//------------------------------// // Runt of the Cluster // Story: My Little Universe: Season 5 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// "AHA! We ROCKED out there!" Amethyst beamed. Late at night, and Amethyst and Steven were just arriving off back home. It had been quite a day; not too long after leaving Brittle Bear Bakery, they've been quite busy all day with their Gem beast collecting, going through one monster after another. According to the list they were given, they've plowed through about five already, and while Amethyst was having a blast and empowerment, Steven was getting exhausted, but happy they were making this much progress with it all. "Yep. We sure did," Steven yawned, as he and Amethyst were heading on inside. No one else was there at the moment: the Crystal Gems busy with the drill, and the Mane Six busy ... well, looking for them. Either way, they had a moment of down time, and with Steven so tired, they might as well chill out before going right back to it. Steven, almost immediately went right to his room, got his PJs, and went off to the bathroom to change as Amethyst crashed down on the couch. She wasn't tired, she enjoyed sleeping same as anybody. It took a minute, but Steven got his PJs on, and went right off to bed, falling right onto it. "Night, dude. See ya in the morning," Amethyst said. "Night," Steven simply said. He wasted no time. He got himself right onto bed, got the covers over him, and soon was right off to sleep. Been a while since he got himself sleeping in his own bed ... ....... *Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling* "Huh?" From one moment to another, Steven Universe suddenly found himself away from the Temple, and instead in some sort of overly dark room. He was sitting on a little stool, and he couldn't see anything, or even move an inch off of it no matter what he did. Where he was, or why he was there, he had no clue. One thing was for sure: Steven was not budging by any means. As he was sitting there, he began to hear some footsteps nearby. While unable to move himself off, he was able to move his head around, and he turned it to see this newcomer coming over. The figure looked like, much to his surprise, Jasper! However, Steven wasn't sure if this was Jasper fully or not, because her hue was more yellow than normal. That, and her shield cutie mark was replaced with a Tri-Star face paint. "Jasper! You're alive!" Steven gasped in shock. "Hi," Jasper simply said. A rather odd response, but Steven didn't question that right away. "Hi. Jasper, I was so -" "Hi Rosie." "... Excuse me?" Steven asked. "Rosie. Rosie the Quart-see," Jasper said, a bit casually. Steven didn't take very long to figure out what she meant. "Rosie the - oh Rose! But, Jasper, you know I'm not Rose -" "HI ROSIE. ROSIE THE QUART-SEE," Jasper insisted. Her voice was a bit more forceful this time, and when Steven looked, her head, hands, and feet looked a bit bigger, and her face looked more menacing. "But, Jasper, I'm not -" "ROSIE! ROSE-E THE QUART-SEE!" Jasper yelled, her head, hands, and feet even bigger this time, with her face now with diamond eyes, and teeth sharp like those of a shark. "B-But I -" Jasper's head and hands were extremely big the next second Steven looked to her, eyes huge with the diamond symbol much bigger this time, teeth like the blade of a saw. Both hands and head were so big, it was beyond cartoony, and in that second - "HIII ROSIE!!!!" ... Steven looked once more, his nerves trembling, goosebumps all over him. However, Jasper looked normal at this point, although still colored yellow over her usual orange. After that scream, Steven then began to hear more footsteps nearby. Jasper moved away after a bit, but the next figure waltz right out into sight. This time, it was Pearl, wearing a tuxedo of multiple colors. She had a pink top hat, a yellow overcoat, white undershirt, and blue fancy pants. Steven couldn't see Pearl's eyes, but a glimpse he did see saw Pearl didn't really had irises: two white bulbs for eyes. Around her neck looked like a big slide whistle, which Pearl proceeded to lift up, and give a good blow. "MUSIC MISTRO!" Pearl called, walking out of sight. Steven, still stuck in his seat, started to hear some odd music. Something like a music organ, playing a sort of tune much like those you'd hear in a circus or something along those lines. Multi colored lights started to dance around him, shades of red, blue, and yellow. The music was clear, but loud, and Steven had to cover his ears of the screeching notes. The odd music kept up for about thirty seconds before Pearl popped up again nearby. "TAKE FIVE!" Pearl announced, before the lights and music stopped altogether, and Pearl going away. Steven didn't have the foggiest idea on what was going on, as he began to hear more footsteps again, this time to his right. This time it wasn't a Gem, but a pony: Fluttershy. As Jasper was yellow, Fluttershy's colors were a hue of blue, and her eyes having a diamond-symbol in then again. Her cutie mark was missing altogether, and she had a performer horse's saddle on her, with a jack-in-the-box