Archive of Our Own

There was bitterness on Pink’s tongue and acid in her throat as she flounced through the palace corridors. Ahead of her, an unfamiliar Pearl trotted diligently forward, wordlessly keeping with Pink’s pace despite her colossal stride. The sound of footsteps echoed through the empty hall. Pink glared daggers at the back of the Pearl’s head, although that’s not where her ire truly took root.

Pink would never forget.

It hurt to think about and yet Pink had been stewing in these thoughts for an eternity; Memories of secret conversations, of hushed jokes and tittering laughter and swirly bun hair, all gone within the span of a second. Painful. But Pink allowed herself to indulge in these thoughts, for she considered the hatred they inspired in her an asset; Just a way of pushing her thoughts where they clearly weren’t wanted, for she would always have nothing if she didn’t fight.

It was for this reason, she suspected, that Blue and Yellow had summoned her to the warp. Typically, their punishments involved more direct confrontation, but Pink knew not to expect a pleasant chat out of this encounter. And so when her Pearl padded forward to punch in the door code, Pink bunched her shoulders and kept her gaze transfixed on the space between her own feet.

“Pink! there you are,” greeted Blue, sounding delighted, and that gave Pink pause. She deigned to lift her head slightly, tilting just enough to see the bottom half of Blue’s dress step into her line of sight.

Startlingly, Yellow’s voice came next — mere feet away from her. Pink flinched backward with a short, strangled gasp.

“I was beginning to wonder if you would even show up,” Yellow drawled.

Pink didn’t reply. Yellow raised a brow at her but threw a look at Blue in lieu of speaking further.

Blue remained oblivious to Pink’s pouting. “Oh, Pink, we can see that you haven’t been in the best of spirits recently, so we’ve put some thought into it. We decided you needed something new if we wanted you at your best performance!”

Blue fell quiet, expecting a response, and Yellow sensed Pink’s steadfast refusal to comply.

“Yes, if it were up to me, you wouldn’t be getting anything at all until you’ve quit with this game you’re playing,” she said, “but I figured that you’d be out of excuses to ignore us every time we ask something of you.”

Pink’s posture loosened somewhat, her face coloring, and she lost the nerve to continue snubbing them. “So what,” she mumbled bitterly, “You’re going to give me a different Pearl again?”

Pink could not see it, for the Pearl in front of her stood stock still, but the young Servant’s eyes flew open at the suggestion.

Yellow scowled. “Pink—”

“Heavens no, Pink, nothing like that. You already have a perfect specimen at your disposal, just as you should,” Blue replied. Somehow, the strange Pearl did not feel reassured. “We only think we’ve narrowed down what it is that’s causing you to behave this way, and we’ve come up with the best solution.”

Pink wanted to laugh, the harsh, humorless way White sometimes did when one of them said something wrong.

Yellow sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I think we need to make this quick, Blue. She’s going to need it.”

“Of course, Yellow. Come along, now.”

Pink heard the pair trod along, then stop and turn around. She waited a beat too long to follow suit, and Yellow was already a word into an impatient threat.

“I’m coming,” Pink bit out and plodded forward without ever taking her eyes off the ground.

_______________________________________________

Pink would much rather be here than getting yelled at, she supposed.

The warp’s beam gave way to a swathe of lush land. The pad they were on stood high atop a tall foundation, allowing Pink to see it all; Bright green grass and colorful bushes, lined with flowers of all sorts. It was beautiful, she thought, though she suspected it was no thanks to Blue and Yellow.

They usually ignored or even rejected what little organic life their planet had left to give. Their influence seemed to come, though, in the form of neat stone paths, all surrounded in blocky pillars, carving geometric shapes into the ground and leading into a central plaza with an ornate fountain standing tall in the center.

Any other time, Pink might have adored it.

“What is this?” she grimaced. She should’ve known that the one time they’d ever come to appreciate her joy in plant life would come at the expense of a thousand-year-long companionship.

