It was only a matter of time until they managed to tell Steven what was actually going on, or in this case what did happen. The ship had long been in space already though, so, there wasn't much time for them to really go back and fix it - not that it mattered. For Lapis and Bismuth, they had to wait a long while until they got their chance to tell him, straight after Steven was left alone by White Diamond in his room on the ship, with the "friendship lessons" paper in hand.

"I think so? I didn't see their tower standing, so they're either homeless or … dead. One or the other," Bismuth replied. Steven felt like slapping himself, laying down on his back as he felt a cold sweat.

"Dang it, why didn't I ask HOW she saved Yellow Diamond? And I thought she did great on her first lesson too," Steven wondered. And he was so excited when he heard of her "rescue" too. Lapis landed over by him, her water wing wrapped around him. A bit wet, but comforting at least as Bismuth sat beside him as well.

"Well, she did save Yellow Diamond right? I mean, before she wouldn't even bother to do that," Lapis pointed out, trying to find a bright side to this. Steven still felt uneasy about the fact she just wiped away the Nanjarie for it though.

"Hold on, kiddo, we don't know if she killed em or not. We just know she got rid of their tower," Bismuth said. But the tone of her voice wasn't exactly ignored, as Bismuth did suspect what actually happened a bit more than the other two did. Bismuth sighed.

"Look Steven, you're dealing with a Diamond that's been doing this for practically all her life," said Lapis, "If you're gonna try to change her, then it's gonna take a bit more than just one lesson to do it."

Good point there. Steven thought about it, working over the lessons he had on hand. White diamond was, after all, a pretty nasty Gem to put it lightly, and since she was willing to at least listen to him this time, he had to kinda put that behind for the time being. He took a deep breath.

"Alright, we just gotta keep trying. So the first lesson didn't go as planned, but doesn't mean it can't get better from here. I better emphasize "don't kill for the heck of it" in the lessons," Steven concluded, getting a pen and circling the lesson down (which was three steps under racial understanding to give you an idea).

"By the way, Steven, it's been about three days. How're the lessons even coming along?" Lapis asked.

"Eh, in Earth terms. It's harder to tell in space," Lapis replied. Too true that statement. Well, Steven got to looking at the list in hand, though he didn't exactly mark any completed lessons yet. As Lapis said, it's gonna take more than just one go to get it right.

"Actually, White's been pretty listenable lately: she's been on time for class, and I didn't really catch her cheating on questions or dozing off during mine or Connie's lectures. Guess some evil villains still love class," Steven explained. They'd be lying if they said it was expected though. Sure, White Diamond was more science-focused and learn-savvy than the other two, though to think she would actually take the time to listen to him on this stuff was a bit … weird. But then again, White was the one to decide this getaway anyway, so, who knew at this point?

"I still have my Portal Key, Bismuth," Steven said, and to prove it he pulled it right out of his hair (Pinkie trick), and showed the key to her. Well, at least he was taking precaution somewhat. Speaking of classes -

"Oh! Class time! Gotta get going, talk to you later!" Steven said, as he scrambled to get his stuff together and go off to the next friendship lesson. Steven had a whole lot to carry, so Lapis Lazuli gave him a hand in carrying some of the materials he had with him. Bismuth kept a good smile with her, but that smile didn't last for much longer after Steven and Lapis left.

With this lesson going on, Bismuth took the time to try and distract some of her worries with the main activity she'd been up to for a good couple years now - weapon making. Her room had just the thing to make that happen, including a table, which she was using as an anvil to mold some of the weapons in place, and a pot of lava to cook up the materials she was able to get from the forge before they left on their way.

"Alright, White, what're you up to?" Bismuth thought aloud, as she kept banging the metal in front of her, "No way you would just change sides that fast. What even happened to you to make you look like a star anyway? Stardust? Some Equestria magic? Dang, how'd you even get hold of magic roaming around in space?"

Bismuth basically kept this up throughout much of the process, as it was something extra to keep her mind and body working, and admittedly a bit of her own habit overtime. Long days working in the forge would do that to someone. She became a bit invested in her work, so much so that she didn't even realize someone actually was coming in.

Bismuth immediately stopped what she was doing when she heard that voice, but lucky for her, it wasn't White Diamond coming in to criticize her. But it still was someone that Bismuth had mixed feelings on: Yellow Diamond. Her by herself actually, as her Pearl wasn't present this time.

"Hey, my diamond," said Bismuth, though she used that term a little loosely, and Yellow diamond knew it.

So as Bismuth continued banging some end of a molten metal for another weapon of hers, Yellow Diamond came in and actually laid down nearby, as if she found herself a bed to lay on for the moment. A bit unorthodox, but Yellow Diamond wasn't in royal company, so, it didn't bother her that much.

"Yeah," Yellow said, not having much better to do. She looked to Bismuth as she was working, her eyes following each hit the hammer hand made.

"Most of the time," Bismuth replied during hits, "Gets the muscles working, keeps me from throwing my fists at anyone important. Plus it arms us up pretty good."

"I can see that," Yellow replied, though she wasn't too interested in it. Soon bismuth got done another weapon of her arsenal, which in this case was just a small dagger. A bit crocked in the blade, but, it still gets the job done. But since there wasn't a job to be done, Bismuth just tossed it aside, over to a pile of other small weapons.

"Barely," Yellow replied, "I still can't believe we're actually doing this. since when does White Diamond ever want to just run off on a family getaway? Homeworld's barely holding it together as it is!"

"Literally. Yeah, anymore damage, and you'll be having a cluster of your own," Bismuth agreed, though the joke didn't suit too well to Yellow. Bismuth got that she just wanted SOMEONE to talk to about this, and Bismuth was the only one who shared some feeling about it.

"Maybe if she didn't try to kill me and Blue first for that "Green Diamond" nonsense, I'd be more willing to come along. Not to mention didn't try to blow up the planet."

"How'd she do that anyway? Gamma ray? Knocking an asteroid into it?" Bismuth asked, as she got some more materials (what little she had left).

"We never found out, but really I don't plan to. ... Really, I don't think this plan's even gonna work, unlike the rest of you," Yellow admitted. Sure bismuth didn't want to go, but that didn't convince her that Bismuth was fully down for the idea. Lucky for her, Bismuth was ready to talk that up.

"Hey, I'm still having my doubts too. I may be made of the most powerful stuff there is, and I get where Steven's coming from, but I'm not as dense as you might think," Bismuth said, shoving her hand into the pot of lava she had, which that too was cooling a bit. Still hot enough to burn the next Gem, but not as hot for her liking, as she brought the materials to the anvil.

"You mean besides that giant white pebble ordering me aboard?" Bismuth inquired. Yellow would be insulted if that wasn't her own thoughts about White Diamond, so she just nodded and allowed bismuth to continue. Bismuth sighed.

"Because I promised him that I always got his back. The ONLY time I didn't want to go with him when he offered me to is this vacation right now, but heck, there's a first time for everything is there?"

"Good point. I mean, you lot even got me rooting for you," Yellow Diamond said. Bismuth couldn't help but chuckle as she went back to hammering.

"Yeah, some things catch you off guard," Bismuth stated. Which considering how much went on so far, that was a pretty valid thing to say. Bismuth glanced back to Yellow Diamond.

"Steven needed her and Blue Diamond's Pearl for the friendship lesson today. In fact, I was on my way to check on them, make sure White didn't turn them into puppets like she did with Pink Pearl."

Exposition revealed just enough to make Bismuth stop dead cold, the next swing to hit the molten metal stopping in mid-motion.

"Of course," said Yellow, as if this was common knowledge, "... White Diamond didn't leave her alone for too long, if you know what I mean."

"But she didn't shatter her. She got her, but didn't shatter her," Bismuth said, stopping her work altogether to get this cleared up. Yellow Diamond wasn't the type to really try to soften any blows, so she just went on with it.

"It was a bit of a rough story," explained Yellow Diamond, "Pink Diamond had been nagging me to get her own pearl so much, she actually took one from Melanite's pearl distribution. White Diamond found out of course, and by the look of it, White Pearl there's the end result."

Bismuth wanted to say that was unbelievable, but she'd be wrong if she said she didn't believe that. This was White Diamond, as she kept mentioning, and if she could make hybrid experiments out of her own court, then taking a Pearl with her wasn't much of anything to her. Still, Bismuth felt her fist clench a bit on that, just reminding her what could've happened to any of her friends last couple of times White crossed paths with them.

"I know," Yellow Diamond agreed. "... But, the rules say she had to be given a pearl for it to count, and Pink Diamond wasn't given her."

"Always down to rules," Bismuth groaned, "You ask me, White's just making them up on the spot so she's the good guy all the time."

Bismuth went back to hitting the metal, but when she looked to Yellow Diamond again, she found that Yellow was ... actually surprised by that statement. Not surprised in a way she'd be angry, but more of a perplexed one.

"Too much? I've been thinking that for centuries - you're the first to point it out," Yellow Diamond said, surprised that someone else finally said it. Bismuth chuckled, elbow resting on the anvil.

"Trust me, I'm not. Flint back home beat me to the punch years ago, and he's still thinking it."

"Well, he's not wrong. Every time you'd think she broke her own laws, she's always making it out how she's right and she "technically" didn't do anything bad."

"Seriously! How many rules did that clod break: kidnapping Gems without reason, forced fusion experiments, attempted shattering of a Diamond, and heck, nearly destroying Homeworld? Geesh, someone call the gods on her, because she's got a seat down in Tartarus she's not taking."