on her back, her pet bunny Angel popping up and down along with the jack-in-the-box music like a real one would do - over and over again. The pony looked unfazed by the constant popping, and looked to Steven. "Hi," Fluttershy simply said, in her usual shy tone. "... Hi," Steven said, though it was hard to get a word in due to the Jack-in-the-box going off time and again. "Hi, Rosie." Rose, again? "Fluttershy, I -" Steven was cut off by the loud jack-in-the-box. Fluttershy flicked her ear before she spoke. "She's going to check in on you, soon," Fluttershy stated. "Who? Who's coming?" Fluttershy didn't answer this time, just staring at Steven with a innocent looking smile. Steven decided to go for broke ... "... Rosie?" "YOU'RE ROSIE! ROSIE! ROSIE THE QUART-SEE!" This screech came with Fluttershy's head and neck stretched to terrifying proportions, enough that her head was right above him, her mouth opening wide like a pelican's beak. "Nononononono! I-I don't know!" Steven shivered, hands in between him and the pony. Who knew Fluttershy could be so scary? When he looked again, Fluttershy was normal again (or as normal as she would get), and the jack-in-the-box slowing down a little bit. After that, Fluttershy glanced over away from Steven, Steven following her eyes to another figure passing by. This time it looked like Ronaldo and Peedee, though the two had colors similar to Bismuth or Rainbow Dash in hair, skin, and clothes. Peedee was holding up a GIGANTIC axe, looking about a literal ton, and Ronaldo tossed something to Steven before the two went away. The object, by the looks of it, looked like some sort of wig. A brown, curly wig. And then ... "MUSIC MISTRO!" Well, Pearl announced it again. Suddenly, the wig was on Steven's head, Fluttershy was gone, and the music played again. It was just as horridly loud as before, but through the organ playing, it started to sound with a hint of moaning to the music. Steven couldn't make out the moans too well since he had to cover his ears to make the music more reasonable. This time it lasted longer, and the light showed a more elaborate display, this time with Steven looking like he was at the Galaxy warp, the warp pads like stages. On each one, Steven saw either a pony figure, or a human figure dancing to the music. Steven obviously had no clue what to do at this point, extremely confused and scared at the situation. "TAKE FIVE!" And like that, music stopped, and the figures disappeared, again leaving him alone. Steven just didn't really know what was going to happen next until the spotlight shined again. Steven was a bit worried to look again, but his eyes showed him what was what anyway. Over next to him ... well, not a pony, nor a Gem. In fact, it was discord, but he looked completely grey, black, and white. He was inside a snake-charmer's basket, in a position to look like a cobra, but with multiple arms like a centipede. "Hey, Rosie.~" Discord cooed, his body swaying around side to side like a cobra. "I-I'm not rose. I'm -" "ARE YOU LOOKING AT MY WAR BOOK?!" Discord screamed, his eyes glowing white, his mouth opening wider than normal. Steven was gonna protest that there was no book, until he suddenly found that Discord was holding a sort of odd book in one of his many talon hands saying: history of Rose and her diamond ... Pink Diamond ... Oh boy ... "NONONONONONONONO!" Steven said in fear, freaked out as he could ever be. "Gooooood ... you want to?~" Discord asked, flipping through the many pages of it. Steven was completely skeptical at first, but then ... "I-I don't know, I ... I ... y-yes. Yes, idoidoidoidoido I really do!" This was a bit out of sorts, even for Steven himself - he wasn't usually this finicky, and this was close to Pinkie Pie levels of speed talk. After saying that, Steven then heard something else go by nearby: Onion, Squash, Soup, Garbanzo and Pinto riding by in a clown wagon. Pinto tossed down something to Steven, and this time it looked like some white costume. Discord had a big, toothy grin on his face, as a snake tongue slipped out. "You're one GOOOOOD little Quart-see ... aren't you?!" Discord said, hissing loudly again. The question was more of a statement, but Steven was a lot more skeptical this time. "NONONO! I-I don't ... I don't think so ..." Now not even Steven was thinking much correction after all. Discord slipped away out of the basket into the dark, only to have Pearl pop out, giving a good blow of her slide whistle again. "MUSIC MISTRO!" "Not again," Steven groaned, covering his ears earlier this time. But, instead of loud, banging music shaking his head, the music was a lot calmer, and WAY quieter than before. Steven removed his hands, relaxing a bit, but his mind was still racing. Jasper, Fluttershy, Discord, they all were thinking he isn't Steven at all. Steven would keep to his own opinions on this sort of manor, but this odd turn of events had messed with him far enough, especially now that the outfit found its way onto him ... "... Maybe I am Rose ..." "Hello." Steven turned once more, this time seeing Lapis. Though, this Lapis was not the cheery, happy Gem Steven