//------------------------------// // "I'm A Friend" PT3 // Story: My Little Universe: Season 6 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// "O-Ok, ok, steady. Whoa, whoa, wait - WAIT!" After being thrown up to another holding cell, Connie had just managed to grab hold of the side. It took her some effort, but she did eventually pull herself up there, moving through the screen. This one didn't had any human or pony in it, but still worth getting since it was a Gem-filled cell: Emerald, Zircon, Button and Doc specifically. Connie brought her arms out as much as she could, and Zircon jumped right on out, down to the floor where many of the others were waiting. "S-So we just ... jump down?" "Just go!" Doc said, pushing Button down. Button panicked as she fell, but she was caught by Garnet, who was waiting at the bottom. Doc was caught shortly afterwards, and it was Bismuth who caught her. "Gotcha," Bismuth said, before placing Connie down. This was a process they've did for quite a bit, and due to their efforts, they got quite a good amount of their group out including those they just got, with all of the Mane Six, and Ruby Squad fully evacuated. Some members of the Crystal Gems and Off-Colors though were still in their cells, amongst other stray Gems. Button immediately went right over to Lavi, both of them sharing a hug, both glad to be alright as Doc went to her squad to check in on them. "Ok, so that's uh ... twenty six. Almost there," Sadie said, after counting them out. "How the heck did you guys even find us? We thought you were brainwashed or something," Rainbow asked. "Well, almost everyone. I tried to get everything back to normal for you guys, so ..." "Wait. You? I thought you didn't care for all this Gem stuff," Emerald said. "It's not like I had a choice: either live in some episode of Warp Zone or try to get you guys back. Plus, I'm not a big fan of having my planet blown up," Lars said. "I'll buy that last one." "So what happened back home? Did White Diamond send her little pawns down there yet to wreck everything?" Jasper asked, her fists clenched together. "Eh ... maybe?" "What do you mean maybe?" Amethyst asked. Lars closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You ... kinda don't have a home anymore." "....... What?" Padparadscha asked. "Yeah, uh. How do I put this? ... Some large, brute Gems took every bit of evidence that you all existed. There's not even one of those "Warp Pads" anymore, there's just some smooth gave with a door," Lars explained. This was a very harsh blow, especially to the Crystal Gems. That had been their home for who knew how long, and in just a short time there was nothing left. "Everything? There's no house?" Steven asked meekly. "Not even a floorboard. I'm very sorry, Steven," sighed Connie II, as Garnet moved over to Lars, looking him eye to eye. "Tell me the truth, Lars Barriga. Tell me what exactly happened there." "I didn't see them take your house, but they did have quite a haul from the back room." "Gems ... how many?" "Eh ... enough to fill up a shop?" Lars shrugged. It was hard to say exactly how many Gems were indeed taken from the Temple, but when Garnet heard this, the shock was more than enough to make her drop to her knees. As she was trying to fully contemplate, Twilight flew on down with another Gem, Melanite. She may not be a Crystal Gem, but - "HOW DARE SHE?! All my years in service to the Diamond authority, and my reward is imprisonment?!" Similar reasons got her there. "D-Don't scream like that, the guards will hear us," Rarity insisted, not wanting to get captured again. "And we'll lose our hearing," Tiger's Eye commented, her ears ringing from the yell. "Don't act like you're the only one. When I find that diamond, I'll clobber her! Right in her face!" Army said, ticked off more than an angry bull in red. "Don't get any crazy ideas! White Diamond could destroy you, all of you, in seconds! The best thing we can do is get out of this station before the others find us!" Zircon insisted. "Agreed!" Lavi and Button said, hands raised. "We can't leave yet, what about Aquamarine, Topaz, Fluorite, Pearl, Lapis, and Diopside?" Pinkie asked. "Needn't you worry. Twilight and Rainbow should be getting them all down from the final level, and when they quietly land, then one of them will tell us where to escape from here," Garnet said. And BAM, landed Topaz nearby, holding Lapis and Diopside under her arms as Twilight, Rainbow, and Aquamarine flew on down. "Close enough," Garnet simply replied, turning back to them. Diopside was met with by Jade and Flint as Jamie went right up to Lapis. "Dear Lapis. Are you alright? No permanent damage?" Jamie asked. "I'm okay, thank the stars. I was so worried about you," Lapis replied, both sharing a hug. Their attention then went over to Aquamarine and Topaz, Aquamarine fuming. Topaz stayed quiet, not saying much of a word, but Aquamarine was a lot more vocal with her words "What is the meaning of this?! This is all you're fault!" Aquamarine yelled, pointing directly to Jade. "Me?" "You were the one that interrogated me! You should've known better than to set me up!" Aquamarine yelled, ready to attack her wand, but Flint quickly grabbed it and yanked it out of her hand. "Stop it, nobody did anything! You blaming the first person you see will not get any of us out of here! Speaking of, anyone got an idea?" "We do! The Diamonds gave us a Sun Incinerator to fly here, we can use that to get back home in no time at all," Connie answered. "Awesome! Where is it?" Fulgurite asked. "Eh ... I have no idea. some docking station," Connie admitted. With her being knocked out, she didn't see how they were brought here, and added to that, who knew how long it'll be until they would find their ship. "How's that gonna help? There's several docking stations all over this place," Onyx said, though that didn't help the situation. "I don't care where it is, figure it out!" "You know, maybe we should leave you here. Could give a good distraction," Tiger's Eye said, not liking her complaining. "Don't you dare!" "That's enough! Your arguing's getting us nowhere. We better start moving," Jasper said. Something they'll have to do. However, Rainbow flew back down to them after that. "Fluorite and Pearl are missing." "Missing?" asked right Rutile. "How?" left Rutile added. "What do you mean how, they're gone. I looked up and down these cells, and I didn't find them anywhere." "Well, we're not leaving until we find them." "We're not?" asked Lavi. A few glares got Lavi to shut up. "O-Ok, ok, we're not." "You're not, I'm leaving! Come on, Topaz, let's get out of here," Aquamarine decided, starting to fly away. However, to the surprise of them all, Aquamarine didn't get too far before she flew right into someone. Someone gigantic. Aquamarine looked up and soon found White Diamond herself of all people suddenly showing up! "Took you all long enough," White Diamond simply said. The fighters readied themselves to face her, but some of the group began to high-tail it away from her. White Diamond quickly caught them though, and with a snap of her fingers, her set of Pearls quickly jumped down in their way, their own brand of spear Gem weaponry aimed right at them to keep them back. White Diamond wasn't at all worried about any of them, even with all of their weapons drawn. "Please, save your violence at least until we reach the throne room, thank you," White Diamond sighed. "Not a chance!" Rainbow said, jumping off of the ground, directly at her, and joined by Bismuth, Jasper, and Garnet. White Diamond though had a few more tricks up her sleeve, and as they rushed up at her, White Diamond raised her arm, and swung it at them all! Only Rainbow managed to dodge it, but Garnet, Bismuth, and Jasper were slammed into the wall. They weren't poofed, but were pinned all the same. "You! I demand an explanation for this false accusation right now! I've done absolutely nothing wrong to be thrown into that bloody cage, and you'd better -" "Help me bring them into the throne room, and you'll be free to go." ... and moments later, Aquamarine rushed down, and quickly grabbed her wand from Flint. "Scatter!" shouted Fulgurite. With a more impish smile, Aquamarine quickly got her wand to activate, and like a branching web, actually managed to get every single Crystal Gem, pony, and human, within the beam made by her weapon. Aquamarine brought them together into one orb of still energy. The only Gem she