot Facet 1N7G Cut 6ZB, working under classified orders. Transferred back to Homeworld six cycles ago.”

“Drat,” Wheridot grumbled. “Then the responsibility falls to us to figure out what purpose Blue here was intended for.”

“To us? Hardly,” 4EM replied. “I have duties to attend to, and I see no need to waste my time on trivial matters such as these. Now, given the low quality of your recent work, I can see how this might be a task better befitting you than the actual management of this kindergarten, but you must remember that assisting an off-color is an offense you could be shattered for.”

“I believe you underestimate the potential significance of this development!” Wheridot insisted. “It almost appears as if she were intended to be another Diamond!”

4EM scoffed. “Another Diamond? Please, Wheridot. Even if the Great Diamond desired another being equal to her in flawlessness, the creation of such a Diamond would be entrusted to the Prime Homeworld Kindergarten, not to a colony. Now, abandon this futile endeavor before I’m forced to report you to Fire Agate.”

Having been a passive observer of this exchange until now, Blue decided it was finally time to act, and reached out and picked up 4EM between two fingers. 4EM yelped and struggled, but with one of Blue’s fingers pressed against each of her shoulders there was not much she could do.

“I don’t believe that will be necessary,” Blue declared coldly. “Wheridot, what do you suggest we do from here?”

Wheridot’s eyes widened excitedly. “Put her in one of the exit holes!”

Blue nodded and stood up, setting down 4EM in one of the many holes in the wall behind her. Wheridot pointed at a large boulder, and Blue picked it up and jammed it in the entrance to the hole, trapping 4EM behind it.

“You won’t get away with this, off-color!” 4EM yelled, only barely audible from behind the boulder. “You’ll be shattered! I’ll see to it!”

Grinning slightly, Blue looked down at Wheridot, who winked and flashed her a thumbs-up. But Blue’s grin faded as she looked around and saw dozens of gems watching her—several troops of Rubies, a number of assorted blue gems, and numerous Peridots. One relatively large orange gem stepped onto the scene, a look of rage across her face.

“It…might be advisable to flee,” Wheridot mumbled.

And Blue scooped up Wheridot in her hands and ran, not looking back even for a moment.

Chapter Text

She moved quickly, the ground a blur underneath her as each footfall propelled her towards the horizon. By the time she stopped running, the world around was unrecognizable. Blue stood still for a moment, appreciating the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, and the faint sweet smell that was being carried by the breeze. And she glanced around, taking in the deep orange sky, the gigantic crescent moon hanging low just above the setting sun, and the trees that stood all around her, some even taller than she was.

Blue walked into a clearing in between the trees, and sat down, gently placing a trembling Wheridot next to her.

“Oh my stars,” Wheridot breathed. “You certainly move fast.”

Blue said nothing, taking a moment to breathe and collect herself.

“So do we have an action plan?” Wheridot asked. “I don’t mean to be too forward, but it appears that we’re in this together now.”

“I don’t know,” Blue replied softly. “I don’t know anything about the world yet. All I know is that I’m different, and that’s seen as bad. I don’t know where my place is, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, and I don’t even know what I’m hoping to accomplish.”

Wheridot hesitantly reached up and placed her hand on Blue’s leg. “It’s okay, I feel the same way,” she asserted calmly. “I was made to be a kindergartener, but after this mishap I’ll undoubtedly be shattered if I return there, so now I guess I don’t have any purpose either.”

Blue smiled sadly down at Wheridot. “So then is our only course of action to give in to a life of despair?”

“No!” Wheridot insisted, pulling her hand from Blue’s leg and forming it into a fist, slamming it into the palm of her other hand. “I am confident that your creation was not a matter of accident! Something is going on, and I am determined to figure it out. And then, perhaps, we’ll finally uncover a purpose for you to fulfill. There may not be any hope for me after this, but I am certain that the same is not true for you!”

Looking slightly more hopeful, Blue extended her hand on the ground. Wheridot stepped into Blue’s palm and was lifted to look levelly into Blue’s eyes.

“You’ve got power, and I’ve got plans,” Wheridot continued. “I was always an excellent tactician. So if you follow my lead, I can help you track down Peridot Facet 1N7G Cut 6ZB, and then I can get you to Homeworld to meet her and figure out why she injected you the way she did. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

After a moment, Blue nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

“Firstly, we can’t get anything done with you looking like this,” Wheridot declared. “So why don’t you shapeshift yourself into something smaller—perhaps a Lapis Lazuli, since a Sapphire or an Aquamarine would draw too much attention.”

Blue nodded, closed her eyes, and concentrated on condensing her form into something smaller, keeping the image in her mind of one of the blue gems she’d seen around her, watching, judging, marking her as different. But she pushed the fear down again in her mind, and when she opened her eyes she was on the ground, and Wheridot was offering a hand to help her stand up, and the trees were towering impossibly tall over her.

“Not bad!” Wheridot commented. “Granted, your gem will still be difficult to conceal, but I suspect that as long as you cover it with your robes it ought not to be a problem.”

Blue glanced down at her gem and saw that it had not shrunken with her, and so now it covered most of her chest and the entirety of her torso, with the top point coming all the way up to the base of her neck.

“So, how do we track down that Peridot?” Blue asked.

Wheridot pointed up at the moon, which was becoming more and more visible as the sun was disappearing past the horizon. “On that moon, there’s a data archive that I ought to be able to hack into to find 6ZB. To get there, we’ll have to steal a ship.”

“To steal a ship?” Blue repeated.

“Well, yeah. You’re an off-color and I’ll be shattered on sight for helping you. We can’t exactly acquire a ship through legal means,” Wheridot explained. “Oh, and speaking of legal means…”

Wheridot closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She grew taller and slimmer as her hair pulled back into a crest and her face became rounder. A large puffy shirt materialized over her chest.

“Zircon, at your service!” Wheridot declared. “As long as we don’t meet any other Zircons, I ought to be able to convincingly spout off any legal babble I can think of; nobody would ever question a Zircon’s knowledge of the law. So now I just need to come up with a reason for why a Lapis Lazuli and a Zircon would need to get to the moon.”

“Perhaps I was a witness to a crime,” Blue tried, “and we met when you came to observe the crime scene, but you decided to bring me in for further questioning.”

“Excellent!” Wheridot proclaimed happily. “Now, just follow my lead and I’ll get you to the moon.”

Wheridot began to plow ahead, and Blue stumbled along behind her, still not used to her new form. Everything was so much more intimidating from this scale, but it at least let her see the world the way other gems saw it. And since both she and Wheridot were disguising their true forms, it felt as if they were finally on the same level, as true equals. And as she felt joy coursing through her, she could sense that the same joy was in Wheridot, possibly even for the same reason, and as before, that joy was heightened by its shared nature.

“Where exactly are we going?” Blue asked after a short while.

Wheridot opened up a screen. “To the nearest warp pad,” she answered. “From there, we can warp to the Ship Hangar.”

“And where is this warp pad?”

“Shouldn’t be too far ahead,” Wheridot replied confidently. “Just across this ravine—oh my stars.”

As Wheridot’s jaw dropped open, Blue looked ahead. Sure enough, the path was blocked by a ravine—the other side of which was swarming with gem ships. The smallest resembled an eyeball, while the largest resembled a giant white hand, floating over the forest.

“Ohhhh, this is bad,” Wheridot whimpered. “They must have tracked us from the kindergarten to determine this would be the most convenient warp pad.”

“Won’t they fail to recognize us in these forms, though?” Blue asked.

Wheridot shuddered. “But what if they request to inspect our gems? Yours is enormous, and they’ll never find mine—we’ll be identified instantly and they’ll shatter us both! I don’t think I can do this and I don’t want to be responsible for your life too!”

Blue gently placed a hand on Wheridot’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Wheridot,” she said quietly. “You’ve got a good plan, and as long as you stick to it I know you’ll succeed. But I can’t do it without you—after all, a witness to a crime can’t exactly travel alone without the Zircon escorting her.”

As Blue spoke, she felt as if her confidence in Wheridot was traveling through her hand and into her companion. It was a feeling she couldn’t understand, but as Wheridot’s breathing slowed and her eyebrows began to furrow with determination, Blue knew that it was helping.

“Fair enough, Blue,” she replied, and walked up to the edge of the ravine, facing the ships on the other side. “Hey! Over here!” she yelled.