knew. Her eyes were missing, and she had a spear through her head! She was sitting casually on a chair, which had a stand lamp right next to it, with her hands together and legs laying on her other knee. "Rosie?" Lapis asked. "... Yes ..." "Rosie the Quart-see?" Lapis asked, now more of a calm, casual question. Then Steven apparently lost it. "Yes! Yes that's me! Rose! Rosie the Quart-see, that's me!" It wasn't until here that Steven finally was able to get up off the stool he was on, which disappeared behind him. Lapis disappeared as the stage lit up, Steven dancing to some more music being played nearby, though this sounded less like music, and more like actual lyrical moaning, but Steven was a bit too freaked to care about that ... Then a mirror appeared in front of him. He was in Rose's body, the gemstone shattered, eyes nothing but black spots, and with the breaking point in hand, and signs of pink shards still staining the drill ... ....... "AH!" Back in reality again. It was late at night at this point, moon nice and high in the sky. Nobody and nopony was around still, but with the exception of Amethyst. By his bed, he also found Blue sitting there, ears folded back in concern. whatever that freaky dream had done to him, Blue apparently saw some sort of physical reaction in the real world, enough for Blue to notice and trouble over. Steven relaxed himself, but that dream just reminded of the big fact that had been hanging over his head for a while. "It's ok, Blue. Just a bad dream," Steven said, rubbing Blue's head. The dog responded with a lick of Steven's hand, as Steven got back up out of bed. Amethyst, while sleepy, eventually got up to find that Steven was up and about himself, going to the fridge. That would be normal for Amethyst, honestly. "Hey, Steven. Up for a midnight snack?" Amethyst asked, yawning. Steven turned around to her, his hand grabbing a carton of milk from the fridge. "Guess so," sighed Steven, as he got a glass and poured some milk for himself. Amethyst, feeling puckish herself, went over to the fridge to get a snack for herself. As she was grabbing some chaps from the cabinet, she quickly saw that Steven just wasn't happy. "Had a bad dream?" Amethyst asked, getting out some dip for her chips. Steven put the milk away before picking up his glass. Now that his dream played out the way it did, the concepts were stuck on his brain ... "Yeah ..." "You ... care to talk about it?" The purple Gem asked. Steven didn't answer at first, going over to the window by the door. He sat down comfy, glass of milk in hand, and looking outside, moon shining through the night into the room ... "... Why didn't you tell me? ..." Tell him? Amethyst wasn't sure what dream Steven had, but it didn't take much for the purple Gem to really know what Steven meant. Amethyst sat down next to Steven, placing her chips down nearby. "It's about Rose, is it?" "Yeah ... I don't know why you, Pearl, and Garnet didn't tell me. I knew you probably did a lot in the war, but ... to shatter a Diamond ... Amethyst? Do you think she would ever do that? ..." Amethyst was quiet at first, sitting down, and looking outside to the night sky. Steven wanted to get another opinion on the matter, and that wasn't bad, but why did it had to be her? She may not be the oldest Gem in the group, but Amethyst would know Rose better than Steven ever could. "... I don't know, Steven ... Look. I know it's hard for you. Believe me, I know how it feels to have things kept quiet from you." Steven turned to Amethyst. Did she really mean that, or was she just saying that to make him feel better? "You do?" Steven asked, quietly. Amethyst sighed, resting her head in her palm "Eeyup. I haven't been out in the field as long as Pearl, Garnet, or Rose had ... Heh, heck. There was a time when I never even heard of the Gem war before." Amethyst stayed quiet for a moment, Steven taking a sip of his milk. The purple Gem would not lie to Steven, being more casual about plenty of subject matters. Amethyst looked over to Steven after a bit, seeing him more curious than sad at this point. "You up for a midnight story?" Amethyst asked. Steven didn't reply in words, but instead he simply nodded. Steven got comfortable on his seat, getting a pillow from his bed, and sitting down comfy. Amethyst also got herself comfy too, looking out to the open sky, only a few clouds blocking the stars. "Well, here it goes ..." ~~~~~~ it was a rather long time ago Steven, before you and Greg came around. I still had my work cut out for me, being a young cut of a Gem. Still checking out Earth, still new to things. Still new to the Crystal Gems. "Amethyst, where'd you go?!" Out over in the countryside, two figures were roaming around, trying to find their Amethyst: Pearl and Garnet. At this time though, both Gems in questions were not only younger, but appeared a little different from before. Pearl, for one, had a transparent silk flair around her shoulders, her orange socks a bit more baggy, her hair downward at the back tip, and no evidence of a Crystal Gem star anywhere. Garnet didn't look too different herself, yet her Afro was a