didn't put in the beam was White Diamond herself, her pearls, and Topaz. "THAT'S ALL IT TOOK?!" Emerald and Tiger's Eye screamed in anger. Even White Diamond was surprised by how quickly she did that, but then again, it made things easier for White. "Well, this makes up for the wait. Now, if you'll kindly follow me, Aquamarine, I'll show you where to go," White Diamond said. Aquamarine was more than happy to comply, and with a few flaps of her wings, started to follow White Diamond. So much for a getaway sequence. ....... It took them little time until they've reached White Diamond's throne room. New to some, and a bad bit of memory lane for others. Once they passed through the doors, all of the pearls placed themselves under guard, and after they all stayed by the door, White Diamond gave the signal for Aquamarine to drop them, they all landed rather roughly, and the first one to actually look to White Diamond was Starlight. "Eh ... Hi, White. ... Long time no see, eh?" Starlight said meekly. "... Just to let you know, I don't appreciate you running off on me like that," White made clear. Starlight was really regretting doing that now. White Diamond took a seat over onto her throne. "Now, what am I gonna do with you? Harvesting seemed like a petty punishment," White wondered, trying to think of what kind of punishment would properly work out for them. Bismuth was ready to fight, but Jasper got her arm out to stop her. If they did start something now, there really wasn't a way to get out of here. "How is it?" Star asked. "How is it? I've placed you all under quarantine and kept you off of Homeworld. But it seems you can't ever follow orders. Then again, you Crystal Gems are always known to be such trouble. Now, let's see ..." "But what about us, we didn't do anything to be banished!" Melanite yelled. "Do be quiet, I'm thinking," White Diamond replied. "Save that for later, White." And one more guest arrived: Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond! What timing for them to arrive, and they can easily tell that they weren't pleased with her at all. The humans were glad to see them. "Ah, Blue, Yellow. Enjoy your little tour?" "You got some explaining to do, White Diamond," Blue Diamond said. "Look, I already told you that it was just a present released a little too early," White said, glaring to the only recent culprits that would give them said information. "Don't give us that. Now give us the truth," Yellow stated. White Diamond stayed silent at first, seeing the situation before her. These Crystal Gems. These Equestrian Ponies. These Human Beings. These two Diamonds. They all had the same question, and were demanding some sort of answer out of her, one way or another, and all of it revolved around the exact same thing. What's going on with Pink Diamond? And what did she know about Chamber No.77? Clearly the "big surprise" act wasn't going to work this time. White Diamond simply sat there, her eyes traveling around from one group to the other, as if she was scheming something for each one of them. She wasn't scared, nor troubled, but just needed a bit to get her mind together. Then, she finally got to her feet, hands behind her back, and a long sigh escaping her mouth. "... You all are aware. Of how Gems are created, am I correct?" she began. Some more silence followed. "We do," said Blue Diamond. White Diamond wanted to be sure, apparently, so she looked to the Crystal Gem Peridot. "Peridot. Could you kindly tell everyone here how Gems are created? Being a Prime Kindergartener yourself, and all," White Diamond instructed. Peridot had trouble dealing with her own Diamond, let along White Diamond, so with a gulp first she started explaining. "Eh, w-well, the gemstone is injected into the ground and the energy from the planet is absorbed into the DNA in order to create the physical structure and identity." "Well done," White Diamond said. For a moment, Peridot felt pretty good with herself, and a rather nervous smile appeared on her face, before it quickly disappeared again when White diamond walked aside. "What's that got to do with anything?" spat Twilight. "... Everything." The whole room was silent again, White Diamond keeping her back to the entire potential mob right behind her. It still didn't exactly explain Pink Diamond's current situation though, which both Diamonds especially wanted to hear, along with everyone else. "I'm sure you're all aware by now, of the ... disappointing results of Gem creation. All the natural resources, energy, minerals, and so on, all sucked away and leaving the land in a miserable husk. The Beta, Prime, even Supreme Kindergartens keep resulting in this husk you can't do a thing to. All those walls with so little space, each hole for a single Gem type, it's such a trouble." "You're not saying you actually care for Equestria or Earth, because we all know you could care less by now!" Fulgurite said. White Diamond just ignored her, but still gave the angry Gem a glare. "Yeah, and what does that have to do with that chamber, anyway?" Yellow Diamond added, wanting to get to the point, and White Diamond knew that. "You've always been impatient when the pressures on, aren't you? Then again, you are the youngest Diamond currently here. Well, second following over you-know-who." Well that was something none of them knew about, but that was the least of their problems right now, so they didn't continue on it. "Would you quit stalling?!" roared Jasper. This was her Diamond they were talking about, she didn't want to wait all day for it. "We all know you're trying to dodge the questions, so just give it straight already!" agreed Amethyst. White Diamond felt angry, but she didn't try to threaten any of them here this time. Silence again, but eventually she turned back to the group. "... Garnet? Topaz? Steven? If I may want to take this moment to ... congratulate you. for being the inspiration you've given me for my more recent steps." "I-Inspiration?" Garnet asked, very confused. "For what?" Steven asked, also worried about the answer. ....... "... For my Hybrid Fusion. ..." ....... "... No. ... No, you don't mean - ..." "It was a long and precarious road, I have to admit. But honestly, the idea behind these so-called Fusions has been, while interesting, highly dysfunctional, and non-beneficial. ... Well, at least the original method, that is." It was then that she snapped her fingers, and some of the screens started to appear behind her, many of these showing DNA, and structures of various Gems, humans, and other creatures, along with the anatomy of various Gemstones and the effects. One that caught Steven, Connie, and Amethyst's attention the most though was a particular screen showing off Earthstone, and the DNA she had! It was horrifying by where she was going with this. "You see: the idea behind these fusions, at first, was highly precarious. I mean, to have a strong bond with two Gems in order to even do such a thing, and even then with the restriction of a single Gem type as well, it truly was a rather wasteful idea. For the longest time, Gems considered it disgusting, even saying impossible, to fuse different types of Gemstones together. That was, until you came along, Garnet." Garnet could feel a cold, and horrid shiver run through her entire being on that supposed "thanks" on White Diamond's part. Some of the group looked to her, and could sense how much pressure she was feeling. She knew what was about to be said, no doubt. "A Sapphire. And a Ruby. Such polar opposites, and yet when put together create a Gem that one could even argue rival a Diamond. You all saw how well of a leader your Garnet could be, and such use when put in the right place, yet, taking such a long, long time to even make it work. It took thousands of years for you two to even get started. Anyway, the idea that two Gems of such polar differences opened the door to O so many opportunities. And not just you: Sardonyx, Carnelian, Smokey Quartz, Sandstone, Tanzanite, Nephrite, and so many more over the years. Such power and potential ... yet so wasteful." "So you created the Hybrid Gems as a alternative to that. To get more out of one individual," Blue Zircon concluded. "Nice of you to figure it out, Zircon. Yes: why go through all the trouble in creating Gems, acquainting them to eachother, and then fuse for your desired power when you can easily create a gemstone with multiple properties to get the same result? That, and it save so much space. You