It took only seconds for the attention of all the ships to focus onto Wheridot, who had placed her arms in front of her in a salute forming a strange parallelogram. Blue shyly walked up behind Wheridot, and as Wheridot shot a glance at her she got the message to put her arms in the same position.

The white hand floated towards the pair, extending one finger towards them. “Hessonite speaking. State your identity and business,” a disembodied voice announced.

“Zircon, Facet 3, cut 3IA,” Wheridot shouted into the fingertip, “escorting crime witness Lapis Lazuli for questioning. Requesting access to warp pad.”

“This area is a crime scene in itself,” the voice of Hessonite replied. “A hostile off-color and a fugitive Peridot are known to be in the region.”

“I’m aware,” Wheridot shouted back, “but as per legal sector 41.3H, it is unlawful for any criminal investigation to be conducted such that it impedes progress in any other concurrent investigations. Now please stop wasting my time and allow me access to the warp pad!”

There was a long pause, in which Blue grew more and more nervous—and she could see that Wheridot was growing more and more nervous as well. But perhaps, if the pilot of the hand ship was feeling the same way, the odds would be in their favor.

And Blue’s hope was fruitful: with a quick comment of “access granted”, the hand lowered itself to serve as a bridge across the ravine. Wheridot and Blue exchanged relieved grins as they walked across together.

“Nice job, Zircon,” Blue whispered. Wheridot responded with a wink.

And less than a minute later, Blue and Wheridot materialized at the ship hangar. There, no fleet was present to meet them—just two gems, one large and orange, and the other small and green, both looking eager to say hello.

Chapter Text

“Greetings!” Fire Agate announced cheerfully with a salute. “Zircon, Lapis Lazuli—it’s a pleasure! I hope you don’t mind that we’re conducting a routine inspection?”

“Is this urgent?” Wheridot asked, in a grumpy tone behind which Blue could detect sheer terror.

“Oh, absolutely, absolutely,” Fire Agate insisted, not dropping her cheerful tone. “We’re just looking for a couple of fugitives who attacked my good friend Peridot here.”

“They stuck me in a hole,” 4EM added. “Just shoved me in there and put a rock in front. It took quite a while to shapeshift past that.”

“If this is the same investigation that is responsible for all those ships back at the forest warp, I must say that such an offense seems rather light for this amount of effort,” Wheridot tried. “I’m quite familiar with the standard legal codes, and none merit dispatching an entire fleet for dealing with a simple case of nonlethal violence.”

“Oh no, no, one of them was an extremely dangerous off-color,” Fire Agate clarified. “We’d have had to shatter her even if she hadn’t demonstrated herself to be hostile. But under legal sector 61.2S, her demonstrated hostility means we are permitted to use all the force we need in order to bring her down.”

“You certainly do seem familiar with the legal code, for an Agate,” Wheridot commented nervously.

“Oh, yes, it’s absolutely splendid for when I need a quick and easy way to keep my Peridots in line,” Fire Agate responded with a grin. “Not to mention that citing incorrect legislation is an excellent way of detecting when a Zircon is not truly a Zircon.”

“All units, come in,” 4EM barked into a screen. “One fugitive located at the ship hangar.”

Wheridot let out a panicked gulp, and flickered out of her Zircon form.

“I think that’s two fugitives, actually,” Fire Agate cooed, sauntering up to Blue and lifting up her chin with two fingers. “Say, Lapis Lazuli, could you please show me your wings?”

Blue nodded nervously, trying to ignore the many ships taking off from the enormous hangar by the ocean silhouetted against the night sky, and concentrated on forming two wings that resembled the ones she’d seen on the blue gems back at the kindergarten.

“Ah, very convincing,” Fire Agate sang out as she danced behind Blue. “But these aren’t made of water, are they? You shapeshifted them, just like how you assumed this form.”

“Do you have a plan?” Wheridot hissed as she glanced back at Blue with fear in her eyes.

Blue shook her head. “I don’t exactly see any holes to stick them in.”

“Don’t even think about it,” 4EM snapped.

“You see,” Fire Agate continued, “if I were in your position I would try to warp out of here immediately. Which is exactly why Peridot here deactivated the warp pad as soon as you arrived.”

“Drat!” Wheridot muttered. “They knew what they were doing.”

“Of course we did,” Fire Agate replied, moseying towards Wheridot. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t anticipate your plan after how many centuries you served under me? I may not have ever given you any special attention—mostly because even your best work at the kindergarten was still poor—but don’t think for a moment that I wasn’t watching.”

“And once we catch you, we will of course be stuffing you both in a hole as retribution for what you did to me,” 4EM added.

Fire Agate glared down at 4EM. “I told you, I’m not guaranteeing that. If we manage to capture them alive, then we’ll talk.”

Wheridot glanced around in terror at the many ships approaching from all directions. “Um, Blue, perhaps this would be an appropriate time to abandon your disguise?”

Blue nodded, and expanded into her true form. Most of the surrounding ships were now no bigger than she was, although in the distance she could see a few of the enormous hands approaching—those would certainly be troublesome.

“Oh, you’re making yourself a larger target! What a wonderful idea,” Fire Agate laughed, as the approaching ships began to whip up a torrent of strong winds, blowing the sands up from the beach. One mid-sized ship touched down behind Fire Agate and 4EM, extending a gangplank. 4EM and Fire Agate rapidly stepped on, and as the door closed, Fire Agate turned around, her smile never having left her face.

As the countless ships began to fire down a rain of lasers, Blue quickly moved towards Wheridot, cupping her between her hands to shelter her from the onslaught. “If I can get you into one of these ships, can you take control of it?” Blue asked.

“Affirmative!” Wheridot shouted, barely audible. “Try going for one of the red eyes; they contain components of potential utility!

Trying to ignore the pain coming in from all directions, Blue glanced around and spotted a small spherical ship with a hexagonal red opening on one side.

“Yes, that one!” Wheridot yelled. “Crack it open and put me in, and I can take it from there. But can you handle things out here?”

“I believe so,” Blue confirmed, keeping her voice calm despite the situation. “These attacks hurt, but I can manage.”

“Okay!” Wheridot yelped, as a stray laser hit one of Blue’s fingers wrapped around her.

“Holding onto you is going to make this quite difficult, though,” Blue added. “I have an idea, but I’d like to run it by you first.”

“Don’t run it by, just do it!” Wheridot screamed. “Once those hand ships arrive I have reasonable doubt as to whether even you can take what they can dish out!”

Blue nodded, and threw Wheridot high into the air. That would buy a few moments of being able to use both hands. So Blue grabbed onto one of the several spindly legs of one of the mid-sized ships, and swung the ship in a circle around her. As she released it, it collided with a similar ship, and both went careening off into the ocean. Blue then spun around and landed a back kick on one of the smaller ships, sending it flying in the opposite direction.

“That looked at least somewhat effective,” Wheridot commented as Blue caught her. “Try that again!”

And so Blue threw Wheridot again, and then jumped on top of one of the larger ships, extending her legs as she landed to push off and gain even more altitude—and at the peak of her trajectory, she reached out and grabbed the small round ship that Wheridot had indicated. Squeezing her hands together, Blue cracked open the hull of the sphere, caught Wheridot, and placed her inside.

“Excellent!” Wheridot exclaimed. “I can take this from here. Just don’t get shattered.”

Blue was unable to respond, as she had already placed the sphere on the beach and was now busy climbing up the index finger of one of the hand ships, which seemed unable to shake her off.

“Not that there was much of a chance of that to begin with,” Wheridot muttered as she began to extract a small metal box from the red eye’s inner walls. Wheridot could hear the outer shell of the ship being blasted apart, but what she needed wasn’t on the outside.

Reaching the palm of the hand ship, in which she was fairly confident the cockpit was located, Blue punched her fist through the hull, and felt around in the inside until she was able to close her fingers on what felt like the body of a gem. And as Blue extracted her fist, which now contained a very startled Hessonite, Wheridot carefully connected the final wire to the small metal box, and all of the ships in the air immediately began to falter and fall. Seeing this, Blue dropped her captive and leaped to safety as the hand ship crashed to the beach and exploded.

Once all the various ships were on the ground—some intact, some decidedly not—Blue knelt down beside the red eye and picked it up, looking inside at Wheridot.

“Did that work?” Wheridot asked nervously.

Blue nodded, a grin breaking across her face. “That was amazing, Wheridot.”

Wheridot appeared confused. “I don’t understand why you’d compliment me on that. After all, you were the one that managed to survive being attacked by an entire fleet.”