lot more profound in its square shape. Her outfit wasn't too different apart from more pronounced shoulders. At the moment, Garnet casually walked along, while Pearl was looking frantically for Amethyst. "Garnet, I told you to watch her," Pearl said crossly. "Rose asked you to watch her, Pearl. I came to help you. Calm down," Garnet corrected. Pearl groaned. "I don't know how you're so calm! We just recruited her into our team, and we already lost her!" "She's been with us for seventy years now." "... What's you're point?" Before their scuffling could continue, a set of eyes was watching them, hidden just inside a hole dug out in the earth. Like a little kitty cat waiting to pounce on a unsuspecting bird. Pearl and Garnet kept going, but while Garnet stopped herself, Pearl kept going until ... "BONZAI!" "AHH!" One jump, and Pearl was grabbed and pinned down by their Gem in question - Amethyst. As with Pearl and Garnet, Amethyst looked a lot different from her current look: her hair short and scruffy, and her clothes had a number of differences; black sweat pants, lavender skirt, with dark purple shoulder pads. Behavior surely showed her age, as Pearl struggled under playful Amethyst. Garnet didn't help, but she couldn't help but smile a little, before she simply picked Amethyst up. "Amethyst, you shouldn't go wandering off like that. Where were you?" Garnet asked. "I found this thing, and followed it out here. It was small, fluffy, had big ears, and - there it is!" Amethyst said, excitedly pointing ahead. Pearl and Garnet looked over, and saw a wild rabbit poke out of its hole, ears up and listening to them. Amethyst wriggled herself free, and started chasing the rabbit again, the rabbit darting around left and right. Amethyst chased it around for a little bit before the rabbit suddenly hopped up, and bounced off of Amethyst's head, before bolting away. Amethyst was in a slight daze, but quickly shook it off. "What have I told you about running after random earth creatures? You could've got hurt, or completely lost!" Pearl asked firmly. "It's okay, Pearl," a motherly voice said. Looking over, the trio then saw that someone else was coming over to them. This time, it was Rose Quartz herself! Looking to her, Amethyst saw that Rose actually had the rabbit cradled in her hands, the rabbit looking rather content in her arms. "R-Rose! I-I'm so sorry this happened, I told Amethyst time and time again to -" "There there Pearl, it's alright. She's okay, and you found her," Rose said, smiling a sweet smile to her. Pearl blushed slightly, as Rose went over to Amethyst. "Is this what you wanted, Amethyst?" Rose asked. Amethyst brought out her arms to hold the rabbit, but when she did, it was a little rough for the bunny, and it started to squirm a little bit. "Be more gentle. It has feelings too, just like we do," Rose advised. Amethyst took Rose's words to heart, and loosened her grip, cuddling the rabbit instead. This time, the rabbit didn't struggle, and instead sniffed Amethyst's face, and cuddled back. Garnet gave a thumbs up to Amethyst, at a job well done. Yeah, it started off good enough. I learned what a rabbit was that day, and how fluffy they were. Pearl kept telling me to keep it away though. After that though ... Amethyst had just finished up a, more or less, rough time in the bath. Water was all over the temple cave, Pearl soaked as ever, and just glad it was over as much as Amethyst was. Pearl dried Amethyst up, brushing a blue cloth around her head like a towel. "And there, all done," Pearl said, Amethyst shaking her head like a dog afterwards. "But I was clean, really!" Amethyst protested. "You didn't know where that rodent has been, can't be too sure," Pearl advised, though mainly it was for herself. Amethyst just pouted, though it did feel nice with her hair so soft. "NOW can I go and play?" Amethyst asked. Pearl wasn't too sure, out on her own, but Pearl knew that arose would at least let her do so. "Fine," Pearl said. Amethyst beamed, and soon she was running out along the beach to explore. Pearl looked on, but as she was, Rose came over to Pearl, with a reassuring smile. "Pearl. You don't have to worry about her." "But Amethyst, she's so rambunctious." "She's from Earth, you know. A pure Earth Gem. She's just enjoying life, that's all," Rose assured Pearl. There was SO many things around the beach, let me tell ya. Funny looking shells, white birds, crashing waves. MAN, I remember it all like it was yesterday. Amethyst happily went along the shore for a good while. At the time, she ran along the waves, feeling the cool seawater underfoot. The waves were rather rough, so Amethyst played a wave chasing game: she chased after the waves as they receded, and as they came in she'd run back up shore again. The waves caught her a few times, but she was having fun anyway. After another wave hit her, Amethyst laughed up a bit, shaking her head of the water. As she was, she then heard a seagull nearby squawk at her. She'd run after it, but then she saw what the bird was on: a wire fence. The bird flew away as Amethyst looked at the fence. Now, Pearl and Garnet kept