“A garden,” said Yellow, “based on the more appealing environments we’ve ever built our colonies over. At least, the ones we figured you’d appreciate the most.” There was a rare smile in her voice, one of noticeable pride that Pink was in no mood to pay any mind to.

“And that’s not all, either. Come quickly,” added Blue, and she proceeded down a massive flight of steps.

A bewildered Pink allowed Yellow to urge her forward, and the three of them crossed a long stone path with their Pearls in tow.

They headed towards the fountain plaza, at the edge of which their Pearls stopped in a neat row with their hands folded behind their backs. Pink knew that the older two would deflate and peek around the moment she turned her back. The strange Pearl stole her attention, though, and gave her a rehearsed smile that made Pink’s chest ache. She promptly turned away.

And there they were, in front of the fountain, at which its lip sat a lone gem; Berry pink and cut into the shape of a heart, with some of the most elaborate faceting Pink had ever seen. Pink regarded it with surprise.

“What’s this…?” she said, apprehensively.

“You’ll see,” Blue replied in a hushed tone.

And right on cue, the gem came aglow, lifting itself into the air to make room for the life that would emerge from within. From it came a little body, and Pink it heard laughing immediately upon its formation. Its form was still shifting and solidifying when its arms reached out several feet to twirl around Pink’s head, eliciting a terrified yelp. The gem pulled itself towards her, hugged tight against her chin, and the moment its light finally gave way to its true colors, it was right in Pink’s face, chattering about how happy it was to meet her.

Pink spluttered against the gem’s body. “Who- Who is this? Blue?” Pink looked frantically to the other Diamonds for help, but it seemed like they were satisfied with the way this gem was acting.

“Who am I…?” the gem cocked her head. “Well, I’m your best friend, Spinel! And I can’t wait to play with you!”

The gem — Spinel — released her grip on Pink’s face and slithered down her body, making “oo”-ing sound effects with her mouth on the way down. Pink was at a loss.

“‘Best friend?’” she repeated.

“Yes!” Blue cried, “A one-of-a-kind gem, made for the express purpose of being your companion. Now, isn’t that incredible?”

“And she’s perfect, as well. We couldn’t have made a better specimen if we tried,” Yellow added.

“I…”

Spinel had now taken to bending her legs around each other in what Pink could only assume was a dance. Her limbs were boneless and tubelike, uniform in width the whole way through, and swiveled about impossibly. It was… distracting.

“Now, look at her, Blue, doesn’t that remind you of someone?” Yellow joked.

“She is certainly Pink’s kind of gem,” Blue chuckled. “So, Pink, what do you say? Now that you have this place to come to whenever you want, don’t you just feel so much better?”

“I… Blue—”

Pink wanted to argue again, to keep making Blue and Yellow miserable until Pink’s Pearl wasn’t even worth it, but…

She looked at the Pearl over her shoulder, still steadfastly keeping a perfect posture, and then back at the Spinel, now urging her to “turn that frown upside down” and honking into an instrument formed with her elongated finger, and she sighed.

“I’ll… think about it.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful to hear. Do you see that Yellow? I told you she would love this present.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Blue, we strained a lot of our resource banks to make this happen…”

Blue and Yellow talked among themselves for a bit as Spinel continued to dance circles around Pink. Pink watched her listlessly.

Blue leaned over Pink’s shoulder. “Pink, why don’t you see what your new friend can do for a while? We’ll give you your alone time.”

“Okay.”

And with that, they headed off towards the Garden warp, leaving Pink and her Pearl at the fountain plaza. Pink watched them go and then turned back around. The Spinel had stretched her legs to Pink’s height, mask-like face once again too close for comfort.

“So,” she said, “what do you wanna do first?”

_______________________________________________

Pink never planned on actually using the Spinel.

And why would she ever want to? There was no replacing Pearl. And this poor attempt at doing just that would have been rage-inducing if Pink weren’t already so, so tired.