“And you were the one who actually stopped them,” Blue insisted. “Don’t think I’m going to deny you the credit you deserve for that.”

Wheridot stepped out into Blue’s hand. “Fair enough. Anyway, pick a ship.”

“I thought you destroyed them all?” Blue asked, confused.

“Oh, not at all! I simply deactivated their onboard computer systems and protected them with a password of my choosing. So as long as the ship you choose is relatively intact, and as long as we can remove any remaining occupants, I can fly it. I also locked down all of their communication systems, so that nobody can warn the moon base about us.”

Blue walked over to examine a triangular ship, just barely large enough for her to fit inside comfortably without shapeshifting. “This one,” she decided.

“Are you sure you don’t want one of the hands?” Wheridot asked, surprised. “One of those could be a lot more useful to us.”

Blue shook her head. “I don’t want to feel like I’m becoming one of them.”

“One of who?”

“The ones who were trying to kill us. The ones who can’t tolerate anybody who’s off-color, who try to force everybody into their system. I can’t separate the image of the hand ships from them.”

“The Diamond Authority,” Wheridot finished.

Blue nodded. “Let’s go with something that looks a bit more generic.”

And soon, Wheridot and Blue were on their way to the moon.

Chapter Text

The flight to the moon was mostly uneventful: both Blue and Wheridot were glad to have the chance to take a break after the earlier altercations, and Wheridot was excited to use the time to explain the structures of gem society in exquisite detail.

Just before landing on the moon, the conversation was interrupted when Wheridot was startled by a news bulletin flashing on her screen. “A central part of my theory was correct!” she exclaimed loudly.

Blue, taken aback, craned her neck to try to get a look at the screen. “What theory?”

“The Great Diamond did want a protégé!” Wheridot explained. “They’re announcing the emergence of a gem called Yellow Diamond on Homeworld. And in recognition of this, the Great Diamond has apparently renamed herself to White Diamond, and she plans to train Yellow Diamond to preside over all of the colonies as our next glorious ruler!”

Blue looked at the image on the screen, which showed two enormous figures—one white, one yellow and slightly smaller—being praised by a crowd of adoring gems.

“I see now why you thought I might have been intended to be one of them,” Blue acknowledged. “Given their apparent attitudes, however, I sincerely hope I have as little as possible in common with them.”

Wheridot grimaced. “You really shouldn’t say that,” she commented quietly. “I may have become a fugitive and a criminal today, but I certainly don’t intend to disparage our glorious leader. Um, sorry, our glorious leaders, plural.”

“Well, I do intend to disparage them!”, Blue insisted. “Why should I show respect towards somebody who’s unwilling to tolerate my existence?”

“But if you were one of them, then they’d be absolutely willing to tolerate you,” Wheridot pointed out.

“It shouldn’t have to be conditional,” Blue sighed.

And soon, the ship landed next to the moon base, which towered high into the sky. High above, the planet was glowing a bright orange.

“It ought to be vacant,” Wheridot explained as the two of them stepped out of the ship onto the moon’s surface. “Typically, this base is only used when the radiant Great Diamond—I mean, White Diamond—is present. Or, um, when the luminous Yellow Diamond is present, I guess. But since both are on Homeworld, we ought not to run into any trouble.”

And Wheridot was correct: she and Blue made it into the base with ease, and within minutes, Wheridot was scrolling through records.

“Peridot, Facet 1N7G Cut 6ZB,” Wheridot muttered to herself as she entered in the identification, and a file flickered open on her screen. Blue peered over her shoulder to look over it.

“It says she was shattered!” Blue observed, surprised. “What happened?”

Wheridot pointed at a later part of the file. “Here. It says she was a revolutionary, and once intercepted a batch of classified orders in an attempt to halt communications and further her heretical purposes. However, she was identified, caught, and executed shortly after she was transferred to Homeworld. And it says it’s still unclear how many of her plans have been identified and stopped.”

“Does it say what the orders were?” Blue asked.

“It gives a task number. Hang on, I’ll look it up. Since this is a Diamond system, I think it’ll let me through—yes, here it is!”

Blue examined the new file that appeared on the screen. “I don’t follow this at all—could you explain?”

Wheridot stood motionless, her mouth open.

“Wheridot?” Blue asked nervously.

Wheridot turned to Blue, talking slowly and quietly. “These are the orders that were sent to the Prime Homeworld Kindergarten with instructions on how to create Yellow Diamond. This revolutionary Peridot intercepted them the first time they were sent out, prompting them to get sent out again when the Prime Homeworld Kindergarten didn’t receive them. So until this Peridot was caught, nobody had any idea that there were actually two sets of orders out there. And it’s reasonable to assume that instead of just preventing the orders from being broadcast, she actually executed them at the kindergarten where she was working. And so…”

“She created a Diamond,” Blue finished, eyes wide.

Wheridot drew a deep breath, and then clapped her arms in front of her into a salute. “My Diamond!” she exclaimed. “My brilliant, lustrous—”

Blue laughed quietly. “What do you think you’re doing, Wheridot?”

Wheridot’s face contorted as she clearly struggled between several trains of thought pulling in different directions. “I’m acknowledging the great honor I have to bask in your presence,” she eventually tried.

Blue laughed again and gently poked Wheridot in the side, almost knocking her over. “There’ll be no need for any of that!”

Wheridot nodded. “Yes, my Diamond. Um, I mean, Blue. Or, if the others are White Diamond and Yellow Diamond, should I call you Blue Diamond?”

“Just ‘Blue’ is still fine,” Blue replied. “Like I said, I don’t want to be seen as one of them.”

“But why not?” Wheridot asked. “Why wouldn’t you want to be what every other gem aspires to be?”

“Because I’d rather be like every other gem!” Blue exclaimed. “I might be different from the rest of gemkind in almost every way, but there’s one thing we have in common—we all share the same emotions. I can feel what you feel, you can feel what I feel—that connects us, that means I’m one of you and not one of them. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t look like White Diamond and Yellow Diamond have any feelings at all, if they can bring themselves to punish anyone who looks different and to shatter anyone who expresses disagreement with their regime.”

“And that’s what makes them perfect,” Wheridot declared.

“That’s what makes them terrible,” Blue responded. “Perhaps this feeling is coming from the fact that I was created to serve the aims of a revolution, but it seems to me that my true purpose must be to bring down this entire system. And you could call me a lunatic and a traitor for this, but I’m driven by a compulsion, by a passion—and I think you’re starting to feel it too.”

Wheridot drew a deep breath, then nodded sheepishly. “You’ve got a very convincing air about you, Blue.”

“It’s like I said,” Blue explained, “I always seem to be in step with the feelings of others. And that’s what’s important, that’s how I know that I’m doing the right thing. Because if everyone’s on my side, and I’m doing this for them, I don’t see how I could possibly be in the wrong.”

“So what’s the plan, then?” Wheridot asked.

Blue looked out at the star-filled sky. “I think it’s time to go have a talk with White Diamond.”

Chapter Text

Blue was alone as she approached White Diamond’s palace. Wheridot had initially demanded to come along, since she wanted to share in the honor of White Diamond’s presence, but Blue had dissuaded her with a reminder that Wheridot’s fugitive status could potentially cause an unpleasant situation. So Wheridot stayed with the ship on the planet as Blue warped to Homeworld.

As Blue walked through the Homeworld streets, she saw countless gems staring at her with wide eyes. But since this was a Diamond mission, this was the first context where she didn’t mind being the focus of attention. So she kept her eyes ahead and let the little gems watch in awe as she walked by.

White Diamond’s palace was empty and clean, with a palanquin sitting in the center with its curtains drawn. As Blue walked up, each one of her footfalls echoed across the room, until she stopped directly in front of the palanquin.

And the curtains drew back, and inside were two Diamonds.

“Ah, welcome!” White Diamond called out with a smile as she saw Blue. “It’s good to finally see you here, my dear Vortex.”

Blue looked up and down the two Diamonds. Yellow Diamond was the same height as Blue, and although White Diamond was sitting in her throne, she was obviously even taller. Yellow Diamond’s hair appeared to be covered by a helmet, and her gem was at exactly the same place in her chest that Blue’s was. White Diamond’s hair, directly contrasting Yellow’s, spread out behind her as if swept by a phantom wind, and her gem was glowing brightly in her forehead.

“Vortex?” Blue asked after a moment of silence.

“Oh, yes!” White Diamond replied. “All those emotions, swirling around chaotically in your gem. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

And it was then that it clicked for Blue why something about White Diamond felt intrinsically wrong.