telling me to stay behind the fence since they put the thing up, but I always wondered what goes on over there. I saw Beach City every day, and it was driving me CRAZY! So that day, I just had to check it out. "OOF!" Soon, as she tumbled over the fence, she was on the other side, and at sight of Beach City. She got sand in her hair, and in her clothes, but she was quick to get herself rolling, and running right off towards the city after a flying seagull. Beach City at the time was a bit different, and more in times. The boardwalk looked a lot newer, and people amongst the area weren't the same as today. Amethyst didn't pay them too much mind just yet, still trying to get the seagull. However, as she missed a jumping lunge for the bird, it was then that she began to check out the rest of the city. She saw different humans go about their day, doing all sorts of different things, all of which looked unique to do. The young cut of a Gem went around for a bit, looking around at the humans with a lot of fascination, until her ears picked up some sort of beat. It took the curious little Gem some time to follow the beat, until she discovered the source of it: a kid listening to some catchy pop music. The beat was very catchy, and the teen listening to it was dancing along with it, a sort of freestyle walking dance. Amethyst watched him go by, and after a bit she began to dance around with the music too, trying to act hip like he was. She seemed to be doing alright at first, but it was quick to stop when she slipped on her own feet, falling to the floor. she wasn't hurt too badly, but it was a little embarrassing, to say the least. That's when Amethyst looked on ahead of her, and saw something else: a girl with her mother, sitting at a bench. The girl had a unique looking book with her, the picture a little interesting. The curious little Gem started to sneak over to her, wanting to check out the book. The girl was distracted by her mother at the moment, so sneaking off right behind the bench, Amethyst slyly reached her hand around, and snatched the book fast. Amethyst quickly found that the book was a history book, talking about some things that Amethyst was not aware of ... War. I had no idea about this thing at the time. The others obviously didn't tell me anything about any War, and here was a book going on and on about it. So then I thought "Maybe the others would know what this was about". Amethyst was quick to come back to the Temple, with the book in hand, and some questions. When she got back, Garnet was the first there, probably figuring out what Amethyst did already. "Hi Garnet. Hey, can I ask you -" "You really should return that book Amethyst. You're going to keep getting in trouble if you keep stealing," Garnet cut in. "How do you know I stole this?" Amethyst asked. All Garnet did was push her glasses down to show her three eyes. "Oh. Right." "Here, I'll return the book," Garnet decided. Garnet was trying to distract me from the book, but I knew I had questions that needed answers! So, I just went for broke. "What is a War?" Amethyst asked. "War? It's a human thing," Garnet simply said, taking the book from her. "Were we involved in any War?" Garnet felt a little tense on THAT question. Amethyst had no idea about a war the Gems were involved in, but Garnet had clear memory of one particular war they were strongly involved in, but the fusion felt a little uneasy on trying to answer Amethyst and her question. Before Garnet could answer, the Warp Pad activated, and Pearl and Rose returned to the Temple after another mission. Garnet sighed when they returned. "Hey Amethyst. Did you have fun today?" Rose Quartz asked. "Yeah. Rose? Were we involved in any war?" And Garnet tensed up again. Rose and Pearl both felt taken aback by the question. "A war, Amethyst? Don't be ridiculous! Where'd this come from?" Pearl joked, trying to sound legitimate. Amethyst quickly grabbed the book from Garnet (much to the fusion's trouble), and opened the page to the part talking about a human war, a finger pointing to it. Instead of answering though, Pearl took the book away again. "Amethyst! We told you to stay within the fence," Pearl snapped. "But did we do a war?" Amethyst asked. "NO we did not. Amethyst, this is such rough battle humans do, there's no reason for us proper Gems to do such things," Pearl explained. Amethyst was a little confused, taking the book and skimming a few pages. Suddenly, there was a picture of a few familiar figures amongst a human battlefield. "But why're you guys in here then? See, there's you, and Rose right there helping a guy," Amethyst said. Pearl froze up on seeing this, but before things could go any further, Rose decided to step in. She kneeled down to Amethyst's level. "Ok, Amethyst. We were involved in a few human situations time and again. But we only fight for the right side. The good side," Rose said. If there's anyone Amethyst can trust, it would be Rose. "You didn't tell me before though. What was that about?" Amethyst then asked. A rather odd question, and a bit troubling to answer for the trio of Gems. "Eh ..." "Rose, Pearl, I think