"I don't think even Tartarus will take her. They'll force her out after a day," Yellow Diamond said, and the two actually ended up laughing. Just imagining even the beasts of Tartarus not standing her, and kicking her out of Tartarus's front door. Eventually the laughing quieted down a bit, and Yellow Diamond got back up. This talk of White Diamond just reminded her what she was doing anyway.

"Same. So, you want to check on them, or no?" Yellow asked. Bismuth stopped her hammering for a bit, checking the materials she had. It hardly was much.

Off in the control room, which itself was the best spot to do this in, Steven was handling another friendship lesson with White Diamond, who herself was having more of an amused look, but still paying attention with a content smile on her face. He had Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl with him, alongside Peridot and Connie who were extra teachers for the lessons today. Normally the others would be there listening, but they were a bit busy to stop by for now. Although not asked to, White Pearl stood right by the other Pearls as a pearl should do. As for Steven's teaching tools, he had a projector screen good and big for her to read and interact with, Steven writing out "understanding" on it. With the lessons so far, it was time to kick it up a notch.

"Happy to attend. Professor. So what is our lesson gonna be for today?" White Diamond said, finding the title amusing.

"Don't worry, it's for the lesson," said Connie. Steven, professor of friendship, cleared his throat to begin the next step of this friendship process. He even had what looked to be a "Gem pointer" - made up of touch stubs on limb enhancers - to point it out as if he was in an old fashioned classroom.

"Ok, now before we begin, some of my staff had told me that you did something a bit ... drastic, back on Heiligdom."

"You mean rescue Yellow Diamond? It may not be in Sapphire's prediction, but I can say it's a good move on my part."

"The how?" White asked, though it wasn't a legitimate curiosity-filled question.

"They told me you destroyed the K-Bora's tower to do it, and possibly killed the Nanjarie doing that," Steven said, which the Pearl felt a shiver on hearing. But White Diamond didn't feel too phased by her own decision.

"Well, the Nanjarie weren't going to just "hand her over" now would they? Especially after they launched you and the others a good mile away. All I did was act accordingly."

"But White, did you attempt to understand them first?" Steven asked. White Diamond decided to humor him.

"Well, okay, there's your problem. Which leads us to our next lesson - " and he said this as he pointing the pointer to the word - "Understanding. If you understand and know someone better, you both can reach a better conclusion that doesn't involve destroying eachother's lives!"

"You don't say?" White Diamond said with a smile, resting her head on her closed hand as she was watching this like someone would watch a fun TV show.

"I do say. Friendship always starts better on knowing someone and the more you know, the closer you and your friends become. Blue Pearl, Yellow Pearl, can you two come here?" Steven asked, getting his volunteers up to demonstrate.

"You two do a whole lot. Is there something you two like doing?" Steven asked. both pearls were a little confused.

"You know, something you like to do because it makes you feel good. I like reading books, and playing tennis," said Connie.

"And I for example, enjoy tinkering with earth machinery and creating Meep Morps time to time," added Peridot, "So, you got something you like to do?" PYellow Pearl and Blue Pearl glanced to one another, but Yellow Pearl's eyes were more towards White Diamond. The rules were still in effect, so she had to act more accordingly.

"Oh, of course not! My feelings are irrelevant," Yellow Pearl stated, almost proudly. This mainly was just because White diamond was sitting there watching the whole thing, able to pummel her at anytime. As for Blue Pearl though ...

"You like drawing? Sounds neat, can I see some of your stuff?" Steven asked, intrigued. Blue Pearl, while shyer than Yellow Pearl, still knew the main goal and wanted to help a bit more.

"Um, here," she said, as she pulled out what appeared to be a smaller touch screen, seemingly coming out of her hand. The drawing she had was actually not that bad of one, albeit just one of those "connect-the-dot" styled drawings, this one specifically one of the Gem wedding they held for Ruby and Sapphire.

"My Diamond allows me to draw during important events. They're nothing much," Blue Pearl said. Guess the first ever Gem Wedding would be a pretty important event altogether. Yellow Pearl though was a little bit worried.

"You can't share these - they're highly confidential," Yellow Pearl made clear, as she skimmed through the drawings a little bit. That was, until she saw one of herself standing next to her Diamond. Here, she was actually getting a bit interested.

"... Hmm ... not bad. Here, try a different angle," Yellow Pearl said, giving Blue Pearl back her touch screen as Yellow Pearl actually posed, one hand behind her head and the other over her gem. Steven chuckled.

"There, see? You like being a model, and you like being an artist," Steven said. The two pearls enjoyed this moment, even chuckling themselves. White Diamond took mental note of this as Steven turned to her and continued saying, "There White, taking the time to understand someone means you can find a lot of fun things to do together. You might even find someone you have a lot in common with."

"And what if this someone has opinions that clash with yours?" White Diamond asked. Not too complicated.

"Well that's not too bad," replied Steven, "Friends can like different things, but can like other things too."

"And what if this something you refuse to accept with them?" White diamond then asked, pretending to be curious about it. Steven felt a little humbled.

"Huh? Well ... oh, we have a saying for that: "Let's agree, to disagree.". And then you go about your day," Steven said. White went on for another question.

"Um ... can you be ... more specific?" Steven asked, a little confused. White was happy to comply.

"Say you're in a situation when any decision in agreement to the opposing party ends in something that will be devastating in the long run. Does that make disagreeing the wrong choice?" White asked. Steven was left in a knot, the others a little concerned about these questions. Luckily Peridot already got some words for her.

"Hey wait a minute! White we talked about this - no brain-washing during class sessions!" Peridot snapped, realizing what she was doing. White looked appalled.

"Brain-washing? Oh no, I was just being curious. Is there anything wrong with curiosity over possible friendship scenarios?" White asked, the "old" White seeping out of her voice.

"... Well no. not when you put it like that," Steven sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Kinda jumping the gun there. Good timing to stop the awkward silence, as the doors leading to the ship's control room opened up and showed Bismuth and Yellow Diamond coming in.

"Oh hey Bismuth, Yellow," said Steven, waving to them, "We're just about to wrap up."

"Good to know, thanks," said Yellow Diamond, as she went to her seat. Yellow Pearl was very pleased to see Yellow Diamond come in, almost immediately going over to her, standing up to her side.

"It's wonderful to see you my diamond, a-are you feeling well? Can I get you anything?"

"Easy, Pearl, I'm fine. And how did the friendship lesson go?" Yellow Diamond asked Steven, as he was getting his stuff together again.

"It went alright, we just had a lesson about mutual understand," Steven said, closing up the main screen and getting some of his things together.

"Fantastic," Yellow sighed. She did have to wonder though just how much was actually going into White Diamond, and how much was going through her. Bismuth had similar thought, but other thoughts included Pink Pearl, which if Yellow Diamond was right was basically standing right there. But with White Diamond standing right next to her, even she couldn't bring herself to just call her out on it just yet. At least, not until she was sure that was true. Any Pearl can change and look like their masters. Didn't mean she still didn't show discontent when seeing her however.

"Oh, they're just doing their own thing," Connie said, "I think Pearl is tinkering for a bit, and Sapphire has been observing the stars for the last two days, and ... did I forget anything?"

"Oh yeah! And Blue Diamond's been making some reports back to Homeworld. You know, keeping track of things."

"Well she has the right idea," Yellow Diamond commented. Can't say it was shared to the others though, but heck, at least that was something checking on Homeworld one way or another. Then White Diamond realized something.

"The next planet? Well ..." Steven brought up another piece of paper with the planets on it. He crossed off Heiligdom already, as he didn't really plan on making multiple trips to the same planet. It was the first stop, and there was more to get to. But then, looking over to one of his friends, he got an idea.

"Hmm … well, if you insist, I'll pick out the next planet of choice," Peridot decided. They were gonna go to all of the planets anyhow, so he might as well give some control to one of the others. Eventually, Peridot decided to give it a lookover, and soon, she did find one planet that caught her eye, and picked it out. Blue Pearl looked over.

"A nice choice, my little Starlight, and not too far either. Farid it is," White Diamond concluded, imprinting the controls into the ship.

They were on their way to Farid now, hopefully it would be better than the last planet.

Time ticked on by for the ship to make it's way through the depths of space, but in what felt like a few more hours of good ol' hyper speed, they did start to take sight of a planet within their midst. One they planned on going on into anyway. A number of star systems passed them by in blurs, with only the planet Farid becoming larger as they began to close in.
Pretty soon, the Pink Diamond ship landed down, and much of the group went right on outside to see where they ended up. Though, Farid had a bit of a different kind of world when compared to Heiligdom. Unlike that planet, which was all lush and green, this planet was a bit more barren, and with some more signs of Gem activity than the previous one had. Sure there were some plants abounding much of the place, but many of these were a bit smaller, and mostly resembling Earth weeds if anything.

"So, this is Farid?" Steven wondered, looking around a little bit as the landscape. The "weeds" around them were far bigger than the weeds back home: a dandelion for example here, was the size of an Earth shrub.

"So why don't you run off and play with your followers, Starlight? White Diamond will handle the ship here until you get back," White Diamond promised.

"I will stay with her," Yellow Diamond immediately stated. Yellow Diamond didn't enjoy the fact of staying with White, but the idea of being stranded was NOT going to fly well with her, no matter what the case was.

"Sure you don't wanna come and explore with us, White?" Pink Diamond asked. But then, it was White Pearl that spoke up.

"My Diamond has more important matters to attend to. Therefore, I will observe in her place," White Pearl decided, floating right over to them. Pearl took one sidestep after White Pearl stopped by her side.