“I always feel a connection to the feelings of those around me,” Blue commented. “But with you, I don’t feel anything.”

“Of course you don’t, Vortex,” White Diamond laughed. “I think you already know that feelings are what separate us from all those other gems. They’re simply hindrances, that hold one back from true perfection. Yellow here sadly did not come out flawless like me, but her feelings are scarce and slight, and so it will not take much to shape her into a true leader.”

“Please, White, leave me out of this,” Yellow Diamond interjected.

“You, on the other hand,” White Diamond continued, not blinking or taking her eyes off Blue, “well, you’re quite the opposite. So many feelings, no doubt the handywork of the pathetic clod that created you. But it’s nothing that can’t be worked past, of course. Given time, I’m sure we can shape you into the Diamond you were meant to be.”

“You’re actually considering maintaining this accident?” Yellow Diamond asked, slight surprise apparent in her voice.

“But of course, Yellow!” White Diamond replied. “Any accident is simply an opportunity. And combining the might of the three of us could give us so much potential!”

Blue clenched her fist tightly, as White Diamond’s words filled her with increasing fury. “What leads you to think I have any intention to work with you?!” she eventually yelled.

White Diamond laughed again. “Oh, please, Vortex, I never said I thought that. When I first heard that you had emerged on that miserable colony, I already knew that you would initially strive to work against us. It was bound to happen with that many emotions in you. But what I could not predict is which one of them would be driving you. So which is it? Do you aspire to rule the universe as a solitary god? Does the torment of existence lead you to desire to destroy everything that exists? Or do you simply think that our leadership will result in the downfall of gemkind?”

“Your lack of emotions is exactly why you shouldn’t be leading us!” Blue exclaimed. “Gems shouldn’t have to suffer due to the whims of somebody who doesn’t care about the impact her actions have on others, who views life as expendable, who can’t understand that feelings are what make life worth living!”

“So you’re saying you think a leader should grieve whenever one of her subjects die, and feel the pain of every shattered gem, and have her desire to protect her subjects be a vulnerability that can be exploited? Is that what you want, Blue Diamond?”

“Do not call me by that name,” Blue hissed. “If you are what a Diamond is, then I am no Diamond. So count me as one of gemkind rather than as above it. Think of me as no more or less than a Peridot, or a Ruby, or a Lapis Lazuli. And recognize me as one of the gems that will one day help bring the two of you down.”

“Don’t you see the irony, Vortex?” White Diamond asked. “You talk of desire to defeat me, and yet nobody other than a Diamond could ever have the power to do so. Think of how many ships you were easily able to destroy back on the colony—and you’re still only beginning to tap into your power, while I have had mine for millennia. How could the common gems ever hope to bring me down?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Leave us, Yellow,” she ordered. “Blue is about to try to prove her point, although no matter what, she will only end up proving mine.”

With a curt nod, Yellow Diamond exited the palanquin, closing the curtains behind her.

“Well then, Blue Diamond,” White said, never breaking from her smile, “go ahead. Try to strike me down. If you fail, you prove that even the most powerful of gems cannot hope to stop me. And if you succeed, you prove that you are a Diamond, and could never be one of them.”

Before White Diamond finished her sentence, Blue’s fist was already headed towards her face. But the strike was blocked by a white bubble which suddenly formed in between Blue’s fist and White Diamond’s face. Blue quickly found that she couldn’t push through the bubble, and so she pulled back her hand and spun around to try to land a roundhouse kick on the side of White Diamond’s head. But her foot was blocked by another bubble. Throughout all this, White Diamond sat perfectly still.

“Don’t hold back, my dear Vortex,” White Diamond cooed. “Let all those emotions out: channel them all into your anger towards me. Perhaps if you release them all here, then you won’t have any left to work past once you finally give in to me.”

Blue cried out in anger and unleashed a flurry of blows at White Diamond, but was countered with numerous bubbles, always keeping her from touching her foe.

“I know you can do better than this,” White Diamond commented. “You’re a Diamond; your power stretches far beyond kicks and punches.”

Blue gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and felt power flowing into her hand, collecting into a ball of burning energy. She drew her hand back and flung the ball at White Diamond, hitting her squarely in the chest.

White Diamond’s smile only widened. “That’s more like it, Vortex.”

More and more enraged by the second, Blue unleashed as much energy as she could in a single moment, waving a hand in front of her to form several balls of energy similar to the one she just threw, which floated in place for a moment and then snaked upwards to combine together, bursting through the ceiling of the palanquin as a giant ball of glowing light, which then began to rain down a torrent of lasers across the entire scene.

As the palanquin exploded, White Diamond stood up and stretched her arms out to both sides, forming an enormous white bubble around herself. Once Blue’s onslaught stopped, the bubble faded, and White Diamond looked down at Blue from her full height.

“Congratulations,” she declared, “you managed to make me stand up.”

Drained, exhausted, and hopeless, Blue had nothing to say.

“So, I think that’s a wrap on your whole idea of overthrowing me,” White Diamond continued. “So now I think you have two possibilities. You can join Yellow and myself as part of the Great Diamond Authority, where you will be revered as a god and you will have all your whims instantly satisfied by your adoring followers. Or, you can go out there into the world, and pretend you’re just like everyone else, living the life of a common gem.”

Still saying nothing, Blue turned and began to walk out of the palace.

“I thought as much,” White Diamond declared. “I knew you wouldn’t be willing to give up those emotional bonds you feel.”

Blue didn’t stop walking as she approached the door.

“Oh, and by the way,” White Diamond added, “when you realize that something about that never quite feels right, come back to me and I’ll tell you why.”

This made Blue stop in her tracks and turn back to face White Diamond. “I will never come back, and I hope to never speak to you again,” she replied, in a whisper that echoed across the entire room.

And she left, closing the door behind her.

Chapter Text

Wheridot greeted Blue with excitement, only to immediately mellow as it became clear that Blue was far from happy.

“What happened?” Wheridot asked.

Blue sighed, sitting down hard on the ground. Tears began streaming down her face, and Wheridot found herself to be similarly crying, overcome with a despair that she couldn’t understand.

“They didn’t listen,” Blue sobbed. “They didn’t even understand. I couldn’t connect to White Diamond at all, and I barely felt anything with Yellow. They feel nothing, and we have no way of stopping them from doing whatever they wish to every gem in the universe.”

“What if you fought them directly?” Wheridot tried, still not sure why she was crying.

“I tried,” Blue whispered. “I tried my hardest and I didn’t land a single attack. And that was when she wasn’t even fighting back.”

Wheridot gritted her teeth and marched right up to Blue, putting a hand on her leg. “Then that’s just the way things are,” she declared. “I see no use in grieving over something that you can’t change. It’s wholly unproductive and it merely holds you back from moving on.”

Blue’s tears began to flow more slowly. “Moving on?” she asked. “How can we move on when we know that those two monsters are still out there?”

“Are they the only part of your life that matters?” Wheridot asked, continuing without waiting for a response. “Hardly. You’ve got an entire universe out in front of you, you’ve got a life to life, and you can do whatever you want with that. So you’re just like me, really, since I don’t have any sort of life that I can go back to. We both have to find our places.”

Blue’s tears stopped entirely, as did Wheridot’s. “I never really asked about what you thought of this situation,” Blue realized. “After all, I am responsible for pulling you away from your job at the kindergarten. I have to apologize for that—I never meant to ask you to sacrifice so much for me.”

Wheridot grinned. “I can assure you that this was hardly a sacrifice. I haven’t missed that place for a single moment. This time with you has been by far the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“But it’s my fault that you’re a fugitive!” Blue insisted.

“Oh, I’d been meaning to tell you,” Wheridot replied, “while you were on Homeworld I hacked into the database and expunged both of our criminal records. So now we can do whatever we want! Um, apart from committing any more crimes, of course.”

Blue’s eyes widened. “You can do that?”

“Well, ‘hacked’ is perhaps not the appropriate word,” Wheridot admitted. “The ship we stole belonged to an Emerald, and so automatically had access to the database. So it was an easy matter. The point is, we’re free now! We can do whatever we want!”

“So what is it that you want to do?” Blue asked.

“Well, I may not be particularly experienced in the area as of yet—as you saw from the feebleness of my attempt to pose as a Zircon—but I am intrigued by the field of law. I found a legal firm on Homeworld that is willing to employ a Peridot despite the unconventional nature of that action.”