can have as many Gems as you wish for the price of just one simple stone, instead of sacrificing so much space for multiple. We can get hundreds of Gems just out of a mere two dozen. I only blame myself for not coming up with this myself rather than having an "accident" happen beforehand to inspire me." "HOW DARE YOU! You say that I, Aquamarine, am not good enough?! I'm more than capable of defeating any Hybrid Gem with a flick of my wrist, AND shatter any Gem that stands in my way," retorted an extremely angry Aquamarine, even going as far as to fly in White Diamond's face. White Diamond simply flicked her aside. Aquamarine was caught by Lapis Lazuli, but Aquamarine lost her wand after that, which White Diamond simply crushed under her foot, freaking out the small Gem. "Still believe you can do that, Aquamarine? Now, if you were to be a hybrid Gem of your Topaz, then you wouldn't have any problems right now." White Diamond moved her foot and showed a completely shattered wand, sparks still flickering out from it before going silent. "... How could you do this to your own kind? Forcing fusions like this, it - it's terrible!" Garnet yelled. "First of all, it's not exactly a forced fusion if the Gem isn't fused to begin with. And anyway, you're one to talk, rebel. Shattering Pink Diamond to begin with and rebelling for a good thousand years during the war -" "SHUT IT! We know now Rose didn't do it, Diamond, and you know it too," Flint cut in. "Don't get your rocks in a knot, Flint ... or is it Azlet?" "Azlet?" Blue Diamond questioned. "A name for my Flint-Zircon hybrid, naturally. Look at him: the level head of a Zircon and the determination of a Flint. All put into a far better being than both of those, even when they're fused." "Don't. Call me. By that name." Flint growled, his fists trembling from that revelation. "Still sour about it, are you?" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Yellow Diamond suddenly roared. The room fell silent again, and Yellow Diamond had reached her breaking point. "Tell me, right now. And I want a straight answer. ... You were the one who knew about Pink Diamond's death earlier than any of us. ... So tell me, White Diamond. Did you really care at all?" White Diamond questioned this a little, but she turned to face her fellow Diamond. "One can't change the past, Yellow. For me to mourn about her now would be rather pointless." ....... "... You did do it. Didn't you? ..." "Excuse me?" White Diamond questioned. Everyone in the room held their breath. "Lapis Lazuli was the only Gem who saw the event that wasn't once apart of Pink Diamond's court, yet, she reported that she was missing. You made Blue Diamond and me perform the Diamond Attack down on Earth, even if it meant corrupting our fellow Homeworld soldiers. You greenlit the project to create the Cluster, just to be sure that the Crystal Gems would be destroyed for good, and to remove the Earth from our star maps permanently. You forbade the Diamonds from ever returning to Earth, and banished the Crystal Gems from ever returning to Homeworld. ... It all makes sense now." "What are you getting at?" White Diamond asked, not really amused. Blue Diamond went over next, not even daring to look her in the face, but not out of fear. "You want to know? It wasn't Rose Quartz that shattered Pink Diamond. ... IT WAS YOU!" Her accusation echoed throughout the entire room, everyone now very angry with White Diamond, who remained sternly stone-faced. She looked, for the first time in a long time, legitimately upset with them all. "... And what proof do you have?" "Don't even try, White," Blue Diamond suddenly said, stepping forward. "You altered the memory of my own Lapis Lazuli in order for her to think that she had gone missing, AND brainwashed those under Pink's court to then say that Rose Quartz shattered her! YOU demanded the Diamond Attack and the Cluster just so that whatever evidence remaining would just destroy itself when the Earth would perish! AND you forbade me from going back to Earth so I wouldn't find out, AND forbade the Crystal Gems from returning here so they won't reveal anything! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OWN FELLOW DIAMOND?! WHAT DID SHE EVER DO TO YOU?!" Blue Diamond broke into tears, the whole room covered in a blue hue. So many of the creatures in the room all shared her pain and went into tears, but just to show how little she cared for her, no tears came out of White Diamond's eyes. In fact, her own aura shined white to reflect the effects! For a moment, they were all crying, attended our not, as they just stared in absolute shock. White Diamond caused the Gem war, and she didn't even bat an eye about it! In fact ... she started a slow clap. A soft smile on her face. "Well done my sweets Diamonds, you really proved to actually put some legitimate effort into your work, as misguided as it may be. ... However ..." "And what, you traitor?" hissed Yellow. "... And your numbers just. Came. Up." All of a sudden, before any of them could even react, groups were encased in iron power bubbles all around them! The Mane six, the Crystal Gems, Homeworld Gems, the Humans, even Yellow and Blue Diamond suddenly ended up captured and trapped in these things! They all tried their best, but none of them could bust out of the bubbles for their lives. Bubble one: the Mane Six. Bubble two and three: the Crystal Gems. Bubble three: the Homeworld Gems. Bubble four: the Humans Bubble five: both Diamonds. "LET US OUT!" they roared, trying to get themselves free, but White Diamond paid them little mind. "I should thank you for coming to me and saving me the trouble. Once we're finished, you'll all have more potential than ever." "YOU CRAZY ROCK!" Bismuth roared. "I SWEAR ON CELESTIA, WE'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" added in Pinkie. "Crazy? Eh, no, no, crazy is doing this purely for one's entertainment with no gain whatsoever. I'm doing this for Gemkind's future, the start of Era 3. Era 1 and Era 2 Homeworld were tolerable to be sure, but this will spark the beginning of a new era." "Yo, not better!" Amethyst said. "You're a traitor to Homeworld, White Diamond! When we get out of here, I swear I'll have your Gem!" Yellow reassured in rage. White Diamond shook her head. "No you won't. And when Pink Diamond returns as the way I meant her to be, she would have a far better Gem to look up to aside from you two." Yellow Diamond roared in anger, electricity blasting out of her body in waves of rage, but not even that destroyed the bubble she was encased in. As she was looking though, she began to take in sight of Peridot, and began to think just a little bit. "Hmm ... Oh. Peridot. Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG. I believe it was you who actually was in charge of the Cluster, am I correct?" White Diamond then asked. This Diamond got another idea in her head, and she got Peridot out of the bubble, holding her in the palm of her hand. Peridot had faced her once before, but her fear over her hadn't gone away, and this time she was alone to face her. "... You know. I am willing to let you slide." "W-what? Really?" "In one condition, of course. ... The Cluster." "N-NO!" she immediately shouted. She knew where it was going, but White Diamond herself looked down to her. "... You're quick to answer, huh?" Peridot had to think about this one. The typical "friendship talk" won't work on this Diamond, so Peridot had to think about it through her perspective. Eventually, she got it. "The organic ecosystem creates resources unique to that world, we can't sacrifice all that potential just for one geo-weapon! Perhaps if I tell you some plans I came up with to utilize the planet without disrupting the local -" "I don't care about Earth's potential and resources," White cut in, cutting Peridot short. "I want that Cluster. and I want that planet to die. ... Make that happen." "B-But, no!" "I know you're trying to appeal to my better nature, but your very badge on your face tells me otherwise," White said, referring to her Cutie Mark. "But -" "I'm not interested in the puny thoughts of a Peridot. Your original mission was to check the status of the Cluster, and you've failed in every step of it. If you want to avoid their fate, then your only chance to redeem yourself, is to obey this simple order: You are to go back down to Earth and release the Cluster. You are to leave the Cluster to grow. It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that