"Have a fun time, my little sweetheart," White said, her voice in a chiming tone as she moved on back to the Diamond Ship. Yellow Diamond could already feel that this was gonna be a bit of a tough time, but she might as well take the burden herself.

"We'll be fine, Yellow Diamond, don't you worry. Yellow Pearl, you want to -" Lapis was cut short when she saw Yellow Pearl gripping Yellow Diamond's leg, her prized possession in her grasp and she wasn't gonna leave her anytime soon. "... Eh, nevermind."

"We'll be back by tonight, Yellow, I promise. Though, you sure you don't want me to watch her instead?" Blue Diamond offered.

So, with that decided, Yellow Diamond and Yellow Pearl stayed behind with White Diamond as everyone else went off to explore Farid. To really sum up the planet in a basic sentence, it was like they shrunk down. Most of the native plants resembled either flowers, weeds, or even grass that had scaled up to gigantic sizes. It was a bit of a surreal idea, especially to Blue Diamond who felt about the size of a rabbit in sight of these plants. She had seen these plants before on Earth and in Equestria, but she could barely hold the plants in her grip. Now when she saw a flower, it was as tall as she was.

"How do you think we feel?" Pink Diamond added in, feeling like an insect in comparison. As they continued going along, Steven took a glance back and saw that Connie was feeling … well, a bit hyper actually. Her breathing on this planet was a bit quickened than usual, panting as if she had just ran a marathon.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. The air's just a bit funny, I think," Connie said. Steven was born a half-Gem, so his lungs weren't the same, but given as Connie had "grown into" being a Gem, her lungs were still the same, and as such weren't used to this air.

"I'll handle this," Sapphire said. She brought her hands around Connie's head, and soon, she actually managed to get a bubble around Connie's head, and nothing further. Connie took a deep breath of normal air, finally able to calm herself down.

"Nice, instant space helmet! I gotta remember that," Steven said, as Connie felt some steady support on Lapis Lazuli.

"The air must be higher on oxygen than back on Earth, so your body was trying to adapt to it faster than you could handle, and provide the same amount of oxygen intake," Peridot concluded.

"You're not used to breathing here," summarized Sapphire, "You should keep that on you until we return to the ship, if that's okay with you Connie."

"No, this is just fine," Connie replied, "Makes me feel like we're on a real space adventure now."

"I don't think you even need one, Pink," said Bismuth, though she couldn't help but smile at Pink Diamond's enthusiasm. It was like Steven in a sense.

Well it was only a matter of time until they would come across something local in Farid. While they had some idea of lifeforms back in Heiligdom, what kind of life would they expect to find here in Farid? At least Heiligdom had more similar landscaping than Farid did, not to mention a similar atmosphere.

"Stay close," Blue Diamond quietly said, bringing her protecting arm out above the others, though some of them did still arm up. The K-Bora from Heiligdom did short work of Yellow Diamond, so they weren't taking chances with this creature, whatever it was.

"I'm trying to think, but I don't see it -" Peridot was cut short with another sound of rustling within the foliage. Peridot's sharp vision peered into the stems of the plants, seeing JUST enough to catch something amongst the shadows. The creature itself looked very small, same size as Peridot herself actually, maybe even smaller though that could be from it slouching or on all fours. The others weren't sure what it was, all either keeping behind or ready to attack, but Peridot felt … well, she wasn't sure, but it wasn't fear of the thing. Something bizarrely familiar was about this figure, though she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Better safe than sorry, Connie. Now, on three, we go in," Bismuth said. She didn't even need to say anything though, them all hearing some sort of noise from it. A sort of worried squeak.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't rush in!" Peridot quickly said, jumping and hanging onto Bismuth's arm to make her slow her role.

"Why not? That thing could attack us, or inject us or something!" retorted Pink Diamond.

"J-Just SHUSH! Give me a second," Peridot said. As much as it would be easier to just go in and finish off whatever was there, Peridot was the expert planet explorer of the group so if anyone would know about Farid's inhabitants it would be her. Peridot began to move in closer towards the odd little creature, taking steady steps as to not make it jump at her right then and there. Still, everyone was armed and at the ready to go in just in case. The only one that wasn't ready to just attack anything there (aside from Steven nd Peridot of course) was Sapphire, who with her future vision found a particularly interesting outcome. In fact, she raised her hand and lowered Pearl's spear as a silent indication.

"Lower your weapons," Sapphire instructed. A bit of an odd instruction, but they did do so eventually. Peridot was just one step away now, the shadows separating her from this creature. But shadows could only hide so much, and eventually, this same creature began to look Peridot right in the eyes, looking scared. Revelation showed itself when the foliage was blown ever so slightly, allowing the sun to show what was hiding.

"A … Peridot?" Bismuth wondered, the group no longer as much on guard as before.

"... Hi," said Peridot, kindly, her hand reaching out to greet her. The small Peridot though was feeling a little bit nervous about this scenario, and upon seeing the gigantic Blue Diamond standing there, the Peridot turned around and made a bolt for it. She didn't run on two legs, but instead bounded off like a bunny rabbit, on all four legs.

"No, no wait!" Peridot called, but the other Peridot didn't stop. And then something told her to follow, and next thing she knew, Peridot was running after her.

"Peridot!" shouted Pearl. But Peridot too didn't stop and was giving chase to her fellow Gem. Steven too took a few steps forward before turning to the rest.

A rather quick turn of events, but soon the whole group was trailing behind Peridot, as their Peridot was trying to keep up with this other Peridot, seeing her scurry through the alien landscape. Peridot tried to keep up with this gem as best she could do, but it wasn't really that easy. The other Peridot glanced back to see Peridot rushing to keep up, yet she only ran even faster. To the other Peridot, the others were just behind them and she wasn't willing to see any of them. The other Peridot rushed through some of the foliage again, bounding as if she just dove into something, but when Peridot got her way through … well, nothing. She was gone.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" Peridot wondered, trying to find her. There was a bit of a small open spot in this odd jungle, but no sign of the other Peridot anywhere. She took a few steps out to try and find out where she went off to. Upon closer examination though, she found that there was something different about the ground. Peridot got closer to it and examined it closely.

"Hmm … this ground's been shifted. What if I? …" Peridot tested her theory, but …

"Peridot!" shouted Sapphire. But it was too late: just one step on the spot in the ground, and Peridot suddenly made the ground under her feet open up. Not exactly in a matter of a cave in, but more like a triggered platform, the hole quickly sliding open and Peridot making a quick yelp before screaming as she fell in! only Sapphire could go in fast enough, but Steven dove forward to try and get her, and the hole closed up just before he could get in, him tumbling like a tumbleweed thanks to yet ANOTHER unpresented diamond ability being triggered. At least this time he didn't have to be grabbed out of the air, since he stumbled into a stalk of a plant to stop himself.

"I don't know! But where'd they even go?" Pearl asked. They barely saw the hole they went into, and Lapis Lazuli got the hole exposed, getting the dirt off of it. What it revealed was actually a sealed up underground entrance. Very small too, a decent size for Peridot to just fall in but not too much bigger.

"What kind of trap is this? Peridot, Sapphire, you in there?!" called Connie, knocking on the metal opening. But they didn't really get any response. Connie and Steven tried to open it up, but it was sealed tight.

"Ok, move over you two, I got this," Bismuth said, her hand already turning into what looked like a flattened end of a crowbar. Steven and Connie moved aside, and Bismuth jabbed her crowbar hand right into the side of the circular opening. With just one swing of the arm, the opening popped off like a sewer cover, flinging off into the jungle. Looking into the passageway, it looked like it went on forever, darkening far too much to see passed twenty feet.

"HEY Sapphy! P-Dot! You two okay down there?! … GUYS!" Bismuth bellowed, and waited for a response from either one of them. However, there was no luck. Wherever they were going, they were going there very quickly at this rate. Still, no doubt on it, they had to get them out of there somehow. But finally ...

"You tumbling my rocks, LOOK AT ME! I can't fit in there even if I wanted to," Bismuth said, as painful as it was to admit she couldn't do it. such a big muscled frame was impossible to fit inside that small hole. Steven though was already on it.

"I'm coming, guys!" Steven said. He made a jump, his arms clapping together above his head and ready to make a ten out of ten dive right into the hole … just to be stuck in the air again when he looked down.

"Can someone give me a boost?" Steven said, blushing a little bit. Pink Diamond actually got the boost this time, jumping up and using her weight to push Steven downward to the hole.

"... Oh bother," Steven groaned. He wasn't that much bigger than Peridot in height, but width was a different matter, and he found himself kinda stuck half way in, his legs kicking frantically to try and get himself in. Lucky Connie and Lapis got Steven out after a few pulls, him popping out and all three falling back. Well Steven wasn't going in there, the boy a bit dirty from the attempt.

"But what can we do? We can't save them standing out here! Besides, I'm not THAT much bigger than Peridot," Steven said.

"Well you probably can fit in there, but it looks more of a matter of width, not height," Pearl figured, examining the hole a little bit further.

The others then turned towards Lapis Lazuli, who at this point was readying herself. From what she could make out, no one else could actually fit in there better than she could. Connie could probably, but at the risk of losing her vital air supply, and the Pearls were thin enough, but their heads were a bit too big so they won't work.

"I'll make sure they're safe and get them back here before you know it. Don't know about you, but I'm not leaving without them," Lapis promised.

"Pink, please," Blue cut in. Lapis's weren't made for such work, but Lapis wasn't any normal cut. Lapis Lazuli took a breath, and her body suddenly started to glow a bright light. Her dress was suddenly swapped for a more tomboyish look to her: baggy blue pants toed to her waist and feet, with a white tank top. Her scarf she tied took off and tossed it over to them, Steven catching it.