“That sounds wonderful, Wheridot!” Blue exclaimed, the marks of tears quickly fading from her face.

“And that is just the beginning,” Wheridot continued. “I also contacted a team of Bismuths whose work typically entails the design and construction of large buildings. I informed them that I had a friend who had all the abilities of a Diamond despite not being one, and they responded that they would be thrilled to have somebody like you on their team, as your abilities would make their work far easier. Does that sound like a line of work that would interest you?”

Tears began to stream down Blue’s face again, but as Wheridot began to cry as well, she realized that these were tears of joy rather than tears of sorrow.

“They actually want to have me around,” Blue said in a voice almost above a whisper. “They acknowledge our differences yet still want me to be one of their number.”

“Of course, Blue!” Wheridot replied. “I believe it is almost guaranteed that practically any team of gems would jump at the opportunity to incorporate you into their ranks. So if design and construction is unappealing to you—”

“No, it’s perfect,” Blue interrupted.

“Oh, and this Bismuth team is located in close proximity to my legal firm,” Wheridot added. “So we’ll be able to see each other all the time!”

“That’s something you’d actually want?” Blue asked in disbelief.

“Of course!” Wheridot laughed. “I see no reason why I would not aspire to spend time with my friend.”

Blue grabbed Wheridot and hugged her tightly. Since Blue was about ten times as tall as Wheridot, the hug of course was somewhat awkward, but neither participant seemed to mind.

“So I see no point in dallying on this colony any longer,” Wheridot eventually said. “Are you ready to warp back to Homeworld?”

Blue opened her mouth, then hesitated. “Not really,” she eventually said. “I don’t want to feel like I’m going back to see White Diamond again.”

“That’s okay,” Wheridot said reassuringly. “We can just travel there in the ship.”

Blue shook her head. “That would take far too long; I don’t want to inconvenience you like that.”

“It would hardly be an inconvenience,” Wheridot insisted. “It would also enable us to have access to the ship while on Homeworld.”

“If you’re really comfortable with it…” Blue trailed off. “Thank you, Wheridot.”

Wheridot grinned. “Come on then, Blue! We’ve got lives to go live.”

Chapter Text

The flight to Homeworld offered Blue some much-needed time to relax and process everything that was going on. While her mind kept wandering back to White Diamond, Wheridot was always there to comfort her.

And soon, they arrived. Before exiting the ship, Blue shapeshifted to make herself smaller—about the size of her Lapis Lazuli form, but keeping her own appearance. She didn’t want as many eyes to be focused on her as her previous time on Homeworld, but she also wasn’t going to pretend to be somebody else anymore. And so, when Blue hugged Wheridot as the two prepared to go their separate ways, it was much less awkward than the previous time, and Wheridot was able to return the gesture. Blue shed a few tears, and saw that Wheridot was doing the same, and Blue thought again about how lucky she was to be so emotionally connected to those around her.

Blue walked alone, and while some wandering eyes locked onto her for not having an appearance they recognized, these eyes were few and far between, and Blue felt no fear—only the hope for a bright future and the thrill of being in a strange new place.

“Hey, hey, you!” a voice called out.

Blue turned her head to see a large gray gem with rainbow hair, with her gemstone—resembling two squares crossed at the corners—in her thigh.

“You that Blue person who wanted to be on our crew?” the gray gem asked.

“Oh—yes!” Blue replied happily.

“Excellent!” the gray gem replied jovially. “I’m Bismuth, but I’m usually called Redsmuth. I think it’s ‘cause I got more red than usual in my hair, but I dunno. Anyway, c’mon and I’ll show you the works.”

Blue followed Redsmuth into a nearby building, and observed a workroom containing several large tables covered in papers. In the back of the room was an orange waterfall that Blue could only assume was lava. Several other Bismuths were working around the table.

“All right, rocks, this is Blue,” Redsmuth announced. “As you probably know, she’s gonna be workin’ with us for the next while. Blue, this is our crew—Roundsmuth, Trismuth, Hopper, Telluride, and Thimbus.”

“I thought she’d be taller,” Telluride commented. “Like, a lot taller.”

“I’m assumin’ she’s shapeshifted right now,” Redsmuth responded. “That right, Blue?”

Blue nodded.

Roundsmuth approached Blue, looking her up and down. “All right, listen up,” she declared. “I’m usually in charge ‘round here, so here’s the deal. We’re gonna be needin’ you mostly for heavy liftin’ and temporary structural support, as well as the occasional demolition. That good with you?”

“Absolutely,” Blue replied.

“Great, I’m sure the crew’ll be happy that we won’t have to fuse as often. Any other special abilities you got that might be useful?”

Blue formed a sphere of energy in her hand and let it float in front of her.

Roundsmuth’s eyes widened, and she grinned. “Oh, now that’s neat! This’ll make workin’ at night a lot easier if we don’t have to worry about the lighting rigs.” Roundsmuth reached out a hand to touch the sphere, but Blue grabbed her wrist just in time.

“Careful, they tend to explode,” Blue warned.

Roundsmuth raised an eyebrow. “And you made one right in the middle of the workshop?”

Blue bit her lip. “Apologies; I didn’t think of that.”

“No worries,” Hopper commented from the side. “I think I got a fix.”

Hopper walked up to the energy sphere and formed a bubble around it. With a tap, the bubble disappeared.

“Nice save, Hopper!” Trismuth declared, walking up and cheerfully punching Hopper in the arm.

“I’m also thinkin’ that we could use this,” Hopper added. “If we bubble a bunch of ‘em, we can save ‘em for when they’re needed in demolition schemes!”

“Now you’re talkin’, Hopper!” Roundsmuth responded cheerfully. “I’ll add that to our task list.” She then turned to Thimbus. “Why don’t you take Blue to the construction site and show her around?”

Thimbus nodded, and beckoned for Blue to follow her.

“Aww, I wanted to be there for that,” Telluride complained. “I really liked how my section was comin’ along, and I’d hoped to be the one to see her reaction.”

“And I should probably go to translate for Thimbus,” Trismuth pointed out.

Roundsmuth pondered for a moment. “All right, I suppose I can’t complain on either count. Anybody else dyin’ to go along?”

Redsmuth and Hopper both raised their hands into the air, Hopper looking slightly sheepish as she did so. Roundsmuth laughed, putting her hand on her forehead and slightly shaking her head.

“All right, then,” Roundsmuth declared, “I’ll hold down the fort while y’all show Blue the works. But that tour better be absolutely superb, y’hear?”

After a chorus of affirmations from the Bismuths around her, Blue followed the team out the back entrance of the building and to an empty lot where an enormous structure was being constructed.

“All right, I called out first, so I’ll show her my section first!” Telluride declared.

Trismuth poked Telluride in the shoulder. “Whoa, easy there,” she interjected. “This was Thimbus’ job, remember? So she should get priority.”

Thimbus smiled and flashed Trismuth a wink, beckoning Blue towards a large pyramid that appeared to be what would become the structure’s entrance on completion.

“Did you make this?” Blue asked, looking up and down the pyramid and observing the intricate pattern of white lines snaking across all the sides. “What are these lines for?”

Thimbus responded with an intricate array of hand signs that Blue tried and failed to follow.

“She’s sayin’ that they’re for structural stability,” Trismuth translated. “When energy’s supplied to those conduits, they hold the walls in place and can withstand severe impacts.”

Thimbus nodded, and continued with a few more hand signs. “She’s darin’ you to try to break it down,” Trismuth explained.

Blue nodded, expanded to her full size, and stomped her foot on the pyramid as hard as she could. The conduits flashed with light, and Blue found her foot repelled backwards. Regaining her balance, she hurled a blast of energy at the pyramid, only to have it scatter across the wall ineffectively.

“All right,” Telluride admitted. “That there was more in line with my expectations of you.”

Blue shrank back down and nodded at Thimbus. “Impressive work!”

Thimbus grinned at the compliment and nodded.

“I thought I’d find you around here,” a familiar voice suddenly sang out from overhead.

Blue whirled around and looked up to see a triangular ship descending to land in an empty part of the lot. A gangplank extended, and Fire Agate stepped out, with a smile on her face and a glowing yellow instrument in her hand.

“I started heading over here as soon as I heard that this team had enlisted the services of an off-color,” Fire Agate explained. “I’d so hoped it would be you, Blue.”

Redsmuth narrowed her eyes. “This gem botherin’ you, Blue?”