hideous rock off of our star maps! Is that clear?!" Peridot felt something snap. "I won't do it! I can tell you with certainty that there are things on Earth worth protecting!" she bellowed. White grew tense. "What do you truly know about the Earth?" "Apparently more than YOU! You... CLOD!!!!" Even White started to feel slightly fazed by this, as the final word echoed throughout the room. Did Peridot really say that to her? It didn't faze White at all though, and she took a look to the ground underneath. It turned out, there was one Gem who was still standing on the ground. Pearl. Their Pearl. "... My Pearl. Would you care to do the honors?" asked White Diamond. That did it. Their own Pearl, this whole time, was White Diamond's own! All this stuff revealed so much about Flint and Pearl with a few words. And it explained so many things too. They were waiting for Pearl to deny her, to try and help them out of there, but ... "... Yes. My Diamond." "WHAT?!" White Diamond smiled, and gently stroked Pearl's head, and White Diamond gave Pearl the screen that will send them off on their way to the strange room. "Pearl, don't! Don't listen to her!" Fluttershy called. "You don't have to do this! Remember, you're your own Gem!" shouted Steven. "Pearl, please!" called Diopside. "We know you don't want to do this! You belong to no one, remember?!" bellowed Bismuth. But it seemed that no matter who called what, Pearl didn't hear them. Or if she did, she wasn't listening ... "... A Pearl's duty is to her Diamond. ... I love you all." "PEARL!" It was no use: Pearl activated the bubbles, and suddenly they all disappeared from the White Diamond throne room. Pearl was especially quiet, but White diamond looked down to her. "Don't worry your Gem. They're just a phase. A novelty at best." "... Yes, o-of course." ~~~~~~ After being teleported away, the entire group found themselves from the throne room, and into a science test chamber. After some adjustment, they were put in some very secure cages: all lined with iron bubble walling, and a slight electrical charge to mimic a destabilizing weapon. It was a similar concept to the cells earlier, but instead they were in far tighter, and slimmer bars so nothing can just slip through like what the humans did. Unlike before they all were put down in the same cage, the cage itself about as large as the barnhouse, if not slightly bigger, but that didn't give them any better chance to get out. The exception to this was Aquamarine and Topaz due to their help, both outside of the cages despite Aquamarine's outburst. A deal was a deal after all, as precarious as that deal was. Aquamarine was just glad she wasn't in said cage, Topaz keeping guard over nearby just to be sure they stayed there, under Aquamarine's command. Yellow and Blue Diamond were separated from them and in their own bubbles, which not even they could break out of. However, it was where Fluorite was located, them finding her not too long after being dropped off. "Come on, Topaz, you don't have to do this! Can you get us out, please?" Pinkie tried to say. "Don't bother: she can't hear us with those Gems on her ears," Lars sighed, Topaz still quiet and standing there. "How dare you go against us so quickly, you dangerous yellow coat!" Jamie said. Nearby though, one other Gem was actually laughing for whatever reason, but it wasn't exactly a normal laugh. Looking over, it turned out to be Peridot, but her apparent laughter wasn't a happy one. "I called White Diamond a clod! Right to her face!" she said in triumph. Only to immediately realize what she did and fall to her knees. "I call White Diamond a clod ... right to her face," she repeated meekly, that word actually passing through her lips almost like a record player being on repeat. "Uh, Peridot? You gonna be okay?" Steven asked. "NO!" Peridot yelled, with a big, happy-go-lucky smile on her face. "Look, just calm down sugarcube. You're with us, remember?" Applejack said, trying to help her relax, but then Peridot spun around to her. "Y-You don't understand! I just straight up defied a Gem in charge of an entire race! And I called her a straight up clod for it! She'll never forgive me, never! And now, she's gonna take my gem and crumble it into teeny tiny pieces! I'm a traitorous clod! I'm never want to think about what I'm done again!" Peridot said in almost panic ... just to start laughing in glee moments later. Flint though went on over to her, and actually gave her a thumbs up, arm out stretched towards her. "So are you ... happy you did that, or ... no?" Tiger's Eye asked, very confused. Leggy was just as confused, scratching her head on seeing the mixed reactions from the same Gem. "No I'm not!" "Calm down, you've already fought against her before," Jasper pointed out. "Yes, but I didn't straight up insult her in the face, and gave her a reason to call on the troops ready for the word to shatter me!" Peridot fell to the ground, hugging her knees as she was shaking. "You don't have anything to worry about, I'm the one she's far more upset at," Starlight said, hoof on Peridot's shoulder, feeling guilty with what was going on. "Don't worry, Peridot, Starlight, we're not gonna let them get you," Twilight promised. "Haven't I caused you enough trouble?" Starlight asked sadly. "Don't worry: It's our sworn duty to protect anything that calls Earth and Equestria home. And that includes clods like you two." "That's my word ..." she simply said, but it did get her calmed down a little bit. Twilight placed her wing around Starlight, the unicorn smiling to her. She would've never gotten that kind of attention from White Diamond. "You're forgiving her this quickly, Garnet?" Bismuth asked. "She may have fought us before, but right now, she's going through the exact same problem as we are. That, and Twilight had forgiven her. It's best to give everyone at least one more chance," Garnet pointed out, which was true by the looks of things. Starlight knew what she did was wrong, and she didn't expect them to forgive her that quickly, ears folded back, and looking away. Then came a moment between Steven and Connie. both of them felt a mix of happiness and sadness seeing eachother, considering just what happened the last time they actually saw eachother at all. Steven and Connie were a bit quiet, Garnet's statement going through them for a little, but Connie went first. "Steven, I ... I'm very sorry. I wasn't trying to ignore you. I was going to text you back. I-I wrote, "I can't talk to you right now," but then I realized if I sent it, that would be talking to you. And it didn't make any sense. I wasn't making any sense. If we were going to talk, I thought it's got to be in person. So I rode Lion to your house, but no one was there, I-I don't even know what to say to you. I'm angry. I miss you. I feel like I'm out of my mind." "No, you're not," Steven insisted, Connie looking surprised a little bit. "I surrendered myself to White Diamond. I let her take me away, maybe forever, and then I came back and I tried to act like it was no big deal. But it was a big deal. I couldn't stand the thought of you being taken away, but then I did that to you. I promised you we'd always be a team, and I let you down. ... I'm sorry. Jam buds?" Steven asked, hoping and waiting for a good answer. Connie looked to her feet, and then smiled. "I'm sorry too, jam bud," Connie replied. Steven was so happy to hear that, and Connie gave Steven a hug, Steven returning the gesture. Their friendship was still as strong as ever. Eventually though, the whole group then began to hear the doors opening up, and there she stood. Walking into the chamber where they were trapped in. And of course, none of them were really happy to see this traitorous Gem walk in so calmly. They would all go right out and attack if they weren't in a Gem-proof and organic-proof cage. White Diamond wasn't alone either, as she was joined by a few more of her hybrid Gems, and Pearl herself as well. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond stared daggers at White, but it changed little to what she was going to do. "You two comfortable in there? I promise you one thing: it'll only hurt for a moment." "You're making a big mistake: Homeworld will know when two Diamonds disappear!" warned Yellow. Surely White Diamond wasn't planning this without considering that. "You don't have to worry about that. I'll just advise them of a new Diamond coming in, and I'll just have them transferred. Common knowledge really." "You think they'll believe you?" Blue hissed. White Diamond simply ignored that question there, and she turned down to Pearl and Pearlis. "My Gems. Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?" White Diamond calmly asked, even presenting the controls to them. Pearl was simply horrified, and even Pearlis was a bit humbled on the decision. Sure, hybrid Gems were a common cut to the White Diamond court, but to do the same to two Diamonds? That seemed a bit extreme, at the least. "Uh ... Well, maybe you better do it," Pearlis stated. It was a bit rare to see Pearlis humbled on anything, but before White could even consider any ideas, the other Gems started talking again. "What're you doing to them?!" shouted Diopside. "Oh, save your words. I gave you all enough time to ask questions before I put you here." "But if we were scheduled for this, why even bother telling us anything?! You could've just kept your mouth shut and let this lie run on until now!" Yellow yelled, electricity sparking out of her hands as she tried to fry her cage. White Diamond wasn't intimidated in the slightest. As White was thinking though, Pearlis spurred back to life again. "How dare you try and insult my Diamond like that! She can make any decision -" "I'll tell you a story about our kind, everyone. A true story about Gems and Diamonds," White began, cutting her off. Everyone, who was moments ago were trying to get themselves out of there, now stood quiet so they could hear what this Diamond had to say. "Yes. I'm the shatterer, you're right. I was there when it happened, I did have Pink Diamond isolated from the rest of her cut at the birth of the rebellion. And once I was sure she was alone, I buried my blade into her stone." "A fact we all figured out by now!" Emerald yelled. White simply ignored him though. "Soon after, I had those Gems who laid witness to it altered in DNA, in order to redirect the blame onto another sort of Gem, and one that was already in rebellion: Rose Quartz. Not too long after, I begin to study on the Crystal Gems, and saw the potential in Garnet's current fusion, and I begin to learn on the genetics and powers one can obtain from it. It occurred to me that I can turn the cycle of history, and make a greater, more sufficient age for our kind." "Greater? Sufficient?" If the Diamonds had any blood, it would be boiling by now, as White Diamond continued explaining to them her little story. "I had few allies to get this project started at the time, mostly made up of my Pearls and a few stray Peridots and Fulgurites who placed science above individual value. I started with a simple pair, but soon the program ... broadened out." White paused, and glanced over towards Flint, the Hybrid Gem who rebelled against her and fled Homeworld from her radar along with Diopside and Jade. "I was forced to keep this quiet, I had no choice, to preserve the purity that this new Era 3 required. ... And that was my reason for involving you two. Once I hybridize you both, you will become my successor - the leader of the mighty Era 3 Homeworld." "B-But Pink Diamond, why did you eliminate her?" Zircon suddenly asked. White Diamond stared daggers at them, but answered anyway. "... She grew a little too comfortable one day, and stumbled onto my project. If I'd let her go, she would've told them everything, and so there was no choice." There was a long silence. ... "... So now we know it all ... and what I know disgusts me," Garnet said, summing up everyone's reaction to White's story. Some were more scared, and others ticked off, but disgust summed it all up pretty well. White Diamond simply gave a sigh to them all. "Oh dear. You live through your ordinary little day, and fall asleep to dream your ordinary, carefree dreams, throughout the peaceful, undisturbed night. ... But then, I brought nightmares to your mind. ... Do you deny it?" Steven suddenly saw what she meant, remembering the dreams he had involving Rose Quartz in particular. A cold shiver ran through him. "You're a monster," Tiger's Eye finally said, her anger reaching major levels. "Interesting thing though. On Homeworld, I would be seen as such. But the crowning role of hatred on Earth, is humans. ... And the joke, my little pebbles ... is that we're now no different to them." "HUMANS DON'T DO HALF OF WHAT YOU DO," Amethyst yelled. "And you're so sure about that?" "I know more about humans than anyone else! I lived with them my entire life! They complain to eachother, they fight time to time, maybe even draw a gun at eachother, but they know when to stop themselves. But you? You willingly went behind your kind's back and plan to shatter them all just because you found a better brand of Gems to replace us all! I may not be a science nut, or anyone too important, but I can speak for everyone when I say you're sick, twisted, and we'll not stand for it!" And to their sickness, White Diamond laughed. "Ah, but that's the kicker is it? As inspiring as that may be, I'm still the leader of the entire Homeworld race. Even if they know why Pink Diamond really died, they won't do anything, because without me all of Homeworld will fall apart. A empire's nothing without it's queen. I got Homeworld to where it is today, and there's some who still think you killed Pink Diamond. Willing to spark another Gem War with me, because I can easily make the word, and your planet won't last very long at the state it's in." "And you're so sure about that?" Amethyst spat. "More than anything. Yes, I understand that your little planet has a bit of Equestrian magic now, and yes it may or may not give your planet a bit more surprises. However, and be that as it may, the fact is you're very outnumbered. Besides, you've worked hard enough to keep this "alliance" between Homeworld, Earth, and Equus for a good two to three years now. Would you want to throw that all away?" "We were going to die, either way," pointed out Flint. "True. ... But would you want to die as a friend? Or a foe? I'd prefer the former if I were you," White Diamond stated. That horrid idea made much of them worried more than ever. Was she really willing to call another Gem War so freely? And what's worse, she was using that to keep them in line! Garnet felt her heart sink. White Diamond decided to hammer the final nail. "We have to go back. We have to," Garnet simply said, even trying to punch her way out. White then smiled softly, and got down to her knees so she was closer to Garnet's level. "Go back? Back to what? Your Temple's gone, your Gems are all confiscated, your planet is open for whatever I wish, and every single human and pony no longer believes you even exist. Those humans you've tried so hard to protect for Rose's sake could barely bat a vision sphere at if you're gone or not. Do you understand yet? No one's going back ... because there's nothing to go back for." Garnet tried to see through her future vision, in some way, to see if this was all some cruel sick joke, but the images in her head all showed exactly what she said, and what Lars told her. ... There really was nothing to go back for. ... Garnet felt defeated, as she collapsed to the ground herself. White Diamond, with a feeling that she truly won, stood back up and looked to the other Diamonds. Some of them tried to get to her, but they were either burned by the bars or glitched from the screens, depending on who. Twilight and Starlight even tried magic beams, but all that did was bounce off the walls of their prison cell. They weren't going anywhere, anytime soon. "Now, where were we?" White Diamond asked. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond tried getting themselves out, but White simply got what looked like a sort of energy rope, got it around the bubbles, and started to drag them to the back of the chamber, a door opening up. All they could do was watch as both Diamonds were taken away. The group was completely stunned the second those doors shut. "Don't worry, we'll get out of here." "... Why?" the most unlikely Gem, Garnet asked. "... White Diamond knew everything. She set us up. She knew from the very beginning that she would beat us, and now look at us. ... She won." ....... "I can't believe what I am hearing!" The whole group turned to Fluorite as she went straight up to Garnet, looked disappointed in her like a mother to her child. Garnet felt her chin being lifted by Fluorite's hand. "You've done so much already, and when you're captured by Homeworld, you simply give up? The shame on you! Shame on you, shame on you!" Florite ended up pushed Garnet back, the distraught fusion almost falling down off her feet from that alone, even if it wasn't too rough of a push. Fluorite looked down to Garnet. "And what's worse? You and your friends risked your lives in order to help such Gems like us. Rhodonite. Rutile. Padparadscha. Tiger's Eye. And me. Us. And you've got me to believe, for the first time in a millennium ... that such a fusion like me was wanted. Needed. Worth enough to spur others into action. ..." Garnet looked up to Fluorite, seeing how Fluorite was into tears at this point, a single line going down her eyes. That look of sadness switched though to a more determined one. "... But you know what? ... You were right. And I'm going to continue on believing it. I will not give up, not now. And I will not give up on you. We Off-Colors, must stick together." There was a silence that hung in the air after Fluorite had finished, but not a negative one like those left by White Diamond. She looked around for a moment at just how many Gems, Ponies, and even Humans were willing. Those humans with them went all this way just to find them and get them out, and thinking back at how much they've done already. Sombra, Osicone, the Kirin Empire, Starlight's escapades, The Cluster, Grootslang, not to mention their previous encounter with White Diamond. All of those things, and they were still together. Garnet smiled ... *sniff* "That's so, so beautiful. Even in the clutches of certain doom, you're happy to have each other." Topaz. They turned over to her, and now the seemingly emotionless and uncaring Gem was now crying, touched by what she was hearing. "Topaz?" Jade said. "I don't know what Topaz would do if she didn't have Topaz," she began, still crying, "I've always wanted to tell me how I'm helping me through this, but there's always someone between us! They're always sending me on these miserable missions. I'm always pretending I'm fine with it. I have to pretend I'm fine." Topaz paused for a brief moment to wipe away her tears before continuing. "But you -- you're so honest and open... so *sniff* I wanna help you guys. What do you need?" No way were they missing this. "Some way to get out of this cage for a start," Sadie said. A good of start as any, and with her Diamond's life on the line, Topaz didn't bother to hesitate, and immediately began looking around for a weak point on their cage, bringing out her Gem weapon to find some sort of clue. No exact lock mechanism was on this cage, not one on the surface by what they could see. In the end, Topaz just tried her own weapon on the outside, but her weapon just bounced off of the surface of the wall. "Wait, Topaz, try the corner, I think I see something there!" Sadie then said, looking to the corner herself. Looking there, they actually began to see a sort of small object, obscured just passed the bars that seemed to be making the shield come to life. Topaz nodded and aimed her weapon right at that instead. From where they were, none of them could reach it, but Topaz, being on the outside, was right in the perfect place, and with one well aimed hit of her Pugil stick directly at it, in a few fizzles, the Gem shield was down. "Alright everybody, stand back. I got this," Bismuth said, cracking her knuckles and going straight up to the heating bars. With their shield down, there was nothing holding back this blacksmith Gem from her strength, and both arms grabbed hold of two of the bars. She felt her hands heating up, but it didn't bother her at all, her strength making the bars creak and bend until she snapped them off like twigs! She went on to pull off a good seven of them until the group started to race out of the cage, big enough for Fluorite to slip on through. "Way da go, Bismuth!" Fulgurite said. "But the Diamonds, they're still in there!" pointed out Eyeball. They quickly rushed for the door, but of course, White Diamond made sure to lock it up behind her. "Allow me." Fluorite then said, going over to the back door. The giant fusion then reared back onto her last set of legs, and actually started to slam her body into the door! It was strong sure, but the commotion brought on more than just courage from the group, as several shattering Robonoids started to fly in! A backup measure, obviously. Not to mention over on the ground, hybrid Gem soldiers started to come in and line up. "Alright you guys, time to kick some butt!" Emerald said, as they began to arm up. "My favorite time of the day," Rainbow added in. "Good. Topaz, Jasper, Bismuth, Rubies, help Fluorite with the door. The rest of you, make sure those Robonoids don't get close to them," Garnet quickly instructed. There were a ton of Robonoids coming out, a good forty of them, and they all were ready to shatter and apprehend every single escapee standing there. There was a big fight to be had, and now they got everyone ready to go. "Can I?" Peridot asked. "Go for it, you clod," replied Garnet with a smile. "CHAAARGE!" The first shots fired were from the Robonoids, several of them immediately beginning to shot down at them, lasers shooting right to the wall as they quickly made their dodges and blocks. Twilight made her firing shot first, directly aimed at one of the robonoids, which in turn made a clear path for Rainbow Dash to fly by and slam into another robonoid. Needless to say, it didn't take very long until it turned into a warzone in there: multiple ponies, Gems, and even humans fighting against hybrid gems and robonoids. With their strongest focusing their energy on just getting the door open, everyone else had only a slight disadvantage, but it barely showed at all. A bit odd though that White Diamond didn't really come out on all that noise, but they were a bit too busy to pay attention to that. The Gems and Ponies may be holding their own, but amongst the humans, Sadie, Lars, and Jamie tried to keep their distance. Unfortunately for them, they were targeted by a pair of Jasmiths, both ready to clobber them! No prisoners were going to be taken this time. "Let's put these animals back into the zoo," one of the Jasmiths said. Sadie got in the way, but it was Lapis who whacked them aside with a hit of her water wing. She didn't had much time to check on them, flying out of the way of a robonoid laser fire. However, another Jasmith grabbed her by the foot and slammed her down hard! "Lazuli!" gasped Jamie, the Jasmith swinging her right their way. Or at least, she was about to until Rarity gave the Jasmith a kung fu fly kick to the side of her head, making her let go. Lars started to hear the Rutile twins having some more trouble, confronted by multiple robonoids. They didn't shoot at first, and readied to give her a scan. "Sadie, over here," Lars said, rushing over to her. He and Sadie got in between the robonoids scanners, both blocking and keeping the twins' gemstone out of range. Once scanning was done, both robonoids actually stayed still for a bit, turning inactive. This only lasted for a short moment until Soup shot one of the hybrid gemstones at the robonoid, sending it into a tailspin. The second robonoid turned to Soup, armed up, but immediately shot her! Soup, panicked, grabbed her pot, and used it like a reflector, the shot bouncing off of the pot, and hitting the wall nearby, some had to scatter on the explosion, three hybrid soldiers getting poofed from the blast. "Excellent idea, Soup!" Amethyst said, rushing over to her, and getting the pot. the robonoid tried again, but this time, Amethyst got the shots to aim at the other soldiers, and even other robonoids coming at them. Though, some stray shots did cut close to hitting their pals. "Watch where you're aiming that thing!" shouted Emerald. "Sorry!" Amethyst called, just for a Carnethyst to come up and whack the pot out of Amethyst's hands, and giving the robonoid a better thing to shoot at. However, it outlived its usefulness, and a flurry of green needles stabbed the robonoid. Jade ended up targeted by several robonoids at this point after that needle blast, her wyvern staff already out as she tried to keep the robonoids back, joined by Flint and Diopside. "Well, isn't this some nostalgia, isn't it?" Flint said, as he shot down two robonoids in one blast. "You can say that," Diopside replied. Diopside saw a large Jasmith charging over towards her, and Diopside started to drool acid before lunging at her, and biting