"Nothing I hadn't handled before," Lapis stated, with a wink. Such a cool line she said just now, they were left without words, as Lapis turned towards her opening. Lapis glanced back once more, giving a thumbs up to them and a smirk. Lapis would not lie to any of them, and with her two friends already down there, she didn't hesitate any further. She took a few running steps forward, and with a good leap, made a dive right to the opening. And she was JUST slim enough to slip right into it. Just.

And finally, after falling and sliding so far down the tunnel, Peridot finally reached the end of it, launching out like someone would do in a water slide. Peridot hit the end of her slide, tumbling head over heels a good five feet until finally slamming head first into the dirt. At last the ride was over, though she wished there could've been an easier way to deal with that. The green Gem barely got herself shaken off when Sapphire came out of that same tunnel, her landing a bit more graceful, yet accidentally knocking into Peridot coming in.

"Sorry," Sapphire said. Peridot and Sapphire both cleaned themselves off and got up to see where they landed. The smaller opening opened up to a larger cave-like area, a bit taller this time, and leading off further ahead. Where exactly they weren't too sure.

"They couldn't fit through the tunnel. But I think what's more important is where you've landed," Sapphire replied, taking a glance back to the tunnel. Peridot adjusted her visors and took some time to see what had happened.

"Difficult to say, given there's little to no landmarks to signify our location nor any trail to follow," Peridot concluded, hardly even seeing any trail left by her previous Peridot. Did she go down the wrong tunnel? Sapphire went over to Peridot's side.

"Like a connection with her. You sure looked willing to follow her, even after seeing her just one time," Sapphire explained. Peridot cleared her throat, but did have a slight blue fluster on her face.

"W-Well … there's something familiar about her, you know? I mean, she's like uh … well, I dunno, something just clicked," Peridot admitted. Sapphire took a small moment before she took Peridot's hand.

And just moments after that, they both began hearing some grunts coming from the tunnel passage way. Unlike Sapphire and Peridot, Lapis had to resort to actually dragging herself through the tunnel, since her body was after all still longer than Peridot, therefore making sliding through the tunnel a bit difficult by itself. They both saw two hands grip the exit tunnel, and then Lapis's head coming out, straining slightly before she finally pulled herself out.

"Ok. That's tighter than it looks," Lapis finally said, covered in dust and dirt from moving through the tunnel. Well, at least she was through. When she saw Sapphire and Peridot she gave a sigh of relief.

"No, we're fine Lapis thank you," Sapphire replied, as Peridot looked down the bigger passageway.

"Good. Come on, let's get back before something else comes up. Come on Peridot, let's go," Lapis said. However, Peridot didn't really follow at first.

"Peridot?" Lapis asked. But again there wasn't a response exactly. She didn't see the other peridot go anywhere else, and if this was the only way to explore, then Peridot had only one way to go. Besides that, with them all quiet, they were starting to hear something further down the pathway. A very faint sound of metal, and other voices. Most eerily sounding like Peridot's voice to some extent.
Peridot began to walk down the tunnel, her curiosity taking over at this point, wanting to see what the noise was all about. Sapphire and Lapis looked to one another, and eventually they both started following her down the tunnel. The larger tunnel they were in didn't stretch as far as the smaller sliding tunnel, and the further they went, the more prominent the sounds started to come out.

And then she peeked around the corner, finding the exit to their larger tunnel. Sapphire and Lapis caught up to her, seeing the green Gem just staring off, starry-eyed and all. What Sapphire and Lapis saw in there around the next bend was probably the last thing they would've expected: a work quarry. At least it so seemed to be. The area resembled that of a widely space kindergarten from other Gem colonies, but unlike most of which they've seen before, this one was very active but not in the same way as your typical Kindergarten. The land was not as "dead" as a typical kindergarten, though holes were evident amongst the rocky walls where Gems did come out. But it wasn't just finding a kindergarten that surprised Peridot the most, but more of what was actually there.

"Holy smokes," Peridot squeaked, in complete disbelief. Were they the first peridots she had seen? No of course not, but so many in one place was simply overwhelming for her to see. Sapphire and Lapis had a similar reaction of surprise, albeit less over-the-top.

"It's like an entire village of Peridots. I don't think I've seen so many in one place before," Lapis figured, watching so many going around doing who knows what. While they were doing plenty of things, the main goal of collection seemed to be their main objective.

"They appear to be Era 2 as well. I don't think Farid was known for making Peridots though," noted Sapphire, seeing how many, if not all of them, were stout like Peridot was. The three Gems were just standing there at first, but Peridot felt something nagging at the back of her mind. Lapis wasn't sure what Peridot's deal was, but Sapphire actually went ahead and whispered something to her, opening her eyes to what was REALLY going on. Or at least, what possibly was.

"Hey, Peri? Why don't we go and say hello?" Lapis decided, snapping Peridot out of her trance.

"Eh, if you'd like we can go down there," Peridot said, trying to sound more professional instead of just flat out begging her to do so. But they knew better.

"Alright professional," Lapis teased, putting in a few giggles as they started going on over. The tunnel did end in a sort of drop, so Lapis helped Peridot down with a few flaps of her water wings, as Sapphire simply floated on down herself. It was pretty hard to say where to begin, as the three started to wander in a little bit. The other Peridots around the area seemed a bit busy to really notice them coming into their workzone, and those that did just looked on with curiosity.

"Where do I even start?" Peridot wondered, seeing so many Peridots going about all over the place.

"Well take your pick, there's a lot to choose from," Lapis said, watching a group of Peridots working with another piece of work. When it came to the work around here, most of the peridots were dismantling old machines and taking parts along their way. The group Lapis saw had one Peridot tossing down rings to a waiting Peridot below, each ring going around her like a game of ring toss. Then a whole bunch fell all at once, almost looking like the Peridot got crushed, just for her to scurry about a little bit. Cartoony, yes, but at least she was alright.

"This is a nice surprise, isn't it Peridot? Finding a whole colony of your own Gem type here in Farid," Sapphire said, knowingly. Peridot sighed.

"How come?" Lapis asked, also sounding somewhat knowingly as they continued along.

AND just like that, came the first shocker of the day. Peridot unwittingly found herself right in the middle of another Peridot's targeting zone, a huge piece being pushed off a nearby cliffside down towards them! Peridot yelped, but luckily Sapphire rushed in and pushed her aside before the item of metal scrap could just crush them.
Guess fate made Peridot pick one. The same Peridot that shouted down at her was now sliding down the same cliffside, landing right by them. This Peridot had a striking resemblance to their Peridot, but of course without the Cutie Mark. She looked a bit scruffy too, with dirt stains on her clothes (which here resembled a miner to a tee, but green). Now if they didn't get the attention before, they sure got it now as numerous Peridots stopped briefly to look their way.

"What do you think you're doing?! One more second and you could've been crushed!" the Peridot snapped, her focus strictly on Peridot in question.

"Hey, hey, sorry, I didn't know that!" Peridot said, getting up. However, the hot-headed Peridot now in their midst was a bit fuming.

"How could you NOT know?! We set up numerous perimeters all over the drop zone, you'd have to have no vison spheres not to see them. Look!" the Peridot said, hand pointing to one of the "warning signs" set up.

"... What sign?" Lapis asked. The Peridot glanced over the same direction, finding the sign not set up. Not only that, but a Peridot actually walking away with it. In fact, it was the same Peridot from earlier. The foreman Peridot - they assumed to be the foreman anyway - immediately got her attention.

"NEWBIE, PUT THAT BACK!" the Peridot demanded. The other Peridot jumped in hearing that demanded, and quickly did so.

"S-Sorry, this was just left here, I thought that it's another part of the scrap heap!" the Peridot said. She grew nervous seeing the same Peridot again, but the foreman Peridot wasn't having any of it and went back to schedule.

"Look, we're running behind a bit. How's this: there's a group about to go off to the mud yards in five minutes, you and her go and help them out," the foreman instructed.

"You heard me! Everybody's working right now trying to salvage this valley, everyone's gotta put in the effort, so come on hop to it. We got two more hours before we're done for the day," the foreman Peridot instructed. Peridot glanced to Sapphire and Lapis, the two kinda lost on where this was going. The newbie Peridot kinda hid behind the foreman, still a bit testy when it came to the only blue gems in the area.

"Yeah yeah yeah," the foreman cut in, cutting Peridot short, "now if we can get at least ten of those pipes, we can easily make that bridge we've been working on. Make sure they're sturdy too, we don't want any lanky-looking rust ok?"

"She'll figure out in a minute," Sapphire replied. Peridot cleared her throat and confronted the foreman, the smaller Peridot scurrying back a little bit like a worried puppy.

"OK, let's try this again: I - still with me - DON'T work here. I literally just arrived two minutes ago from that tunnel over there," Peridot explained, pointing back to the same entrance they came from. The foreman looked to Peridot like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears.

"We just need one more Peridot for the group, but if you're not interested in working there, I think there's an opening over with patrol," the foreman figured. Still not aware yet? HOW?

"HEY, watch it! You already almost died from wandering into the drop zone, now you don't even know me?!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" Peridot snapped. Tensions were running high, the Foreman and Peridot now face to face with eachother, snarling like dogs at one another. Lapis was gonna go in to help, but Sapphire move her hand out to keep her from just bolting into the fray.