“Oh please,” Fire Agate laughed. “Don’t pretend that you’d side with an off-color over an Agate. And besides, my problem with Blue is absolutely justified. It started when she humiliated one of my Peridots and turned one of my others into a traitor. And then she went on to destroy my personal spacecraft. I don’t know how she managed to come to Homeworld without being immediately tried and shattered, but I’m not going to stand idly by and let her escape without consequences.”

“And how do you plan on stopping me?” Blue asked coldly.

Fire Agate raised up the instrument in her hand. “This destabilizer is designed to be used on powerful fusions,” she explained. “I don’t know how long I’ll have to hit you with it to poof you, but I’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to get through us first!” Trismuth shouted.

Blue gently placed her hand on Trismuth’s shoulder. “It’s okay, I can handle this.”

“I know you can,” Trismuth responded. “Doesn’t mean you have to.”

Fire Agate lunged forwards, and swung the destabilizer at Trismuth. As it hit, Trismuth immediately disappeared, her triangular gemstone clattering to the ground. Blue recoiled in fear, as did the Bismuths around her.

“All right, form up!” Hopper shouted after a moment. “It’s four against one—yes, four, stay back there Blue—so we oughta be fine.”

“Right!” Redsmuth and Telluride shouted simultaneously, as Thimbus flashed a thumbs-up.

Fire Agate laughed. “A pointless endeavor.” She raised her wrist and spoke into it. “4EM, eliminate these Bismuths.”

The ship behind Fire Agate slowly raised up into the air, and the blasters in front began to glow. But as the blasters fired, the ship was grabbed from behind by Blue, who wrapped her arms around the hull and tipped it so that the shots missed. The ship continued to fire, and tipped back and forth trying to pull out of Blue’s grasp, but Blue managed to hold on, turning the ship to the side. Several of the blasts hit the structure, but while a few pieces fell apart, Blue was able to hold the ship so that most of the shots hit Thimbus’ pyramid, which was easily able to withstand the attack.

Seeing this, the Bismuths attacked, shapeshifting their arms into an array of axes and hammers and swinging them at Fire Agate. Since Fire Agate was quick to raise the destabilizer to parry, most of these attacks missed, but Thimbus was able to hammer Fire Agate from the side and knock her off balance. In that moment, Redsmuth made a grab at the destabilizer, but grabbed the wrong part and was poofed instantly. However, Redsmuth’s interference was enough for Telluride to leap in from the side and tackle Fire Agate, pinning her to the ground.

The ship fired its rear engines, which were positioned directly next to Blue’s arm. As they fired, Blue cried out in pain and the ship was able to momentarily break away, and it landed one shot on Telluride. While the shot didn’t quite poof Telluride, it knocked her off of Fire Agate, who was able to get up and stab at her with the destabilizer. Now, only Blue, Hopper, and Thimbus remained.

“I’m amazed you’re willing to do this,” Fire Agate sang out as she leisurely walked forward towards Hopper and Thimbus, swinging the destabilizer in front of her. “Wouldn’t it be so much easier to just step aside and let me serve justice to this off-color?”

As Blue desperately held onto the ship, she felt determination coursing through her, and she knew it was the same determination felt by the Bismuths, who for some reason were willing to help her despite having just met her moments before. Blue was shocked by their sudden allegiance, but it felt wonderful to have people who were willing to protect her.

And as Thimbus leaped forward only to be poofed by Fire Agate, Blue was overcome by guilt—four gems had just put themselves in harm’s way for her, and soon Hopper would be poofed as well. This had to stop. And Blue overcame the urge holding her back, and threw the ship to the ground on top of Fire Agate, who looked up in alarm only to be poofed by the impact a moment later.

Blue walked over and knelt down next to Hopper. “Are you all right?” she asked.

Hopper smiled weakly. “Yeah. Thanks for the save, Blue.”

Hopper walked up to the gemstones of her four comrades, and carefully picked up each one of them. Blue lifted up the front end of the ship, and pulled Fire Agate’s gemstone out from underneath, checking to make sure it wasn’t cracked. She then punched through the ship’s hull and grabbed 4EM, who squealed with fear at Blue.

“I want you to take Fire Agate’s gem and run away,” Blue whispered, her lips almost immediately against 4EM’s face. “And when she reforms, inform her that I will never seek out either of you again, and will never harm you as long as you just stay away from me.”

4EM nodded vigorously. Blue set her down, and she fled.

Satisfied, Blue shrank down and joined Hopper in walking towards the workshop.

“That was fun,” Hopper commented as they walked.

“That was terrifying,” Blue replied.

“Oh yeah, that too,” Hopper admitted. “You did good, though.”

“You didn’t do so bad yourself,” Blue said with a smile. “Thanks for being willing to risk so much for me.”

“No problem!” Hopper replied with a smile. “That gem was obnoxious; I think we were all more than happy to take her down. And I must say, it weirded me out how she was smiling through that whole thing. At least, until you threw that ship at her—did you see her face? It was priceless.”

“I didn’t see,” Blue replied, and then her eyes widened with realization. “I think I know why she was always smiling.”

“Because she’s a prick?” Hopper guessed.

“Well, yes,” Blue admitted, “but it honestly reminded me of White Diamond—when I met her, she acted almost the exact same way. I think Fire Agate might have wanted to be like her.”

“Whoa, you met White Diamond?” Hopper asked, surprised.

Blue nodded.

“Was she a prick?”

Blue nodded again.

Hopper laughed. “Thought as much. Anyway, let’s get back to Roundsmuth. I’ll explain everything; you’ve had enough to deal with today.”

Blue sighed with relief. She had friends, she had support, and things were finally going okay.

Chapter Text

The days passed, the cycles passed, and life continued. The structure was soon completed, and so Blue followed the Bismuths to the next construction site, and the next after that. Fire Agate and 4EM were nowhere to be seen, seemingly heeding Blue’s demand that they stay away. Wheridot, on the other hand, was always around, and she and Blue saw each other often.

“I have something to confess,” Wheridot one day declared. “I intentionally deceived you when we first met. My gem is not in fact concealed by my hair.”

“Where is it, then?” Blue asked casually, staring off into the distance.

“It’s on the roof of my mouth,” Wheridot explained, sounding slightly nervous as she spoke. “That’s also why I have trouble eating. And nobody can see it there. I was always embarrassed by it, actually, so that’s why I claimed it was under my hair. You’re the first gem I’ve ever been comfortable enough to divulge this information to.”

Blue nodded, still staring off in the distance.

“Is everything all right, Blue?” Wheridot asked, concern apparent in her voice.

“Oh, um, yes,” Blue replied. “Apologies; I’ve been awfully bad at staying focused recently.”

“I’ve been feeling the same way since I got here,” Wheridot replied. “A brief, passing feeling, of course. I am confident that once I leave, I will have fully recovered.”

“That’s exactly it, Wheridot!” Blue exclaimed suddenly. “That’s what’s been bothering me.”

“You’re bothered by the fact that I’m experiencing a lack of focus?” Wheridot asked, confused.

Blue shook her head. “Not in that sense. What bothers me is that we’re having the exact same experience.”

“Hasn’t that always been the case with everybody you know?” Wheridot pointed out.

“Exactly!” Blue replied. “It’s awfully strange. The Bismuths don’t seem to have that sort of a connection with each other. And do you have a connection like that with the Zircons in your office?”

“Negative,” Wheridot confirmed. “Although I would only label them as colleagues, rather than friends.”

“But this happens to me with everyone,” Blue insisted. “Even in cases where it wouldn’t make sense. I don’t understand.”

“Perhaps this is a manifestation of one of your natural abilities?” Wheridot guessed. “It could hypothetically be allowing you to intuitively sense the emotions of those around you.”

“But I was having trouble focusing before I got here,” Blue pointed out. “And you didn’t.”

“Why are you worrying about this?” Wheridot asked.

Blue bit her lip. “It feels wrong,” she eventually replied. “I can’t say how, but something about it feels off.”

“Isn’t that exactly what White Diamond warned you about?” Wheridot remembered.

Blue nodded. “And I think I need to go talk to her.”

Wheridot gasped. “Why would you do that?! You said yourself that she was awful to you. Why would you go back in there and give her another chance to hurt you?”

“Can’t you understand?!” Blue exclaimed. “I’m only seeing half of the picture! If this connection I feel is something I misunderstand, this upends my whole existence!”

Wheridot put a hand against Blue. “Of course I understand,” Wheridot replied. “As per the phenomenon in question. But White Diamond isn’t the answer.”