her neck! The acid did some short work and quickly made her retreat into her gemstone in little time at all. Jade turned and saw the others trying to get into the other room, but a few robonoids closing in. "Look out!" Jade called, sending a flurry of needles at the robonoids. Out of the three shooting, only one got one out before getting shot at, Fluorite leaning aside and narrowly avoiding the explosion. "Thank you," Fluorite said, slamming into the door again. The group had made some good dents into the door, but the door still remained sealed shut. Jasper, Busmith, Topaz, and the Rubies stopped. "Open up already," Jasper yelled, punching the daylights out of the door to unlock it or break it. They could get a grip on the opening, but it just wasn't working. "Hurry up with that door, this is getting intense out here!" called Onyx. "We're going as fast as we can!" called Bismuth. for the ruby squad, this was more than enough. "Rubies! Combine!" Doc announced. And soon, all the rubies came together, and the light of a fusion started to appear, all of the rubies from her squad, now together! It was mainly a giant ruby with multiple gemstones on her, but the up in strength was just what they need as the giant Ruby gave a mighty roar. The ruby went right to work and got her hands right in the crack of the door, and soon came the strength! Their power had weakened the door already, but with the fusion's extra power, and a mix of heating metal from the angry fusion's hands, finally made the giant door start to give. The entire room began to hear a loud groan of bending metal, signifying that they finally got the door open, in their own way! The ruby fusion strained, gritting her teeth, and the metal finally making an entrance into the next room. The Ruby fusion was the first to see what the next room had to offer, and to her surprise, she saw Yellow and Blue Diamond still in their bubbles, but over nearby some strange machine. A huge machine of epic proportions, the size of a two story house, and that was just counting the base of the machine, with both Diamonds side by side over in a set of containers, connected to the main body of the machine itself, looking like a huge tank with the controls hidden off on another balcony a floor or two up, with a clear path up to it, yet with White Diamond herself over by the controls! Pearl was with her at the moment, and she seemed too occupied to even notice the door open yet, which gave them more of an advantage. The ruby squad gave a loud whistle, and got their attention. "Everyone, move!" Garnet called. "Just a second! Steven, spike ball!" Amethyst called. "Bubble up!" Steven answered, summoning his bubble, and the bubble came with spikes on them. Amethyst got a hold of the bubble with her whip, and in no time began to swing Steven around, hitting multiple hybrid Gems and robonoids in no time at all! This gave much of the group a good headstart, and both Gem and Gem human hybrid stopped, and bolted through the exit, threat on their end now completely gone. Well, the minions were gone, but now they got to get their Diamonds out. "Had fun with my Gems, I noticed. You really want to keep the world as they are." "Just let them go, White!" Connie yelled. "This is going to happen regardless of your input. Progress always wins. Allow me to demonstrate," White Diamond then snapped her fingers, and out came a flurry of twenty two White Pearls, all armed up, and including Pearlis and Crystal Gem Pearl. As if to mock them further, Pearl attacked first, and aimed directly at Steven! Fulgurite quickly saved him before he could be skewered. The White Pearls were a different ballgame when compared to the Jasmiths and Carnethysts earlier: faster, more agile, and they can shoot as well, making the group dodging more than attacking. "Pearl! You don't have to do this!" Steven called. Pearl hesitated for a bit, but White Diamond snapped her fingers again, and Pearl charged him, making Fulgurite bolt away from her again. "The heck Pearl?!" Fulgurite called. "She's not even listening! PEARL! Wake up, you don't have to follow her!" screamed Jasper, but Pearl at this point truly wasn't listening, and tried to make a kabob out of Steven specifically. "Of course she's not listening, she's not even there." Flint concluded. "What're you talking about, she's right there!" "Haven't you figured it out yet?!" Zircon yelled. "White Diamond already altered memories, what do you think she did to her?" "OH she did not," Bismuth growled, looking to Pearl. Her eyes almost looked dilated at this point, almost as if she was blind or something. This Pearl was completely under White Diamond's control, whether she wanted to or not. "Where the heck's Aquamarine?! We could use that wand of hers right now!" Rainbow asked, narrowly dodging one of the White Pearls's spears, losing two feathers in the process. A set of Pearls actually managed to jump the Pegasus, landing on her back, and slamming her to the ground! "Off of the pony!" shouted Diopside, jumping at them. both Pearls jumped aside, but did get off Rainbow. "AH, these Pearls are too fast," groaned the twins. "INCOMING!" shouted Garnet. This indeed was just a distraction for them, and looking up, they suddenly saw White Diamond jump down right on top of them! Everyone on the ground had to bolt away and scatter before any could be crushed under her! The stomp made the ground shake, but White Diamond wasn't just jumping down to simply crush them, and her hand bolted out, and grabbed Lars and Connie right off their feet! "Connie!!" gasped Steven. "Lars!!" gasped Sadie. White Diamond straightened up, holding both small humans in her hand, and rather than go into anymore trouble, she got them both in each hand. "I think we've had about enough of this trouble, don't you? You've had me for a runaround, yet this will be as good as you'll get." Then came the moves to their horror: White Diamond began by grabbing Connie into one, and proceeded to raise Lars up high before letting him fall out of her hand. As he fell, she whacked him downward, making him slam into the ground at two stories high and as fast as a sonic rainboom! She turned her gaze towards Connie next, and her fist clenched tighter around Connie's body, and they all began to hear her bones cracking before she began to turn limp. Only then did White drop her. Two bodies laid motionless on the ground, everyone staring on in horror. So easily did she finish the two off. The whole fight seemed to have stopped when this happened. Even in that fall, Connie was still alive, but barely, and hardly moving. "Connie! Connie, you okay? Say something!" "I ... Steven, I can't move," Connie said meekly. D-did she cripple her? Steven went over to Lars next, and tried to wake him up, but there was nothing. Steven placed his ear onto his chest. not even a heartbeat. Lars was gone. Steven's tears started to come up, as Connie was being helped up as best the others could manage. Steven's tears went down gently onto Lars's face. ... Then it began to glow. ....... "Ugh.... Whoa, what...happened?" "Oh my, something incredible is going to happen to Lars!" Padparadscha gasped. And indeed something did. Lars got himself back together after what should've been his last. "I-I don't know, but I think I brought you back to life!" "Back to life? So I was ... away from life?" Lars wondered. Then he took a good look at his skin. "... WHA?! I-I'M PINK!" And that was the main thing that separated the Lars from five minutes ago, and the Lars now. His skin and hair matched one particular Lion, but apart from that, everything else on him appeared to be pretty much the same. "Do you feel okay?" "I don't really know." "You're forgetting something." And Garnet quickly grabbed Steven, Lars, and Connie, and got them out of the way of her foot. "Really. I kill two of your humans, and you all suddenly stop cold? I do wonder how you even made it this far with that kind of reaction. This is going to happen, whether you want it to or not," White said. The others were obviously upset, but some of the Gems were noticing something that White Diamond didn't. Something that could be good to their favor. "B-But. But isn't there at least one type of Gem that doesn't have to be hybridized? I mean surely you could've seen one Gem that is good enough on their own," Peridot said. "You'd want to think that, would you? So many different quartz soldiers that do basically the same thing, surely one type with each one