As someone was already on it. Both the foreman and Peridot were knocked back, making the other Peridots cringe and hide a little bit. Both Peridots looked up again, only to find another figure standing there. She was the same size as the other Peridots, but her outfit looked less like an alien explorer, or any advanced race for that matter, and more like that of a scarecrow. Her overalls, worn out boots, and buttoned shirt easily match a more rugged and "rural" lifestyle, even included a tattered, torn up "vampire" cape to add that extra bit of spook to her. But what made her stand out the most was that her face was covered up by what could only be described as a Jack-O-Lantern mask. Peridot was shaking in her boots seeing this sudden newcomer pop up out of nowhere, the new figure giving her a side glance before confronting the foreman.

"Don't blame me, chief! That CLOD won't agree to work, AND she nearly shattered herself walking into the drop zone!" the foreman said, pointing at her. Lucky for Peridot though, this figure was a bit smarter than the foreman was. Or at the least, wasn't as straight-minded.

"To what work? It's clear she isn't apart of our group, can't you see that?" the figure questioned.

"WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" the foreman demanded. The figure grabbed the foreman by the head, and brought her gaze to not Peridot, but Sapphire and Lapis.

"Wait. NOW you notice us?" Lapis had to ask, just as the other figure dropped the foreman onto the ground … and clocked her head for her mistake.

"Try not to be too angry with her, she can be VERY focused on her work to focus on anything else. Like obvious things," the figure explained.

"OK everyone, the performance is over, you can go on your way. I'll handle this," the chief instructed. The other Peridots took a bit, but they eventually went off back to work though some still did stuck wound to see what would happen next. The newbie stuck around thanks to the chief physically holding her, wanting to talk to her.

"These the Gems you told me about, newbie?" the chief asked. The newbie still kept behind the chief for some protection. The newbie just nodded. It wasn't until they were this close that they noticed that the newbie Gem also had a gap in her teeth, whereas through her mask, the chief had sharpened teeth. One tooth actually stuck out of her mouth as she closed her lips.

"Sorry for causing you some trouble. We found one of your Peridots and followed her here. I hope we're not intruding," Sapphire explained.

"I think it's more intriguing about your position. More importantly, what're you doing sneaking around?"

"Sneak - who's sneaking? I just want to see you guys for a bit, is that too much to ask?" Peridot insisted. The chief went closer to her, the gemstone she had giving the mask a sort of greenish glow to it as she looked Peridot dead in the eyes. The glowing eventually stopped a bit.

"Because … you felt familiar to me?" Peridot said, no longer as confident in her own reason than to before. The chief looked to the Cutie Mark on her cheek, which itself was a unique feature for any Gem to have, let alone a Peridot. The chief got one idea, but it was a long shot.

"Oh! U-Uh Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG," Peridot said, matter-of-factly. Not often did she have to give her full name. This revelation though got the other Peridot's attention, and intrigue.

"Here it comes," Sapphire thought, smiling. the Newbie Peridot began to give a big smile to her, eyes sparkling on this news.

"I-I'm from Facert-2F5L too!" she beamed, "I'm 5ZI! But everyone calls me "Newbie"."

"And I am 2F5L Cut-5XF. I'm referred to as Chief," said the chief Peridot. Peridot froze.

"That's right!" added another Peridot. The CG Peridot just stood there for a moment to comprehend what she had just heard, wide-eyed and slowly realizing why her behavior was bringing her here. ALL Peridots in this group were apart of her cut. All Era-2, Cut-5 Peridots here, and now that included her.

"My family …" she finally whimpered out. Chief Peridot smirked from under her mask.

She didn't know how, but Peridot found her Famidot family. The chief then went right up to Peridot.

Being better acquainted now, and with a better understanding of the Peridots in the area, Peridot, Sapphire, and Lapis were brought back with Chief to a safer distance away from the work place later that day. They didn't want any repeated accidents as they were getting things done. It turned out, while their valley of work was a fairly big one, they didn't live that far away from the site. The settlements were underground, within a cavern with a waterfall flowing through it to a deep pool bellow. Many of the houses were made into the walls with plenty of metal stairs, and elevators, and each house of the Peridots here were mostly made up of the materials they've gathered from their work station, with the chief's house made up mostly of pre-gathered wood pieces, metal, some chain-link, and other stuff gathered from outside. The interior of Chief's house was spacious enough to hold Peridot, Lapis, and Sapphire along with several other Peridots though only the chief was in there with the unexpected guests. Like curious children, at least five other Peridots were trying to look in from the windows just off outside, curious over the blue Gems inside as they were catching up to speed.

"Any of you want a drink? Plenty of metals in it, so it's good for you," Chief offered, presenting what they could only describe as liquid metal in a cup. Lapis and Sapphire didn't see them as anything appetizing though, nor something they could stomach.

"Eh … no thanks, I'm all good," said Sapphire, though she didn't want to be rude about it. Chief got the idea though, and Peridot herself took the drink pretty nicely. Lapis was a bit braver than Sapphire, and still took the same drink as well.

"I know Gems don't really have to consume anything to survive, but I found this concoction to be pretty satisfying," said Chief, going on to drink up the concoction. Peridot peeked into the drink, seeing her reflection in the metallic liquid surface. Well, if Chief could take it, so could she right? She and Lapis looked to one another.

And then they both took a drink of it. Sapphire felt a shiver run through her when she saw them take a drink of it. Lapis did swallow hers but she felt a little bit sick from the taste. Amethyst probably would like it, but she would eat anything given to her so that wasn't a good comparison. Peridot however was actually legitimately surprised.

"Huh. It's actually more tasteful than I thought. I should show Amethyst this," Peridot said, taking a few more sips of the metal drink. Lapis didn't want to say anything, but placed her cup down in front of her. Peridot ended up with a "metal mustache" on her face when she finished drinking, her licking it off. It could be a Gem type thing, but Lapis didn't consider it the best thing she ever tasted.

"So you're all from the same cut from the same facet" noted Sapphire. Chief nodded.

"Basically. I was the second to come out of that division at the time, but we found someone already came out before any of us did. But we never found out where she was … well, until now that is," Chief explained.

"Me?" Peridot said, thinking a little bit, "Huh. I was told I did come out early."

"But where were the rest of you? I don't think Peridot ever mentioned any of you once," Lapis asked. She would know if there was at least one other from her cut if Peridot mentioned it, but it came up empty. The chief sighed.

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase: aside from your Peridot, we were all sentenced to be harvested."

"Never found out, though some of our cut say it was because we were all "new", and not as useful as Era 1 Peridots. So, we left before we gave them the chance to do that, and we ended up finding this place. We've been living here ever since," Chief concluded, pouring another metal drink for herself. Well it may be brief, but it was just enough to understand where this lot was coming from. Peridot specifically found this a revelation of sorts.

"Eh, no surprise there. You're lucky they found something useful for you … they did put you up for something outside of harvesting, did they?" Chief asked.

"Actually, I've been placed as a space explorer for Homeworld: with three hundred and two planets explored to date," Peridot answered, including both Equestria and that extra world where Hoppy and Hopper came from. Chief was actually intrigued by that.

"Well, they did give me Limb Enhancers first, but as you can see I don't need em anymore," Peridot replied. Such a long time since she had those Limb Enhancers of hers, and the idea that she was useless without them now was a joke to her.

"I'll answer it," Lapis offered, clearing her throat, "57 lava planets, 45 ice giants, 43 Ocean planets, 10 Iron planets, 67 terrestrial planets, 39 dwarf planets, 32 habitable planets, and at least one alternate dimension."

"Sort of," Sapphire shrugged. she never could figure it out whether it was a different world or just a different "earth".

"... Boy. You really are lucky," Chief admitted. Peridot began to feel a bit good, the other Peridots outside shocked as well on the idea.

"Well anyway, so you all were living here because Homeworld didn't find any use for you," Sapphire inquired, "Have any of you considered coming back? Homeworld has changed so much since you left."

"I'd rather not risk it. Besides, the ship we used to get here is destroyed, so, we don't have a way to leave this planet. Some of us don't even know there're other worlds outside of this one anyway," Chief explained, the last part a bit hushed in tone. Sapphire felt that was a bit unfair, but she couldn't really blame them for it either. The new Homeworld was a rather recent event after all, in Gem years at least.

"Basic stuff: many different vessels come and go from other alien ships, so there's plenty of new items to salvage time and again. Tinkering, building, go on explorations for new areas, patrolling, things like that."

"Hmm … not sure what a "garbage site" is, but if that means places to drop off unneeded materials, then you got it," Chief explained, as Lapis accidentally sipped her drink again, slightly distracted by Chief's talk. She cringed up again, looking into her drink.

"it's Metallixer: it's a mixture of oils with liquified metallic materials in it. I always like it with extra silver in mine," Chief replied. Lapis wished she didn't ask that. Metals weren't Gems, sure, but one of her friends was part Flint, and Bismuth too (both more of a metal than a gem), so she just passed on the drink altogether. Sapphire was lucky to not test it herself, but at least Peridot was enjoying it.

"Anyway, I do want to inquire you about something: those other Gems you were with. Newbie told me there was two Diamonds with you. that true?" Chief asked. Lapis, Peridot, and Sapphire found themselves in a bit of a pickle: they would tell her right away, but with what Chief just explained about what was gonna happen to their cut altogether, maybe telling them about a diamond that might've made that decision was not the best idea ever. No ill will on her own family. Sapphire decided to answer for this one.

"Well … there is, but they don't know about this place. But maybe they won't be as upset when seeing you now, and they've been more open to the rule system lately, so even if -"

"Look into my vision spheres," Chief instructed. Peridot and Lapis stood off aside, as Lapis found herself staring right into Chief's face, the glow emitting from her mask, as Sapphire's hair was moved so the chief could see Sapphire's eye. This moment of staring lasted only about ten seconds straight though, until ...