“She said she knew what was going on,” Blue whispered. “Please, Wheridot, don’t deny me this.”

“But you don’t know what she’ll do to you!” Wheridot shouted.

“I can accept that,” Blue replied.

“Then…then I’ll have to stop you!” Wheridot declared. “I can’t let you go putting yourself in harm’s way!”

“And how do you plan on stopping me?” Blue replied coldly.

Wheridot thought furiously. “I’ll set up a destabilizing perimeter around White Diamond’s palace so that you’ll be poofed if you try to enter,” she tried. “Since your gem type is unique I can calibrate it to affect you and only you, and so I doubt anybody would even notice it. And the ship contains all the resources and components I would need for the setup.”

Blue raised her eyebrows. “You would really go through all of that to protect me?”

Wheridot gritted her teeth and nodded.

“Then I’ll just have to go to the palace before you get the chance,” Blue responded, standing up and walking away.

“Blue, wait!” Wheridot yelled, running after her. But she had no hope of keeping up with Blue’s stride, and quickly fell behind.

And Blue approached the palace alone. The doors swung open as if they awaited her. Inside was a palanquin exactly matching the one that Blue had destroyed on her previous visit.

“Welcome home, Vortex,” White Diamond called out as the curtains swung open. “I wondered when you’d be returning.”

“I’m not here for games, White Diamond,” Blue snapped back. “I want answers.”

“And I shall provide!” White Diamond sang. “I assume your questions are about the emotions you inexplicably share with those around you.”

Blue nodded. “My experience has been—”

“I think you already know the answer, and you’re too afraid to admit it to yourself,” White Diamond interrupted. “That fear is one of the many emotions that you experience to excess. Such excess, in fact, that you cannot contain them by yourself, and they leak out to those around you.”

Blue’s breathing grew faster. “How could you possibly know that?” she asked, in a voice that was almost a whisper.

“Every Diamond has an aura,” White Diamond explained. “For instance, Yellow is overflowing with energy, and can release it to alter those around her. And I…well, I see no need to bring in my life story. But you…your emotions have always defined you, and so it’s fitting that they are your dominion.”

Blue began to shake as she felt herself becoming overcome with dread.

“If that was an attempt to use your aura on me, don’t bother,” White laughed. “You already know I have no feelings in the first place, and so I am beyond your control. The rest of gemkind, however, experience countless emotions that Diamonds should not—that is what makes us superior to them. And you have the power to exploit their emotions to keep them under our control—this will be of massive use to the Diamond Authority.”

“You think that I’ll use this to aid the Diamond Authority?” Blue hissed, still shaking.

“Yes,” White Diamond replied. “Just like how you’ve been using it so far to aid yourself. Or did you think that your friends genuinely cared about you?”

Blue collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face.

“Yes,” White Diamond continued, “you must now be realizing that no Peridot would willingly choose to leave her Kindergarten to become a fugitive, especially not for the sake of somebody she perceives as an off-color. And no Bismuths would put themselves in harm’s way to protect a gem they just met from an Agate out for justice. That was all you. If you hadn’t been forcing them to care about you against their own wills, those that you call your friends would have brushed you aside within moments, because the feeling that you thought marked you as being the same as them was only ever the proof that you will always be different. And the only place you belong is right here, by my side as the third piece of the Diamond Authority.”

Blue’s tears continued to flow, puddling on the floor around her. “So what happens now?” she whispered.

“That’s up to you, Vortex,” White Diamond replied coolly.

Blue placed her head in her hands. “Do whatever you want with me,” she whispered. “I don’t care. Just do whatever you want.”

And for the second time that Blue had ever witnessed, White Diamond stepped out of her chair. She gently placed a hand underneath Blue’s shoulder and helped her into a sitting position. She then kneeled down next to Blue and leaned over, whispering into her ear.

“I’m going to shatter you.”

Blue drew back, looking at White Diamond with horrified eyes.

“Oh, not your gem,” White Diamond laughed. “I’m going to shatter your spirit. Because even if you can’t see it, you’re still holding onto so much. Your desire to protect the gems you care about, your sense of right and wrong, your hatred towards me…I’m going to shatter your spirit into so many shards that none of that will ever matter to you anymore. And even if I can’t get you to the same level of perfection as myself, I know that in the end, you’ll be just as much of a Diamond as Yellow is.”

White Diamond’s grip suddenly turned firm, claws digging into Blue’s shoulder.

“So let’s begin.”

Chapter Text

Within moments, Blue found herself shoved inside a palanquin. It was unlike White’s palanquin—it was somewhat smaller, although Blue could still stand up inside it, and it was blue on both the outside and the inside. And Blue realized within moments that the curtains had sealed themselves shut—and both the curtains and the walls were lined with what Blue instantly recognized as the conduits that Thimbus had lined the pyramid with to make it invulnerable to attack. Blue wasn’t going to be breaking out of here.

“Well, it’s not a hole, but I’ve finally got you trapped, so I’m declaring this to be a victory,” a familiar voice announced.

Blue looked down to see 4EM standing by her feet.

“Although I’m trapped in here too,” 4EM added, “so this victory is a bittersweet one at best.”

Blue knelt down to face 4EM, her eyes narrowed with tears still welling in the corners. “Why are you here?” she whispered.

“Truth be told, I have no idea,” 4EM admitted, looking slightly confused as she realized tears were welling in her eyes as well. “Her absolute magnificence, the radiant White Diamond, placed me here herself—and she said that you would be here soon. As I have done nothing but dutifully serve the Great Diamond Authority, I can only assume that good things are in store for us.”

“Oh, I’m afraid you’re quite mistaken, Peridot,” White Diamond’s voice sang out from behind the curtain. “Blue Diamond is here to shatter you.”

4EM gasped. “But I followed every single law to the letter! I’ve never had a single violation, and—”

“But you have,” White Diamond interrupted. “The punishment for attacking a Diamond is to be shattered, and you have attacked Blue Diamond on multiple occasions. It’s simple justice.”

4EM looked up at Blue, eyes wide with fear. “You’re not actually going to do it, are you? I know we’ve never exactly been friends, but surely I don’t deserve to be shattered, do I?”

“Of course I won’t,” Blue replied. 4EM sighed with relief.

“That’s a choice you can make,” White Diamond continued. “Of course, should you choose to let this Peridot’s crimes go unpunished, there are six Bismuths you know whom I will be forced to shatter instead.”

Blue’s jaw dropped. “What crime have they committed?”

“None,” White Diamond replied. “That punishment would not be for them, but for you.”

“You’re still not going to do it, right?” 4EM asked hopefully.

As Blue turned to look mournfully down at her, 4EM’s hopeful expression faded away.

“I implore you to reconsider!” 4EM insisted, in a voice sounding more panicked by the second. “Can’t you see what she’s doing? She’s trying to turn you into a shatterer! Once that happens, you’ll always be a shatterer, and that changes who you are!”

“And yet, if I don’t, I shatter six of my friends through inaction,” Blue replied.

“But White would be the one shattering them!” 4EM tried.

“I would still have that on my conscience,” Blue declared, “since I would have chosen not to save them when I had the chance.”

4EM slowly backed up towards the back of the palanquin, tripping as she ascended steps that were far too high for her to walk comfortably.

“She’s a threat,” White Diamond reminded Blue from outside the palanquin. “She needs to be neutralized. And even if she had a clean record, the use of a single Peridot is minimal—she’s hardly worth concerning yourself about. So just go ahead.”

“Listen,” 4EM insisted, “I promise I have no hard feelings towards you. Yes, I was awful to you in the past, and I apologize. I’ve been meaning to apologize for a long time, I promise it’s not just because you’re about to shatter me. I didn’t want to have that on my conscience, and I don’t want you to have this on yours. Please, I think that if you gave me a chance we could maybe even be friends! But please give me a chance—please, I want to live!”

Blue gently picked up 4EM in one hand. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

And a few moments later, Blue Diamond exited her palanquin.

Chapter Text

Yellow Diamond sat in her palanquin, barking orders through a monitor to the captain of a fleet of starships. Hearing a disturbance, however, she signed off the call and stood up, marching towards the entrance of her palanquin and drawing back the curtains.

Seeing Blue Diamond standing in front of her, Yellow scowled. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Yellow, please listen,” Blue began, “I only have a few minutes before White realizes I’m gone. I need you to—”

“Not a chance,” Yellow snapped, turning away.