can do the exact same thing and better. Jaspers, Amethysts, Citrines, Carnelians, why all that variety when you can get only one?" "There's nothing wrong with any original Gem! You're just upset because a bunch of original Gems are doing way more than you've ever could!" accused Jasper. "Oh please, you're all constantly getting into trouble. You've all been influenced in some way to cut away from your original code, and now look at you. Your Peridot for instance: she was influenced, and she's stripped of her enhancers, her status, and her dignity." "I have one of those things." "OK then, tell me: Why do you all even bother anyway over such a shell?" "It's not a shell, there's so much life. Living there, that's what I'm doing! I'm living there! I've been learning new things about myself all the time! Like how I can make metal do my bidding, and look! I even got a Cutie Mark out of it! The point being Earth can set you free," Peridot insisted. "And I suppose they told you that too? You're all not trying to be free, you're just being greedy and selfish at best. Your lives weren't to your liking, so you're willing to shatter others of your own kind just to have your own life the way you want it." "Like you should talk! You were just trying to kill us a minute ago!" Rarity yelled. "Says the group constantly hunting other Gems practically everyday." "Stop right there, White, they're not dead, they're bubbled! They're still alive, and they're not suffering!" retorted Amethyst. "And I'm not a fool either. But considering all you plan to do was leave them in there, they might as well be. I did you a favor taking them away, they could be of more use than stuck in a bubble for all time. ... Or do you prefer them useless to anyone?" "Well, there's only one thing I have to say about that. ..." Lapis said. "Well, I'm listening. Go on. Give me your best shot," White insisted. Lapis took a deep breath, brought her up, and ... *PPPPPPPPPPBBBBBBBBBBHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTT!!!* ... Ok then. "... And what was the point of that ... noise?" White asked, more confused than anything. Jamie decided to answer. "That, Diamond, is what we earthlings call a distraction!" Then it happened. White Diamond turned up to the controls, and suddenly she saw Onion and Starlight Glimmer up there! What's worse, they were right next to the main power, and she looked just in time to see both unicorn and kid cut the power not just to the machine, but apparently to the whole chamber! The machine went quiet, and the sound of draining energy echoed throughout the entire area, even the lights slowly going out! With the light dimming out, White Diamond used her own gemstone as a light to see what had happened, only to find Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond out of their own containment, alive, fine, and ready to fight her. "I can't believe I've fallen for that," White groaned, just seconds before Yellow charged forward at breakneck speed, slamming White out of the chamber, and slamming the opposite wall. It was now or never, and White Diamond immediately felt surges of electricity course through her body. White Diamond kicked Yellow off of her, seeing the whole group starting to take their leave. "Good on you, Onion," Sadie said. Onion gave them a wink. Yellow wanted to fight White for what she did, but Blue got her up on her feet. They had a much bigger object to look for, and fighting White Diamond wasn't going to get her out at any point. White found the whole group running away, leaving her with only her Pearls for company. White Diamond sighed, and got up to her feet, a bit frazzled but overall alright. "... Well then. One of you check on the backup generator, the rest of you go and track where they're going for me, please?" White groaned. So from there, they all were separated. And it was Pearl who went for the backup generator, finally leaving her alone for now. ... ~~~~~~ "How much power did that cut out?!" Tiger's Eye wondered. Something many of them were wondering about as they raced along through the White Diamond Space Station. While Onion and Starlight's trick did cut the power, it made the whole place lose power judging by where they were going! Much of the halls and rooms looked far dimmer now than usual. some lights were still glowing from a backup battery, but in the end that was pretty much about it, as they only had the dim light to run through in order to see where they were even going. It won't be long until other soldiers do arrive to handle them, so they couldn't waste any time with this. "This way!" Garnet called, seeing a crossroads up ahead, and taking a right. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond though had their own goal in mind, and turned off left instead. "Where're you two going?!" AJ called, spinning around and skidding to a stop. "Saving Pink. We'll meet you back on Homeworld, we promise you that. Stay alive!" Blue answered, looking back to them for a brief moment as she ran. "Hold on!" AJ called, but neither stopped for her. And however, neither did the others. "AJ, get a move on, the guards are gonna be on us any moment!" called Flint. AJ felt a little bit torn, but when she began to hear some of the guards coming in, she turned and bolted for it. She couldn't stop, and neither could anyone else. Applejack eventually caught up with everyone else in her gallop. "Where'd the Diamonds go?" "They're gonna meet us there," AJ answered. "Well, does anypony know where we're going?" Rainbow asked. "I do: straight ahead and to your right," Garnet said. Were they at the end already? Well, they might as well be off on their way if they were right there, and off cutting the next corner after a good half an hour of running, the human group began to see something familiar: a familiar looking hallway, and a door leading right over to their docking station! And better: their Sun Incinerator was still there! "Garbonzo!" Garbonzo said in glee. "Can we all fit in that thing?" Tiger's Eye asked, as they got the ship open and started to get inside. "We have to try, now come on!" "But what about Pearl?!" Steven gasped. Before any of them could say anything however, another more ominous sound started to echo behind them, heading straight their way. They all thought it was gonna be White Diamond coming back, but what they saw next left them surprised if not at a lost for words. *raaahhhrrrrr* Something suddenly barreled on into the docking station, but it wasn't White Diamond. It wasn't even a soldier for that matter, but instead looking like a animal! A large, four-legged behemoth, brown skin, cloven hooved, parrot-like beak, and crystalline armor from its back down to its head, armed like a tank and angry as a bull in a fighting pit. It could see the Gems getting in, whoever remaining outside gasping on sight of this new monster. It wasn't just the Diamonds who were freed from the loss of power. And this beast was not happy to see them. "A corrupted gem?" "Everyone! Get in!" Garnet yelled, quickly grabbing Steven and rushing inside. They don't have time to fight a corrupted Gem, and with so many injured, they couldn't chance it any further. And neither was the Gem beast, snorting and digging its foot in the ground for a charge. Not all of them were inside the Sun Incinerator when the beast began to rush at them! In a mad scramble, they just managed to get in, and shut the door. And just in time too: the Gem beast wasn't waiting for them to fly away, and rammed the Sun Incinerator so hard, it launched it right out into space! The beast grunted and bellowed, and the inhabitants inside the ship ended up stumbled and shaken up, one of which landed right on the controls of said ship! Initiate Warpspeed. "Oh clod," Peridot groaned. Suddenly, the ship began to spur to life, and aimed right back in the direction it came, and suddenly the ship zoomed off right out of sight! The whole crew were completely taken by surprise by this sudden shift in speed, but unlike before, this quick shift was suddenly stopped after a good half a minute as opposed to the time the humans took. "Wha? What happened? Everyone okay?" Garnet asked "What idiot installed a warpspeed to this thing?" Lars groaned. "I did, and I regret it every bit of it," Peridot groaned. "Someone check and see where we ended up, please?" Flint asked. Jade, a bit dazed from said flight, went on over to the front window to see what had happened. ... ....... "... Where are we? ..."