"...…. How loose had they've been lately?" Chief asked, tone shifting right back to casual as she sat down.

"Loose enough to allow the Crystal Gems back on Homeworld, and letting some Off-Colors live," said Sapphire.

"Oh right, you don't know what that is," Lapis said, "Ok. They Crystal Gems are a different group of Gems that don't follow the strict caste system of the Diamond Authority. But NOW they're pretty good friends with the diamonds."

"Thank the stars. Just as long as they don't cause any trouble for the Peridots here, then it'll be just fine," the chief decided. Well, good to know they weren't gonna go in a turf war with any of them.

As Peridot and Sapphire were getting to know the other Peridots, the rest of the team was still waiting over back by the same entrance way for Lapis Lazuli to come back around. Time went on a bit longer than they expected, and some of them were even asleep by the hole, as others were still anticipating the oncoming return. It took them a lot of patience to not just rush off to look for the three, but eventually some of them did start to pick up some activity again within the same hole.

"C'mon. C'mon," groaned a voice. It was just loud enough for the others to hear, and soon, Lapis finally pulled herself out of the hole enough so the top of her was visible, her legs still in the hole. She'd fly back if she knew the exact way to go.

"Lapis! Thanks goodness you're alright," Blue Diamond sighed, as Lapis took a moment to shake off some dirt from her hair.

"Ok, there's a lot to explain so I'm gonna make this quick," Lapis decided, since there was a lot to say. Lapis took a deep breath and went on explaining.

"Peridot, Sapphire, and I apparently found this colony of Peridots that just so happen to come from the same Division Peridot came from, and Peridot wants to stay with them for a while and get to know them better."

"That peridot OUR Peridot was going after is apart of an ENTIRE colony of Peridots, all of them from 2F5L, all fives. I'm not kidding you, there's TONS of them there," Lapis explained.

"Lapis, I understand caring deeply about your family more than anyone, but we got a Diamond back at the ship that's expecting our Peridot to be love-free. If she finds out about this, we're ALL gonna be on her anvil," Bismuth warned. Not that she was scared about it too much, but it was more for the family protection more than much else. White will happily wipe them all out if it meant continuing the trip.

"Well, as good as this could be to teach White about understanding, I think it's too soon. I don't want another K-Bora outcome with Peridot's family," Steven confirmed. Fair enough. As Bismuth and Lapis told him, ONE lesson was not gonna fully sink in, and if these were Peridots from the same cut as their Peridot, he didn't want to break his friend's heart over it.

"So where is this Peridot Colony Lapis?" Blue Diamond asked. Lapis was a little concerned about this part.

"Just down there if the tunnel's anything to go by, but the Peridots are … kinda testy about the Diamonds. Their leader said as long as you don't cause any trouble, then they're fine with you," Lapis said. Blue Diamond paused, but after some thought, she already figured out why that would be. If these Peridots were indeed the same cut as the CG Peridot.

"I understand. Is it alright if I at least tell Yellow though? I'd imagine she would be a bit troubled by now."

"Oh sure, that's fine," Lapis replied. "I think I'm gonna head back to them. They kinda want to stay the night too."

Blue Diamond was just glad her Sapphire was alright in there, along with her Lapis Lazuli. Blue Diamond and Blue Pearl started to go back on their way to the ship, as Lapis just began to move her way down the tunnel once again. Or at least, she would've, before Steven went over to her.

Next morning couldn't had come quicker enough for the group. Soon as they were free to go off and "play" according to White Diamond, those that could went straight off towards the Peridot settlement. A pretty decent time to go in there too, since by the time they managed to find the place many of the Peridots were off and working again to salvage some of the metal. A good time for them to go and check out the settlements with Chief showing them around, but they still had to go through the work yard first. The ONLY diamond-close exception that would come was Blue Pearl, only at request by Blue Diamond so she didn't have to deal with White.

"So, Chief is it? How many Peridots are actually here? A hundred? Two hundred?" Steven asked.

"675 last we've made head count, so everyone's here," replied Chief, fairly quickly too as if it barely took her much effort.

"Well, NOW we do," Chief replied, referring to Peridot specifically. That final piece in their group was now complete with Peridot.

"And you're the first to come out, Peridot. Geesh, that mean you have 675 little sisters," Connie pointed out. What a concept that is, but to a Gem it wasn't that big of a deal … to Peridot, it's a very big deal.

"Yeah, I know," Peridot said happily, "I've spent all night getting to know each of them. And get this: they all have their own special names for eachother!"

"What she meant is that we all have a specialized, personal name. Mine is Chief, for example."

"Sure we do: My name's Steven, and this is Connie, yet we're both Humans all the same."

While Chief had to draw the line at "same", she still saw the point. She nodded.

"You know, there is this one Peridot in my division that would love to talk with ya. She like learning more about this sort of thing," Chief said.

"Oh, which one? Bookworm? What about Stargazer?" Peridot asked, wanting to show them the Peridots she had met over her night stay.

"Both of them are good, but no. Actually, I don't think you and her got acquainted yet," Chief realized, now thinking about it. Peridot met a lot of her own cut, sure, but she couldn't meet them ALL in one night, no way.

"Showoff," Chief grumbled. Sapphire just smiled. The explosion, which wasn't exactly too dangerous as it sounded, came over from one of the building sheds not too far away, now with some bit of smoke coming out of the holes in the roof. Well, they might as well meet her. With curiosity and worry mixed in, they went to the door and opened it up wide to have a blast of smoke hit them in the face. A few coughs later, and they found Techy inside.
This Peridot this time was only dressed up in a white tank top and shorts, not even wearing any shoes or gloves but still had the visors signifying any Peridot in this division. This Peridot, kinda like Newbie, was also a tiny bit greener than CG Peridot. Around her eyes were a pair of worker's goggles, which didn't make sense with the visors though they just assumed it was for look. Her body was covered in splotches, a few bruises too possibly from her own work, and for the moment a bit crispy from a fire hazard.

"Don't worry! Just working out a few kinks in here," Techy said, coughing a few smoke clouds a bit.

"I can see that. Here Techy, got some family for you to meet," Chief said. Techy got back on her goggles.

"In a minute, mam, I'm ALMOST done with this experiment," Techy said. The others glanced passed her, and found an "experiment" in some sort of round object. The color of this object, the few stray robs next to it, and the for-the-moment burning controls already told them what this was.

"A master-type project, I agree, but if I can just make the rods interact with the mechanical magnetism of the Robonoid core, I can make this a functional piece of equipment," Techy explained, not even turning her gaze to them for a moment.

"Sound familiar, Peridot?" Lapis said, nudging their own little techy of the group. Peridot chuckled, remembering fondly of the tinkering she would do in the barn before the Off-Colors got it as their new home. Just for thrills, Peridot sat down by Techy, as Techy got the fire to stop burning up the model.

"Wait. Let's see how long until she notices," Sapphire replied. Not malicious, but still playful something to try on a techy. Peridot too saw the joke and just rolled with it.

"So, is that a electro-magnetic adaptor your using, or a electrically-charged battery core?" Peridot asked casually. Techy didn't turn to her just.

"It's a mixture of both, though I'm working on an alternative that doesn't need any use of electrical power. Perhaps something solar, or even water-based or something," Techy replied, getting what looked like a screwdriver and continued tinkering with the piece. Connie went to the otherside, Steven there as well and finding a seat. Techy still oblivious to the different Gems present there.

"Maybe solar would be better, since you don't run out of sun," suggested Steven.

"Hmm, yeah. Solar energy is a resource that can easily be gained day by day, and it doesn't even need any cords or plugs," agreed Techy.

"And hey look, I can even see a few solar panels right inside there you can use," Connie added, even pointing to the "panels" that were the Robonoid's hard drives. Techy began to see what Connie and Steven were saying.

"Hey, yeah you're right! They'll make perfect solar panels, and I don't even have to use up any other scrap to do it! Just gotta -" Techy turned (at last), and her gaze suddenly saw Peridot's face. The second she saw that Cutie Mark on her face immediately told her she was in different company. She flipped up her goggles.

"And that's about forty two seconds. That's shorter than usual," Chief commented. Techy turned and saw the numerous other Gems there, immediately freaking out enough to fall off her seat and onto the floor. The others couldn't help but laugh seeing this reaction from Techy. Techy meanwhile got back up to her own feet.

"Uh … hi. Chief, since when did we start getting new types of Gems in our division?" Techy asked.

… Chief just pointed to Peridot, not adding more to that comment of hers. Techy looked at Peridot a bit more closely.

"Hmm … HEY, it's 5XG!" Techy realized. Impressive for her to find that out after just a short minute.

"How'd she find that out so fast?" Connie whispered. Peridot did mention how seeing a particular cutting inside a Gem's hole within a Kindergarten offered a good clue, but given Farid probably wasn't 2F5L off of what Chief and Peridot told them about when they showed up, he was just stumped.

"Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5JT. You can call me Techy," Techy introduced. but at this point she began to check the only non-Gems (sort of) standing right next to her. Steven she kinda got the idea since she could see his Gemstone, but Connie was a different factor.

"Ok, so what Gem are you? Don't think any of my cut said anything about any Gem like you."