“Please, Yellow!” Blue insisted. “I know you’re not completely like her. I know that you’ve got actual feelings, no matter how hard you try to hide them, and—”

Yellow whirled around, leaning towards Blue with anger visible on her face. “And you will keep your mouth shut about that when White is around. Understood?”

Blue reached out to put a hand on Yellow’s shoulder, but Yellow drew back.

“Now you listen to me, Blue Diamond,” Yellow commanded. “I don’t know why you think you can suddenly show up here and expect me to be your friend—after last time, when you spoke in slander the likes of which I had never before heard. White seems to want you to share the same status as me, but that doesn’t mean I have to be okay with that.”

“She’s wronged you too, hasn’t she?” Blue realized. “She’s made you feel that you have to prove yourself, that you’ll always be worthless unless you try to be exactly like her.”

Yellow’s eyes widened. Saying nothing, she grabbed Blue by the shoulders, picked her up, and slammed her down against the floor.

“It’s okay, Yellow,” Blue whispered as Yellow raised her fist. “I’m not trying to use this as leverage against you.”

“Then why accuse me of being vulnerable?” Yellow growled.

“All I wanted you to know was that she’s doing the same to me,” Blue replied.

Yellow sighed and released Blue, who shakily stood back up.

“I think you’d be best served by sticking to managing your own emotions rather than getting involved with mine,” Yellow declared after a brief pause.

“Of course,” Blue responded. “I’m not here to be your counselor.”

“Then why are you here?” Yellow asked.

Blue drew a deep breath. “White says she captured six Bismuths—they’re my friends. She threatened to shatter them, and I was hoping you could—”

“She released them,” Yellow interrupted. “No matter what she says, she sticks to her word. That’s one of the nicer things about her—she’s predictable. And she knew that if she shattered them even after you completed whatever trial she’d designed for you to save them, that would cause your anger towards her to increase. Which isn’t exactly ideal when she’s trying to eliminate your emotions entirely.”

Blue sighed with relief. “They’re back at their workshop, then?”

Yellow pressed a few buttons on her monitor and pulled up a live video feed. “Indeed. Now is that all you wanted of me?”

“There’s one more thing,” Blue continued. “I have one other friend—my best friend, really. She’s a Peridot known as Wheridot, and she works at the law firm right near the Bismuths’ workshop.”

“A Peridot working at a law firm?” Yellow asked skeptically. “Why would that job be given to a Peridot rather than a Zircon?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Blue said dismissively. “The point is, I think White is going to go after her too. She might even try to force me to shatter her, and knowing White I think she’d succeed. I was hoping you could find her and get her away, beyond where White could easily find her, where even I won’t know, so that White can’t get it out of me.”

“This seems like an inordinate amount of effort for one Peridot,” Yellow scoffed.

“Please, Yellow,” Blue insisted. “I know you can sense how much this means to me.”

And Yellow took the upwelling of tears in her eyes to be a sign that there was no point in protesting, and so she nodded curtly, to Blue’s delight.

“And please, tell her—tell her that I’m sorry, that I should have listened, and that she didn’t do anything wrong. And tell her to not try to come find me, because if she does she’ll almost certainly be shattered and I can’t prevent it.”

“Fine,” Yellow sighed. “But let the record show that I think this is utterly unnecessary.”

Blue lunged forward and hugged Yellow tightly. Yellow tried to draw back at first, but after a few moments settled for awkwardly patting Blue on the back.

And soon, Yellow departed, and Wheridot found herself on a ship out to the farthest colony from Homeworld. She’d be safe, and she’d be able to live out the life she chose without Blue there to bring it all crashing down.

Chapter Text

Blue Diamond’s ship, now shaped like a gigantic arm, landed on homeworld. Blue Diamond stepped out, home from creating her second colony, and walked slowly so that the adulations from the gems surrounding her would last longer. She’d grown to appreciate that praise—even though they’d never see her as one of them, they still respected her, and at this point, that was even better.

And when she reached White Diamond’s palace, she was met with a surprise.

“This is your pearl,” White explained. “I’m sorry it took so long, Vortex, but that traitor who created you didn’t see fit to grow a pearl alongside you like I did with Yellow.”

White certainly enjoyed reminding Blue of her lowly origin. Blue had learned the hard way to just let it happen.

“My Diamond,” Blue Pearl began, in a voice barely above a whisper. “I am here to offer you my service.”

Blue knelt down to look closely at the small gem standing in front of her. She’d never seen the need to have a Pearl—after all, a gem that lowly couldn’t do anything that Blue couldn’t do herself.

But Blue didn’t want to start any quarrel with White, so she gently extended her hand and let Blue Pearl step into it.

But back on the ship, Blue did not hesitate to let her feelings be known. “I don’t need you,” she explained. “White Diamond seems to want you here, so I will allow you stay for now, provided you stay out of my way.”

“Yes, my Diamond,” Blue Pearl replied, showing no emotion whatsoever in her voice.

And the days went on.

And Blue began to notice that every now and then, she would see a strange, cartoonish drawing on one of her ship’s monitors. Most of the drawings were of White Diamond, in ridiculous unflattering poses with ridiculous unflattering expressions on her face. One drawing featured Yellow Diamond, with her eyes bugging out of her head and her lips contorted with wrinkles around them.

And after a few cycles of these drawings appearing now and then, Blue addressed the obvious culprit.

“Pearl,” she began, gesturing to the latest sketch on the monitor, “are you the one behind all of these ridiculous drawings?”

“Yes, my Diamond,” Blue Pearl answered, still showing no emotion.

“Do you realize that many of these could be interpreted as expressing traitorous sentiments?”

“Yes, my Diamond.”

“Why might you be making them, then?”

“To make you happy, my Diamond.”

Blue gasped, completely startled by this answer.

“I know you try not to express to her how you feel,” Blue Pearl explained. “But I feel it all, and so I decided to express it for you.”

That wasn’t what Blue had expected at all—perhaps this Pearl could do something that she couldn’t.

“Which one was your favorite, my Diamond?” Blue Pearl asked.

Blue pulled up all the drawings simultaneously on the monitor, and gestured to one showing White Diamond falling off a cliff and saying “whoops”.

“That’s my favorite, too, my Diamond,” Blue Pearl added.

“Please continue making these,” Blue ordered.

“Of course, my Diamond.”

Blue Pearl saluted and departed. Throughout the entire encounter, her face and voice had communicated no emotion whatsoever—but the emotion in her drawings more than counteracted it.

And for the first time in almost a millennium, Blue had a friend.

Chapter Text

“Why did she send you to me?” Blue asked.

Pink averted her eyes and crossed her arms, saying nothing.

Blue sighed, kneeling down next to Pink and putting a hand around her shoulders. “Talk to me, Pink.”

“I questioned what we were doing,” Pink mumbled. “I visited my colony, and I…I saw life there.”

“Organic life,” Blue pointed out.

“If you’re just going to say the same things Yellow said, then I can just go,” Pink snapped, pulling away from Blue’s hand.

Blue sighed, and went over to sit in her throne. “Why did Yellow think that talking to me would make a difference for you?”

Pink stood up, re-crossing her arms and glancing nervously to the side. “She said, um, that you used to question our purpose too. That you—”

Blue raised her hand, and Pink fell silent.

“I was young and naïve once,” Blue admitted. “I thought I could change the way things are.”

“Yellow says you attacked White,” Pink added.

Blue nodded. “That was how I learned that even a being as powerful as a Diamond cannot change reality. Each of us is born with a purpose we can never and should never overcome.”

“Even when it’s wrong?” Pink exclaimed.

Blue shook her head sadly. “I wish I could say otherwise, but there’s no such thing as wrong. One day, you’ll learn to accept it, just as I did.”

Pink stomped her foot. “No!” she shouted. “With the position we’re in, we could do so much! We could make things better, and promote harmony between gems and all the other wonderful life that’s out there! If the two of us worked together, we could make a genuine difference!”

Blue stood up. Pink recoiled automatically, taking a few steps backwards. But Blue simply knelt down in front of Pink and gently embraced her.

Perhaps this gem—awfully young, yes; awfully foolish, yes—was a second chance.

“Do what you must,” Blue whispered. “I can’t help you. But should it come to it, if I’m ever in a position where I’m the only one who can foil your plans, I’ll look the other way.”

Pink returned Blue’s embrace. “I guess the future’s in my hands, then,” she replied.

Blue stood back up, returning to her throne. “And I look forward to seeing what you make of it.”