we have another mission to do," Garnet suddenly cut in. Amethyst felt a bit more troubled. "Oh yes! I forgot about that, come on Garnet let's go," Pearl said in agreement. "But wait, what about -" Garnet and Pearl were suddenly gone on the Warp Pad, leaving Amethyst dumbfounded. The only other Gem there was Rose, who tried a more comfortable approach. "It's not something you should worry over Amethyst." "But, why were they so worried like that? They're not normally like that ... Well, expect for Pearl when she left my seashell at the beach," Amethyst figured. "Honestly Amethyst, we didn't think it was too important. How about you go and return your friend's book here? I'm sure they would like to have it back," Rose suggested. Ok, THAT was too weird. Pearl, maybe, but something was very off. Rose had me calmed down for a little bit, but THIS purple Gem wanted some more answers - straight answers. And if there was something that Rose, Pearl, and Garnet knew, there was only one place to scope out ... Without her book, Amethyst had gone off into hiding, staying small and out of sight over by the Temple main cave. The purple tyke stayed put until she heard the Warp Pad going off, seeing Rose just coming back. PERFECT. Amongst the rocks, Amethyst crawled and skittered from one to another, trying to keep out of sight from Rose, waiting until Rose would do that one thing she was hoping she'll do. For Rose Quartz, she was wondering if telling Amethyst was such a good idea. She hadn't seen her all day, and the other Gems hadn't seen her either. Rose started heading over to the door, Amethyst more and more excited, until ... "Oh, Garnet there you are." "Dang, Garnet," Amethyst growled. Garnet was suddenly walking in from the beach, a green Gem with red splotches on it, inside a bubble from another mission. "Garnet, I need to ask a favor of you ... did you think telling Amethyst about earlier was alright?" Rose asked. Garnet took a short moment. "I think it's alright." "Are you sure? I didn't see her all day." "Don't worry. She'll fall out when I tell you." "Tell me what?" "That I'm letting her sneak around inside the Temple without her knowing." "COME ON!" Amethyst griped. Next thing they knew, Amethyst fell out of her spot, pride bruised and emotion bemused. No point in continuing her attempt after THAT statement, ESPECIALLY from Garnet. Rose and Garnet went over to Amethyst, the purple Gem embarrassed more than most. "Amethyst?" "Why can't you tell me straight? At least you're honest with me," Amethyst said, up on her feet. Rose felt uneasy about this. "I am, I am. I-It's just -" "What? I'm a big Gem, I can take it!" Amethyst promised. This wasn't exactly a guarantee, and Garnet knew that no doubt. Before Rose could continue, Garnet decided to step in. "Amethyst? Why don't you give us some privacy?" Garnet suggested. Amethyst crossed her arms and pouted. "NO! I'm not going anywhere!" I was not going to just leave. But, Garnet was VERY persuasive. I mean VERY, VERY, persuasive! ... I didn't take her as seriously as I should've. Garnet held out a bag of pop-pops, shaking them a little to get Amethyst's attention. Amethyst locked eyes with the bag of treats, and soon, Garnet stepped outside, and threw it down the beach as far as she could, Amethyst chasing out after it. ....... AND she just walked right on back. "There's nothing in here but seashells," Amethyst stated, just to find Garnet and Rose were already away. What a sucker, but Amethyst was NOT waiting around. The door was left open. This was my only chance! And chance it she did. When Amethyst raced in, the door opened up to Rose's room within the Temple. Unlike Amethyst's room, Rose's room looked more like an open plain of pink clouds that seemed endless, from the floor to wherever the ceiling would be. Amongst the room, Amethyst saw Garnet and Rose ahead of her, seemingly looking at something in Rose's hands, but Amethyst couldn't make out what exactly. "Rose. I don't think we should keep this up much longer. Amethyst's from the Kindergarten, and will have to know eventually," Garnet said at one point. As she did, Amethyst had to hide away from sight, using the only thing available: clouds. Took less than five seconds before Amethyst was completely covered in pink clouds. "But she's so happy on Earth, Garnet. We saw how much joy she had while she was with us. I'd hate to take that away from her," Rose said. "What's she talking about?" Amethyst thought. Taking her joy away from her? ... "We won't take anything away from anyone. But the longer we wait, the harder it's going to feel for her when she does find out." "I know, I know ... I promise, we will tell her eventually. When the time is right." "You said that the last thirty times, Rose." "They weren't the right times, I swear! ... Garnet, please, let's just let Amethyst enjoy her experience for a while more. Five more years." "Two." "Four." "Three." "... Alright. Three years," Rose decided. AND they left me alone about it after that. So there I was, still confused, laying down at the beach, everyone else busy. I could say I was getting closer. And she was laying