Still, Pink never understood how much the other Diamonds were seeing. It’s taken her thousands of years to sniff out every crack in their armor, but she was still in trouble more often than she wasn’t. And if there’s one thing Yellow hated more than being interrupted, it was wasting precious material on her. The fate that would befall the Spinel if the others realized her lack of use, well — Pink didn’t know. But she was sure it’d be nothing good.

And that’s what brought her here for the third time in several months, kneeling in the grass and making a show of tending to the greenery all around her.

Pink actually found herself close to falling into the task every once in a while. Each time, so tantalizingly close to falling into a lovely trance as she worked through the bushes. The only problem being—

“You’ve been doing that for so long!” Spinel cried, leaping onto Pink’s back without warning and causing her to tear several healthy petunias from their stems. “You’ll go through the other half next time, right? Let’s play a game, Pink, come play a game with me!”

Pink looked upon the ruined patch in the ground, and her gaze darkened.

“I… think I would’ve told you if that’s what I wanted to do, right, Spinel?” Pink replied jaggedly.

“Aww, yeah, I guess you’re right. But you always come here and just sit in one place for hours and hours. How could you ever stand it when there’s soooo much to do in this one place?” Spinel settled onto her shoulder blades and bounced upon them. Pink screwed her eyes shut.

“Because sometimes I don’t enjoy doing everything at once, and sometimes I only want to sit with my flowers. It’s the same kind of fun for me if I do it when I want.”

Spinel stopped moving and considered Pink, leaning over to try to get a peek at her face.

“So how’s that work?”

“I don’t know. If I ever feel like doing something, then it’s fun for me. It doesn’t matter what it is. That’s why I want to tend quietly to the flowers right now, Spinel, so would you please let me do that?” Not that Spinel might have noticed anyway, but Pink had a feeling she was sounding harsher than intended.

Regardless, the Spinel slid down her back and straightened her whole body into a Diamond salute.

“Yes, Ma’am!” she exclaimed, a very serious furrow in her brow.

To Pink’s relief, the Spinel tottered into the other half of the garden for a while, far enough so she’d be less distracting for the remainder of the time Pink rifled through the petunias. This time, it allowed her enough time to melt into the slow, meticulous repetition in combing through and helping every faded flower move on. She tucked each one against the plant’s roots, knowing, eventually, they’d be part of the whole again; Deteriorating bodies climbing back up through their own former roots to one day be pink again.

When she finished, she sat back to admire her handiwork. It was to lose herself to time like that, and now she could take a little time to see what came of it — but she didn’t get a second more.

Pink hadn’t realized how suspiciously quiet the Spinel was being until she ambushed her again. This time, the Spinel had somehow managed to crash right into her hair. Pink grabbed at her with a yelp.

“S-Spinel, now is not the time!” Pink shouted as soon as her senses returned to her.

Pink struggled until she grabbed hold of the Spinel’s body, and she yanked the still giggling gem out with her fingertips clamped tight around her squishy torso.

“I don’t want to play with you!”

It was that that caught the Spinel’s attention, and all movement stopped in an instant. Her expression was one of shock at first, then it melted into hurt.

“You don’t?” the Spinel replied, and it was the softest Pink had ever heard her speak. “Not ever?”

Her whole body seemed to deflate, spindly limbs hanging loose as if she had no control over them, and even her jelly pigtails sagged lower. Pink felt guilt bloom in her chest.

“I didn’t mean that,” she muttered, looking away. “I just mean right now.”

“But you’re down here to play,” Spinel said. “And you play with your flowers more than you play with me. You don’t come back a whole lot, either, so…” Spinel turned watery eyes on Pink. “What makes them more entertaining than I am?”

Pink’s frown deepened, and she lowered the Spinel to the ground.

“I don’t come here to play, Spinel.”

“I think you’re lying. If you don’t do that, then what else is there to do?”

Pink thought for a while, chewed on the words for a little too long, then an idea formed. She bent down, trying to get as close to eye-level with the smaller gem as possible.

“There are lots of things you can do. Even happy things don’t have to be games.”