"Well, I'm not a Gem by birth. I am part Gem, but really I'm a Human," Connie answered. Techy just stood there for a bit at first to think over this "Human" thing. And …

"HUMAN?! Oh my stars - a new species! You look just like us too, I thought you were a Gem for sure, but NOPE! Is there more Humans like you?! How many varieties are there where you come from?! You live on Farid or are you from a whole new world entirely?! Do all Humans need that air bubble around their heads?! Come on, don't leave me -" *BAM* "- … hanging."

With a swift hit from Chief, Techy calmed down, now with a good bump on her head. Her excitement was a bit high up there.

"No, no, it's cool," Connie replied. "Well if you want to know about Humans, I can talk to you if you want."

Well, Connie and Steven were gonna be busy for a bit, so while Steven and Connie were giving Techy some knowledge about Human Beings, the others went off outside to see what else was going on. The group came out of the building, just to find the Foreman coming over to them, looking stressed out over something, as Newbie came up behind her.

"Look, I dunno what you're doing, but I need some extra hands here by the transaction point. And SOMEONE here thought it'll be a good joke to wander off again," Foreman said. The smaller Peridot was worried a little bit.

"She's young, Foreman. Now, what's the trouble with transaction THIS time?" Chief asked. The others peeked passed her as the foreman was explaining the situation to Chief, though they didn't need the Foreman to explain what was wrong exactly. Peridot saw a lineup off not too far away. Peridots heading to the nearby metal pile on top of a tall structure. A bit of metal gathered was already there, but the Peridots were going rather slow.

"The method is a bit insufficient already," Peridot thought. Her eyes started looking around the area a little bit. But then her eyes began to see a few particular Peridots off a ways: one with a flat board, another with a steel pipe. A little thinking was all Peridot needed.

Simple mathematics and gravity saved plenty of time. On Peridot's word, two other Peridots jumped off from the top of the balcony, landing side-by-side. Normally this wouldn't have too much effect, but while the two Peridots were down on ground level, one Peridot was launched right up to Peridot's level, landing on the level as if she just hopped off the ground. Foreman stood by Peridot's side seeing this result, and she was sure pleased with this seesaw launch method being used to full effect here.

"Wow, all this is cutting work time by sixty percent! Good move, Peridot," said Foreman, smiling in glee and seeing the status. Peridot smirked.

"No problem, sis. Just making sure everything's efficient for everyone," Peridot replied with a confident grin. As Peridot was talking with Foreman, Lapis flew up to her level.

"Hey Peridot, there's some other Peridots trying to get some pipes over there. Mind lending a metal-bending hand?" Lapis asked. Peridot looked to Foreman, whom which nodded and allowed her to go off to do that.

"Alright, take me to em!" Peridot announced. Lapis was happy to comply, and picked up Peridot with ease.

The area this time wasn't too far from the main working station, with a few of the Peridots working with some pipes left by a mud pool. There was at least about four other Peridots working with the pipes, including Newbie as one of them. Newbie was the only one to shy away at first when seeing Peridot come flying in with Lapis.

"Peridot! Yes please, these pipes are kinda stuck," one of the Peridots said, trying to pull out one of the pipes but with no effort. While standing there, Lapis did eventually see Newbie hiding off by the end of one of the pipes, though she did scurry away a bit more after being spotted.

"It's okay Newbie, you can come out. I won't hurt you," Lapis promised. Newbie though didn't come out right away, worried like a nervous rabbit. Newbie peeked out from the corner of the pipe she was at, but as she was, Peridot got her muscles ready.

"Prepare your launch pads, because this is about to take off. And up!" Peridot said. And right on the button, she started to focus her will into the pipes, arms outstretched in front of her, and hands looking as if they were gripping something. The whole pile began to shake and shutter, though being in the dry mud it took some more effort than Peridot thought. She looked like she was putting a lot of effort, but all this was doing was making her look a little silly.

"I got your back," Lapis said. Good thing she was a water Gem, and with some water from her wings she began to soften the mud underneath the pipes. This make them shake a lot again, but this time it was a bit easier to move about. And eventually, Peridot finally got them all out of the ground, floating in the air like a metal cloud. The Peridots were simply amazed by this display. With a flex of her arms, Peridot tossed them over towards the tower, making them much easier for her fellow cut to grab.

"Ta-Da!" Peridot said smugly. The other Peridots were admiring the display, and Newbie was actually feeling … well, amazed.

But then her eyes drifted to the now empty area, and she got spooked all over again. She yelped good and loud, before rushing right back to the group, getting their attention to what was there. Turned out, those pipes weren't just there for the heck of it, but they were actually a creature's bed. And removing those pipes made it wake up right away.
The alien here, now covered in mud and a little annoyed, looked much like a sort of strange slug. Its head ended in a odd circular mouth, matching the pipes it was sleeping under, and it only had two legs, each ending with some stubby claws. The rest of its body slick yet stocky, yet the creature itself was the size of a large cow, the head big as a beach ball. At first the thing was a bit spooked by seeing its resting spot moved so abruptly, but once it saw the Gems it began to act a little bit aggressive.

"A Clawbog!" gasped one of the Peridots. The alien started to pull itself towards them with its claws, its mouth opening up and beginning to shoot something at them, making the native Peridots scatter out of range. The stuff it spewed out was, to their surprise, a sort of greenish liquid, which actually sizzled on the ground!

"Back off from my sisters you clod!" Peridot demanded. This only made the Clawbog threaten another time. This one was a bit closer to them that they would like. Lapis found this barely much of a danger though, and got the wet mud wrapped around the animal. She didn't want to hurt it, but she didn't want to get hurt either. All she had to do was find a safer place to distance it from them, and she tossed the creature off towards a nearby metal pile with a flick of her finger. Once the Clawbog came to, it simply dug away from the scene, finding another bed in the metal.

"Well. That happened. Ok, let's get those pipe," Lapis said. And no one got hurt, and they went right back to it as if nothing happened.

Steven and Connie only NOW came out of the building and found this process going on, both a little bit worn out by this point, joining Pearl and Blue Pearl who were watching from ground level.

"You two alright? you look worn out," Pearl asked. Connie and Steven did feel a little bit as such, looking ready to go to sleep even.

"Techy had so many questions about Humans," Steven said tiredly, "The trek through her personal essay was such a mental challenge, Pearl, I'm mentally exhausted. How long were we even in there?"

"She didn't make it easy: climate adaptation, diets, political standings, love life, she had them all lined up like she woke up ready for it," added Connie. Pearl and Blue Pearl both heard "love life" pretty clearly, and were left a bit speechless, glancing to the building as Techy was standing there with a LOT of notes, and a big smile.

"... L-Let's maybe try to keep that information to a minimum, alright?" suggested Pearl. The kids nodded, but Steven then noticed some of the group missing.

"They're up there, Steven. One of the Peridots said things were getting problematic with transaction - not the right way to use the word by the way - so they decided to help them out. Pretty impressive too," Pearl explained. Steven and Connie looked off to the work Peridot had made up, making express time with the metal work for the colony. They saw Lapis flying with a pipe, and Peridot getting the rest back up to the top, with Sapphire standing over by Chief by the seesaw. Someone has to watch the landing just in case something were to happen.

"Since you two spoke with Techy," replied Blue Pearl. The four watched the next set of Peridots jumped down from the top, with one Peridot launching off into the air. However, this time the trajectory wasn't the best and she just went straight up. Luckily Lapis caught her just before she could fall down, bringing her back over to the top platform. Steven went over to Sapphire and Chief. Seeing him looking worn out already told Chief what happened in there.

"Hmm. … One way to find out," Chief replied. Chief then made a good loud whistle, one loud enough to reach the very top of the platform. This whistle was specific and Peridot heard it loud and clear. They all looked up, and found Peridot taking a metal plate, and using her metal-kinesis (something she'd been presenting to the other Peridots) to levitate down to see them … just to drop to the ground at about five feet. Not easy to levitate a board to act as a personal elevator. This barely bothered Peridot though, as she sprung back to her feet.

"So Steven, Connie, what do you think of my personal transfer system? I've taken the simple physics of the "seesaw" method, and weight distribution -" Peridot only paused as two Peridots jumped down, and one was launched upward again. "- allowing my fellow Peridots to exchange their gathered contents at a swifter pace. Pretty cool right?"

"Hmm. With one peridot per jump, I'd have to conclude about two hundred and … fifty three?"

"Fifty five!" called Lapis. Steven took a look over to the sky, finding that their chat with Techy took a much longer time than anticipated.

"Well sun's going down," said Steven, "We better start heading back for the night before the others start to worry."

"If you say so," Chief replied. They didn't want to get into too much trouble with the Diamonds, so they had to get themselves back there (plus they might go crazy being with White for too long). The group began to go off, but Sapphire took a glance back and saw Peridot was feeling a little bit more reluctant to just go off on her way.

Another night without Peridot. Though, they couldn't blame her for wanting to spent time with her family.

It was a bit of a slippery slope from there. Heiligdom may not have that much of an issue on when they all wanted to leave, no doubt about that all things considered. However, time was getting a little bit slower for them there on Farid - days in fact. Though, how much time actually going by here was a bit unsure, since Farid and Earth were two different time zones entirely, though if counting the days in Farid it would add up to at least three nights following the last time Peridot asked. Clearly Peridot was liking being with her family. The other Peridots were taking their time to get to know Peridot as well, and they were warming up to her almost right away. With their oldest "sister" having a Equestrian Cutie Mark, experience outside of Farid, AND abilities no other Peridot had before her, it was no guessing game with how much they were fonding over her.
As for the others, they really had a tougher time to let White diamond keep them there without any catches. Blue and Pink had no problems, but Yellow was a bit skeptical for making them ALL stay while Peridot kept going to Farid's Peridot colony. The challenge was made only harder since they had to keep this colony out of White Diamond's knowledge.