down at the beach. Pearl, Garnet, and Rose were off at the moment, leaving Amethyst with nothing to do but think about things. They didn't tell her about involvement in any war, and apparently whatever this thing was, it was something to do with the Kindergarten. Amethyst wondered more and more on the situation, tossing and turning on the sand, until she accidentally slammed her face into the water. A quick wake-up call for the purple Gem. When that was done, she took a moment and looked to the water, seeing her own reflection in the water. Amethyst still wanted to figure out some answers, but she couldn't figure out what way to do so ... Thats when it hit me. If the other Gems weren't going to tell me, then I knew what will. "I know it's here somewhere," Amethyst wondered. The little Purple Gem was going about in her room, going through her stuff trying to find a specific item that could help her out. Her piles were smaller, and much of it was Gem stuff rather than a mix of human items. Digging through her pile, Amethyst was tossing a number of things over her head time and again. As she kept looking, she finally fished out the item she was looking for, though it did take a bit before she pulled it out. After a few more pulls, she got it free, tumbling back with item in hand: The Lapis Lazuli mirror! "Hello, mirror. It's me," Amethyst said, looking into her own reflection. The mirror though didn't seem to activate, react, or anything really. Amethyst laid down on the ground, the mirror in front of her. "Can I ask you something?" Amethyst asked, waiting for a response. The mirror still didn't respond, but Amethyst went on anyway. "Can you tell me something about ... the Kindergarten? Pearl, Garnet, and Rose won't tell me anything exactly. They're acting a little ... a lot, weird about it. And when I brought up a War to them, they were a little weird with that too ... so maybe you can help me?" Still nothing. The mirror showed nothing but the reflection it was seeing. Amethyst's face turned from a hopeful smile to a disappointed frown. It seemed this wasn't getting anything done either. Amethyst was about to just put it away when the mirror started to flicker, the mirror reflection looking like some distorted TV screen. Seemed Lapis was going to show her after all. Sitting there, Amethyst watched the screen, and began to view what the mirror had in store for her. It took a little while, but the reflection started to show a similar canyon, with varying Quartz soldiers being released amongst the holes, kept tracks by what appeared to be Peridots, or some similar type anyway. At first it seemed alright, but the reflection shifted off to a different area close by, where what looked like a tree and some bushes, started to wither away. That was when Amethyst started to see the mood shift a bit. During this, one Gem which she did know - Rose - soon appeared and saw what happened. While it was mainly silhouettes, Amethyst knew who was who overall. The mirror began to show Amethyst what Rose was doing, which began to show her, Pearl, and Garnet, rebelling against other Quartz soldiers, poofing them even! Amethyst felt slightly unsettled, but continued watching. The screen kept showing them fighting soldiers left and right, and then showed a rather detailed look of the Gem war itself before abruptly cutting short. The purple Gem was stunned. "... T-They fought other Gems? But why?" The mirror replayed the production of the quartzes, and the dying of the plants again, but this time, it moved back until it showed a planet ... a planet being sucked away of life, and becoming a Gem colony. Earth. Turning into a Gem colony because Gems were being made ... Gems like herself. ....... Amethyst walked out of her room after that, only to find Rose, Pearl, and Garnet standing there, possibly still discussing about Amethyst. They were going to act it off, but when they saw her with the mirror, they knew something was up. "Amethyst, where'd you get that? I had that -" Pearl was silenced when Amethyst turned the mirror to face them. The mirror replayed the exact events to them, exactly how it showed Amethyst. not that Amethyst didn't ask it to, but it did get the point across rather well. The purple Gem looked away for a moment ... "What is this all about?" Amethyst finally asked. While all three did not expect this to happen, Pearl looked the most visibly troubled. "I know this has something to do with me! And this other war - I know you three were in it, and fighting other Gems! So what happened? What did those other Gems do to end up poofed? What does this have to do with me?!" The room was silent. Pearl was about to talk, but Garnet placed her hand on her shoulder, steadily shaking her head. Rose needed to be the bigger Gem now. Rose kneeled down to Amethyst's level. "... Amethyst ... We ... We were involved in a War, but not with just humans. You see, our kind wanted to do ... bad things to this planet, thousands of years ago. Me, Pearl, Garnet, and others like us felt it was unfair on all life that already was here ... We had to fight them, to keep the life on Earth safe. To keep