Pink could see the wheels turning in the Spinel’s head.

“Really?”

Bingo.

“Of course. Sometimes, fun, happy things can just be being with someone you like without even doing anything. Or sitting and resting when you’ve had a very long day.”

“Well, what about when you’re not happy?”

Pink’s face fell, for she remembered then why she was really there in the first place, but she pushed that aside for the moment.

“Then any of those things can be fun, too. You won’t feel very good, but at least it won’t be as bad. And sometimes, nothing can make you feel better.”

The Spinel went quiet.

“Why are you here, Pink?”

That was a curveball Pink wasn’t expecting. She sat up again and blinked at the Spinel.

“Why are you here?” the Spinel repeated.

Pink closed her eyes and let out a breath.

“Because I’m not happy, Spinel. I haven’t been for a very long time, I don’t think, but especially not now.” It was only half of the truth, but it was only the part she needed to know. “That’s why I don’t like coming back, too, but I still come here because of the flowers. And… for you.”

“For me?”

Pink smiled. “Yes.”

The Spinel appeared to be coming to a realization. Pink leaned towards her, wondering what she’d say next, wondering what she’d taken from the conversation. It felt like an eternity.

The Spinel looked at her with a hopeful gleam in her eye. “So… you’ll play with me now! Is that what you’re saying?”

Pink’s heart sank.

She scrubbed her hands over her face, rose to her feet, and stared into the little patch of light blue sky encompassing them.

And then she looked back at the Spinel with tired resignation.

“Yes. That’s what I mean.”

And the clueless little gem danced and cheered, just like Pink knew she would.

_______________________________________________

“What makes you so sad?” asked Spinel, almost a decade after Pink first brought it up.

“Hmm?” Pink had nearly forgotten. She ran a finger over the rounded edge of a cyclamen leaf.

“You know,” Spinel responded. “A little while ago, when we talked about your flowers.”

Pink looked at her out of the corner of her eye. “Why are you only asking now?”

“Well, I remember you were talking about something else at the time—” Pink didn’t know what she meant by that. “— But I think, maybe, I can figure out a better game to play if I understood what’s wrong with you.”

“If you’re curious, you can just say so,” Pink said with a smile. “No need for any of that.”

“Well… you’ve been paying more attention to your garden than me again.”

Pink paused, then let out a long sigh.

“No, I haven’t.”

“You have,” Spinel insisted, pulling on the ruffled fabric around Pink’s waist. “You’ve gone through every bush in that row. You could’ve taken at least one break, don’t you think?”

“Spinel, we did hide-and-seek for at least double the time just today.”

“You usually leave more time for me!” Pink stood up, but the defiant Spinel hung onto her shorts. “But that’s okay, because you can do that now.”

Pink looked around, and her gaze settled onto the inactive communicator screen just past this part of the garden. She started towards it, slinging an arm underneath the gem dangling on her side. Spinel continued to push and complain, even as Pink set her down beneath the pedestal.

“Let’s play a guessing game.”

Spinel’s already-shiny eyes lit up even more.

“Show me!”

And so Pink did.

Spinel picked the rules up fast— interesting, because Pink had been making them up on the fly. But Spinel’s steel-trap-mind was at least there to keep her consistent.

They started simple, things Spinel would know like the back of her gloved hand.

Naturally, Pink guessed a good number of Spinel’s items right— save, of course, for “guffaw”, but who would ever get that word right?

Pink did her best to weave a story into hers.

Gem. Diamond. Palace. Pearl. Friendship.

“Shatter!”

“That’s right.”

But those words were useless if only Pink could decipher them.

The darkened overhead. Pink gazed upon the first hints of stars.

“What is it that a Diamond is meant to have, Spinel?”

“A friend!”

“Aside from that.”

“Facets?”

“Colonies.”

The weight of the word appears to give Spinel pause.

“Colonies…?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“No, I do. But you told me you don’t have a single one.”

Pink smiled. “Yes. Good job, Spinel, you guessed all the reasons.”