you safe ..." "... What were they trying to do?" Amethyst asked weakly. Rose took a deep breath before continuing. "... They were ... They were trying to make a Gem colony. To make Gems here. They were taking life away from the Earth ... and we, the Crystal Gems, stopped them from continuing." Amethyst stayed quiet to comprehend this. The truth was out, and now they all were waiting on how Amethyst will respond to this news. The Gem war, what Homeworld wanted to do, and their involvement within it, were all in the open now ... She took off running. "Amethyst!" Rose called. Amethyst didn't stop ... I never felt so ... angry! To think they kept this from me for so long. I've been with Pearl, Garnet, and Rose for years, and they never mentioned this at ALL to me. I felt mad at them, I felt mad at Homeworld ... I felt mad at me ... "Amethyst! Amethyst!" Rose called. Rose couldn't dare leave Amethyst alone after that. Amethyst simply disappeared, and they tried their best to find her. They couldn't find her anywhere in the Temple, not in Beach City, not in the countryside, nowhere around. Rose went around as best she could manage, worth it to make things right with her. It was getting to be late, and Rose was growing more worried about the purple Gem ... Then she found her. On the highest cliff looking down to the Temple, Amethyst was isolating herself, only the mirror for company, hugging it in a huddle, and facing the horizon. "Amethyst, there you are. It's been a week now. Everything okay?" Rose asked. Amethyst didn't answer. "Amethyst, this is my fault, I should've told you -" "I'm bad. You shouldn't be around me," Amethyst gravely cut in. "No, no, Amethyst. It isn't you're fault at all!" Amethyst slowly turned to Rose, Rose seeing tears on her face. "... Why didn't you tell me? All this time?" Rose walked over to her, sitting down next to her. "Listen Amethyst. I should've told you sooner. You were having so much fun being yourself, and enjoying living on Earth without worrying. I didn't want to take that happy life away from you ... I'm so sorry Amethyst ..." Amethyst stayed rather quiet, looking up to Rose Quartz, and seeing just how concern Rose actually looked. Not often did Rose looked this worried over her, and Amethyst, while feeling miserable, still could tell that Rose wasn't lying to her. She wouldn't lie to her if she could help it ... "Rose ... I ..." Amethyst found herself resting her head on Rose's knee, Rose stroking Amethyst's hair. "I'm sorry ... I didn't had to run away like that, I-i just -" "Sshhh ... At least you're safe. That's the important thing. ... Ready to come back home?" "... Can I wait here for a little longer?" "Ok." Amethyst held onto her mirror, starting to slowly fall asleep as Rose stroke Amethyst's hair, and she began to sing a lullaby. "Sweet dreams, Amethyst" ....... Now, is the hour when frogs, and crickets praise the world, for the stars, and comets. Sleep, my love. Sleep, my O-only Deep in the dark. ~~~~~~ "So, after that I went back home with Rose. She, Garnet, and Pearl promised to be more open to me, and things went on well from there since." Steven was silent throughout the whole story, and by the time Amethyst had finally finished, Steven had took each of the details more to heart. Mainly, Amethyst had to figure out the issues for herself, and the others waited until too late to finally break it to her. The detail he took in the most was that Rose kept this quiet for Amethyst's benefit, and to let her live a life a bit more happily without knowing these things. While it wasn't exactly the correct and trusting way, the motivation was still there, and not a bad one. Steven thought over Pink Diamond again, thinking a bit better on why the others wouldn't tell him for this long ... "Thank you, Amethyst ... It helped me," Steven finally said. Amethyst just nodded, as Steven went over back to bed, putting his now empty milk glass in the sink first. Steven got himself over to bed, with Blue already fast asleep at the foot of it. Amethyst watched him go, but before she could go to sleep, Steven had another question. "Hey, Amethyst? You think you can sing that lullaby?" Steven asked, wanting to hear how it went for himself. Amethyst rubbed the back of her head. "Eh, I don't think I can do it," Amethyst said bashfully. "Please? Just once?" Steven insisted. Amethyst took a moment a little bit, until she decided to give it a try, nodding in agreement. Steven got himself comfy as Amethyst started to clear her throat. Amethyst did not have the pure singing voice like Rose had by any means, but Amethyst knew the words better than the others since Rose sang it to her in particular. Now, is the hour when frogs, and crickets praise the world, for the stars, and comets. Sleep, my love. Sleep, my O-only Deep in the dark. Amethyst looked down, and saw Steven was already asleep. Well, it wasn't Amethyst's best song, but it worked anyway. After that was taken cared of, Amethyst went down onto the couch, and soon was right off to sleep herself. They had a big day tomorrow, and needed the rest. It's right back to monster hunting in the morning.