Spinel hopped to her feet and leapt into the air in joyous celebration. Then she stopped in her tracks.

“Reasons for what?”

“The reasons,” Pink intoned, “for why I’m not happy.”

Spinel stared at her. Pink stared back, hoping for any glimmer of understanding to dawn on her. Any at all.

Spinel snapped her fingers.

“I got it,” she cried, running up to plant her hands on Pink’s lap, “Let’s play Colonies! I’ll be your Pearl.”

Pink ought to have wished for a little more.

_______________________________________________

Pink had nearly forgotten.

“Are you here to celebrate our three thousand year friendiversary?”

She wasn’t. But it was a rather happy coincidence that she happened to come here today.

Pink didn’t acknowledge the question. “What do you want to do today, Spinel?”

The question visibly excited her. She shouted with glee and jumped and flapped her hands, going through every possibility at once. Spinel would have the whole day to do anything she wanted with her Diamond, who’d been somewhat of a rare treat to be had nowadays, and she needed to make it worthwhile. But what to do?

In the end, the choices proved too overwhelming for her little gem heart, and she resorted to the one phrase she knew best. “Let’s play a game!”

Pink blew a little laugh through her nose.

“Of course,” she said, “I was wondering which one you wanted to go with.”

“You know you don’t have to, Pink, all the ones you ask for are the best of all!”

“Oh, I know,” said Pink. “I know you think that.”

Hide-and-seek was usually a safe bet when it came to shaking Spinel off for about an hour at a time. As of late, however, Spinel had developed a habit of sneaking up behind Pink and surprising her when she went undiscovered for too long, so Pink needed to switch tactics fast.

And that’s why Spinel spent a good amount of their “Friendiversary” searching for a nonexistent flower among the garden’s well-kept brambles.

“—To win the scavenger hunt,” Pink told her.

Not a fantastic way to treat her friend, Pink knew, but that couldn’t matter a whole lot when Spinel was more than happy to oblige her. Perhaps she’d never stop, and once Pink realized that she also realized there wasn’t much else she could do for her.

So she hadn’t figured out what else to do with her yet. But that was just one more thing to add to the ever-growing list of problems plaguing Pink. It was to Spinel’s benefit, Pink reasoned, to send her on the odd wild goose chase to avoid distraction. Otherwise, Pink would never be able to figure anything out for her.

And Pink was trying to do that, honest, but she had been finding it harder and harder not to feel small around the other Diamonds these days. Not to mention, she’d been becoming increasingly familiar with the dark confines of her tower. As far as position went, she was more powerless than she’d ever been.

And that’s why she was back there again. Raw with emotion during yet another spat with Yellow and Blue, she was about out of options — At her wit’s very end.

So she scanned the wide expanse of the garden and strode towards a smattering of bright red dahlias.

She paid the plants, themselves, no attention this time. Instead, she tore through the areas between the flowers, tracking down every little weed and crushing them into her balled fists.

She was meticulous at first. Slow, methodical in a way she usually wasn’t. And with each lost weed, the problem steadily dwindled down to nothing.

She switched to a nearby bush lining a quiet stone path and hunted around its base. After that, she moved towards the center of the garden.

With every subsequent switch, she lost a little more restraint. She hardly noticed the change in the light as she went. By the time the sky lost its final shreds of Pink, she was doing about as much damage as she prevented. She showed no signs of stopping when she ambled towards a spider lily bush and seized several of the flowers by their stems.

She was a half-second away from wrenching them all out when electric yellow flooded her vision.

“Pink? Are you there?”

“… Yellow?”

Pink spun around, feeling suddenly self-conscious, and prepared to bark out a question before she realized.

A short ways away, close enough for its light to overtake the surrounding darkness, the active communications line poked just above a tall hedge.

“Pink? Don’t lie to me, Pink, your Pearl has spent the entire day next to this warp, and she hasn’t seen you come back through it.”

“Just give me a second, will you?” Pink snapped. Her voice faltered, and she dearly hoped the distance made it less apparent.

Yellow continued calling to her while she tailed it along a long stretch of hedge. She overcompensated the sharp turn around it and fell, only catching herself on one elbow. She cursed and brought her fist down hard enough to leave a cracked dip in the chiseled stone.

The sound of Yellow’s voice spurred her into getting back up, and she lurched forward, falling clumsily into the communication screen’s line of sight.

“Oh, there you are,” Yellow said. “I’m shocked I didn’t have to come down there at all.”

An ugly expression twisted itself into Pink’s face.

“What do you want?” Pink said, emphasizing every word.

“Come up here, please. And be quick about it. This is a sensitive topic, and I don’t have time for your games.”

Pink seethed.

“Games,” she spat, “I thought this place was all about games.”

“What was that?”

“I’ll be there.”

Pink didn’t wait for a response before slapping a hand over the screen’s projector, interrupting the line long enough to cut it entirely.

Pink kept her scowl glued tightly on, but she didn’t dare move. Just in case Yellow called again to chew her out for that, too.

But no other call came. Soon, Pink realized it would probably be more dangerous to keep Yellow waiting.

She started towards the warp, buzzing with apprehension. She walked with such intent that she hadn’t spotted Spinel, who was searching the ground on all fours, an eye stretched comically forward. Spinel whooped in mild surprise as Pink’s foot caught on her belly. Pink stumbled, yelped as she narrowly avoided crushing Spinel with her heel, apun, and hobbled away from Spinel until she balanced herself.

Spinel twirled into a standing position. “Sorry, Pink! I should’a seen you coming!”

“What are you doing down there?” Pink asked.

“Well, I’m doing your scavenger hunt, silly! I think I’m about to win, too. I can smell it!”

Current predicament forgotten for the moment, Pink furrowed a brow at her.

“Scavenger…? Have you been doing that this whole time?”

“Of course I have! If that’s what’s fun for you,” Spinel responded.

Pink blinked at her. “I… Spinel, there is no secret flower.”

Spinel’s eyes grew wide. “Whaaaaaaat?”

“There’s no secret in here,” Pink repeated, “You’ve already seen all the flowers in the garden.”

“Oh. Then what—?”

“I was… only joking, that’s all. I thought maybe you would have known that by now.” Come to think of it, Pink would absolutely have expected Spinel to ambush her several times during her earlier outburst. Something about the lack of interruption was almost unsettling in hindsight. “I didn’t mean to…”

“Pink, where are you? I’ll make sure you come up here if you won’t do so yourself.”

Pinke tensed. She looked between Spinel and and the communications screen. Spinel’s innocent stare only seemed to grow darker as the garden behind her was washed out in yellow.

Pink muttered an apology and sprinted up the stairs.

“You’re leaving? But we barely even saw each other today!” Spinel shouted.

The warp activated before Pink could open her eyes. Spinel stared at its blinding glow, even after it had already melted away.

“Pink?”

_______________________________________________

It’s been three hectic days since, but—

“A colony!?”

— Pink could never forget.

“Yes! It’s a little blue planet with all of this lovely green on it, and lots of swirly clouds— It was amazing to behold! And it’s going to me!”

“To you! Oh, Pink, that’s amazing! Once you’re really good and happy, we can— ” Spinel gasped. “Are we ever going to play Colonies again?”

“Hmm, maybe,” said Pink, “I wanted to play it with you today, just in case it’s the last time.”

Spinel clasped her hands together, eyes bouncing.

“Not so! I think you’ll miss it too much to let it go,” Unlikely. “But I’ll still play it with you, if you reeaallly wanna!”

“I think I’d like that,” Pink paused and took on a more solemn tone, “But first, um, that isn’t the only reason I’m here right now.”

“Oh? Whats’a matter?”

Pink sucked in a breath. “I don’t know how much more I’ll be able to come back here.”

“Well, when can you be sure?”

“No, Spinel, I mean I won’t have as much time to play when I start running my colony. As in, you might not see me as much anymore. It won’t just be Colonies you’ll miss.”

“Oh…” Spinel took on a puzzled look. “Well then, maybe it won’t be fun anyway, so you’ll have to come back,” she said with a smile.

Pink’s smile crumpled into a wince. “Oh, maybe,” she replied. “Hey, we don’t have much time left for our last game, right?”

“It could be our last game,” Spinel corrected, “Let’s get started!”

“Do you really have to leave this early?”

“Spinel, it’s early because we played through the night. The sky is all daylight now, I can’t risk making the others angry…”

Pink had been trying to leave for ten minutes. Or thirteen hours, if you really wanted to split hairs.

Halfway kneeling, she brushed Spinel’s grabbing hands away and rose to her feet. Spinel carried on peppering her with complaints and excuses, running circles around her, and generally being a terrible pain in a desperate bid to stop Pink from doing what she needed to do.

With some effort, however, she stepped right over Spinel’s head, sliding past her rubber hair, and advanced towards the warp almost as fast as if Spinel weren’t even there at all. Spinel, more determined than ever, resorted to climbing Pink’s clothing to get in her face. Pink pried her off and set her down multiple times.

“Spinel, I need to do this. It’s important.”

“That’s why we have to do as much as we can! Can’t you squeeze one more round in?”

“That’s what you said before last sunset.” Pink gritted her teeth. “Please, Spinel, you can come to Homeworld on your own if you get bored.”

“That won’t be the same thing!”

“It’ll have to do. It can’t be more than a few months, I know you’ve waited longer.”

Pink sidestepped the communications line, which Spinel flip-stretched over and continued speaking without skipping a beat. Despite the numerous repeated phrases, Pink still humored most of them with a half-hearted reassurance. Pink planned on returning to Spinel again, of course she did, so what was this reaction? This was far beyond anything Pink was prepared to deal with, and somehow completely expected at the same time.

Spinel wrapped herself around Pink’s leg, taking advantage of her unique bodily material to stretch her limbs into an impossibly tight knot. By some miracle, Pink was able to pry herself free and shake the defiant gem away. She heard Spinel plop onto the ground with a grunt behind her.

“Pink…” she said.

Pink was only a few steps away from the next phase in her long life. Something inside her bloomed with color at the thought. She could hardly think about anything else. Almost.

A still-smiling Spinel clutched at her hip. Pink waved her away. Spinel followed again. Pink ignored her once more.

This kept going until Spinel had Pink’s hand in her grasp. Pink turned, wanted to bay at her, but Spinel smiled a wide smile and Pink found herself affected even now. Spinel was incorrigible, though, unrelenting in her hindrances, and Pink saw no painless way of making it out of here, except…

“Oh!” Pink breathed. She faced Spinel fully with a serene smile and leaned in close to her. “Hey, here in the garden, let’s play a game. I’ll show you how it’s done!”

Spinel gasped, smiled, and gave an exaggerated nod. She brought her hands to her sides, ready to listen.

"Right there." Pink emphasized the sentence by placing both hands on Spinel's shoulders. "Stand very still for me," she instructed with a finger in the air.

"This'll be so much fun!"

Pink couldn't help crack a smile. Spinel could certainly be infectious whenever she wasn't trying to be. Pink breathed a fond laugh when she saw the smaller gem's eyes sparkle.

She uttered a quiet goodbye and climbed the steps toward the warp. Yes, she'd need to think about what to do with Spinel if the time ever came that she no longer needed the garden. But now, as she ascended towards her lifelong dreams, now wasn't the time.

Pink wondered if Spinel would follow her out when she realized the trick Pink played. She’d really have to think about a plan then. But that was a problem for future Pink, and current Pink was getting a colony, and that wasn’t just lovely?

And so she placed herself in the middle of the pad, gave Spinel one final glance, and drifted into the sky with a flash of light.

As far as that plan went, needless to say, Pink had already forgotten.