"Ok, White, last question for today White: with Mr. Waffle and Mr. Pancake arguing over what recipe's better, what do you think is the best option to do?" Steven asked, the chalkboard having a drawing with a waffle and pancake with a "recipe" for strawberry cake. Dumb concept, but plenty of meaning behind it. White Diamond used her finger, her nail acting as said chalk but marking like a brush, as she drew out the next picture. The picture showed the two side by side, with a amazing cake behind them in a Steven style.

"The best option is to work together to create an even better outcome," White replied.

"Correct! So, what did we learn today, White?" Steven asked, once finished with some more friendship demonstrations. This demonstration was being presented outside, White Diamond literally laying on the ground, resting her head on her hand as if she was a kid watching some Saturday morning cartoon.

"The same lesson you've been going on about, Starlight. Running out of ideas?" White joked.

"About understanding others, absolutely. You've been going on about that over these couple Farid days, sweetie," White pointed out. Steven kept his cool, already having a personal explanation when White would say this, in case she caught on. Steven was trying to hammer in the "understanding" lesson a bit more since they were staying, for Peridot's sake.

"Because that's the best part of friendship: understanding others. I just thought we'd focus on that a bit more before we move onto other lessons, you know?" Steven explained, rubbing the back of his head. White Diamond giggled.

"Oh yes, of course," White said. "You know, Starlight, this has been a pretty fun game you've been doing. Though, might I suggest mixing it up, otherwise it might get a little boring."

A fun game? Steven felt a bit shot down when hearing that from White Diamond, his smile disappearing for a brief moment.

"I am, Starlight, don't you worry your cute little head," White Diamond reassured him, playfully petting Steven's head with her finger. Steven was starting to wonder if White was actually doing so or not. With the person he was talking to, he just had to take her word for it. White sighed happily, and she looked around by the ship.

"The others had been gone for a while today. Know where they could've gone to?" White asked. This lesson in particular Steven had to risk by himself, the others off by the Peridot colony and the other Diamonds taking a break themselves. The only other Gem that was there was White Pearl.

"They … went exploring Farid?" Steven replied, NOT planning for that question (how?!). White thought about it, naturally.

"Again? Farid must be a very interesting planet to them if they're always doing that. Wonder what they learned today?"

"Maybe," Steven said, "You want me to fetch them for you? It'll only be a second."

"Surely, thank you dear," White Diamond said. There was a pause in her voice, which was enough for Steven to turn and just start to go when …

"Huh? No, no, it's fine I can go by myself," Steven quickly insisted. Then came that knowing smile.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem, Starlight. Why be so worried over nothing? My Pearl will keep you company on your little stroll today, making sure you're alright. I'd hate to let anything bad happen to you," White insisted, as White Pearl floated over to his side. Steven wasn't gonna shake this Pearl away from him, no matter what he would try to do.

Well, with how many times they've came and went, it was kinda bound to happen eventually. So, with cleaning up the lesson for the day, he went off into the Farid thicket to reach the others, White Pearl following close behind as instructed. White Pearl still had that same face on her as before, that same smile and distant eyes the entire time they were going along, Steven leading the way the whole time going. But what was he gonna do now with White Pearl following him there?

"What am I gonna do now? If White Pearl's gonna follow me there, she'll find the colony for sure. Come on Steven, you can do this. Think of something ..." Steven thought. Steven was paying a little too much attention to White Pearl to really notice what was going on around him, and he found himself under a nearby plant (a giant dandelion). The wind ended up blowing a small bit of seeds off, one of which blew towards Steven.

White Pearl acted "accordingly", and with her hands like blades, sliced the seed to dust.

"What was that for?!" Steven gasped, shocked by the sudden reaction as White Pearl stood back to normal.

"That falling object could've injured you, Pink Diamond. I simply acted accordingly."

"Pink Diamond doesn't need THAT kind of protection. Please go back to White and I'll meet with you later," Steven insisted, trying to move White Pearl back to the ship. Even if White Pearl was floating though, it was actually a lot harder to move her than expected.

"But my diamond instructed me to watch over you, Pink Diamond," White Pearl stated.

"I-I'm fine! I promise, I'll be back without a scratch," Steven pleaded. The last thing he wanted was for White Pearl to go on a killing spree for the sake of protecting him. White Pearl though stepped to the side, Steven falling forward onto the ground … or he would've hit the ground if White Pearl didn't catch him by the back of his collar first.

"I'm afraid I can't do that unless my diamond instructs otherwise," White Pearl said as she gently placed Steven back on his feet. Steven felt very uneasy with White Pearl by his side more than ever, but there was still the matter of what to do when they would get there.

Steven sighed. "... Well, I guess it's only fare. Just don't do anything rash, please?"

"Very well," White Pearl replied. Just to see another seed fly a little too close to Steven. And slicing it in two. Steven could only hope White Pearl was as understandable as the others, or they'll be in a lot of trouble.

Meanwhile, back at the Peridot Colony, business was going along as per usual. With seeing many of the Peridots working about though, there's just as much that were taking their time away from work to see their newfound company. Pearl, Bismuth, Sapphire and Lapis were alright, since they already gotten used to much of the company of theirs, but as for Blue and Yellow Diamond …

A surprising amount of attention. The veteran Peridots kept their distance just in case, but much of the newer Peridots, some not ever seeing the Diamonds before, were flocking around them to see what they were about. The ONLY exception was Pink Diamond, though this was just because she was not as big (metaphorically and literally) as the other two Diamonds.

"My, look at all your hard work. Did you do all this yourselves?" Blue Diamond asked, seeing much of the activity around them.

"We all did!" replied one of the Peridots, "Settlements, working hours, all made with these hands!"

"Us? Well, we Diamonds have big roles in Gemkind: I'm mostly in charge of empire structures, historical documents, and the emotional state of our Gems. Yellow Diamond meanwhile is mostly in charge of planet navigation, job placement, and military strategy," Blue Diamond explained. There were more factors to it, but that was the overall statement of it all.

"Just a group of soldiers put in positions to protect their side from opposing threats," Yellow summed up, though she wasn't as into it as Blue Diamond was. Though even she had to admit that, without their involvement, the Peridots did have a decent structure when it came to how things were functioned.

"Even they somehow managed to make this all work by themselves. … Maybe I should start thinking more deeply about what these Gems can do," Yellow pondered. Perhaps diversity between Gems and restriction of jobs between gems didn't have to be so linked together after all. Seeing Peridots handle work more fitting to leader-tough Agates, hard-working Quartzes, even bits of science-testy Fulgurites or Chernobyls, perhaps there was more to this cut than she first anticipated.
Meanwhile, Pink Diamond was kinda left alone. All Pink did was just sit there and watch her "older sisters" get all that attention.

"There there, Pink, better luck next time," Bismuth sighed, giving Pink a friendly pat on the head. That didn't really help Pink all too much, as she watched much of the attention go to the other two Diamonds. Pink took a bit, wondering if this kind of treatment was really how the true Pink Diamond felt about things. Treated as second fiddle to the superior siblings and all that.

"Hey Pearl? Did Pink Diamond had to deal with sibling rivalry before turning into a war criminal?" Pink asked. With context it sure was a odd question.

"Well … kind of. It didn't bother her AS much when Blue and Yellow got more attention than her. But maybe that's because she had more of her own court with her to talk to - wait, shouldn't you know?"

"I wanted to make sure from someone that was actually there. And I don't have my own court yet. Yipee," Pink grumbled.

"No, I don't. Even after all the work I did making the new Diamond City come together," Pink replied. Sure didn't sound too fare to any of them.

"Well don't let it bug you too much," reassured Lapis, "You'll get your own audience eventually, just like the other Diamonds."

"Speaking of other Diamonds, you think it was a good idea leaving Steven with White Diamond? I could've stuck around with him at least, in case things get testy," Bismuth asked.

"Needn't you two worry about Steven. In fact, he's on his way back here to meet with us. He's perfectly fine," Sapphire said. Connie sighed.

"Alright Sapphire, if you say so." Connie trailed off, but she wasn't one to really deny Sapphire's future visions. Sure she would get a little astray, but Connie NEVER had that ability so most of these statements she just had to take word for. Besides, they weren't gone for that long. Soon, Bismuth looked off towards the entrance to the place.

"Speak of the black hole," Bismuth said. The others looked off, and sure enough, there was Steven coming their way … with White Pearl right behind them. Mixed emotions about that one.

"Uh, Steven? Not being rude, but why is she here?" Yellow Pearl questioned. Steven glanced to the pearl and just sighed.

"Steven," Steven corrected under his breath. This was a bit problematic, as White Pearl instinctively floated to position by the nearest pearl. Bismuth felt uneasy once again, seeing the pearl floating there. Pink Diamond didn't have anything better to do now, her eyes looking around until she saw Peridot with two of her sisters off getting some more pipes. out of some mud. The same spot the Clawbog got them earlier, mind you. However, the Peridots working over there soon spotted Pink Diamond, and started to become a little bit curious.

"If you need me, I'm gonna try and get some attention over there," Pink said. Well, it's some form of attention without Starlight and Trixie for company. With Pink Diamond going off to do that, it was time for Bismuth to have a little word with Steven about his company. This fact about "White" Pearl had gone on for long enough, and with White Diamond no longer above their shoulders, now was the only time she could get this going.

"Oh, uh, ok," Steven replied. Lucky for them both, White Pearl stood still by the other Pearls as bismuth and Steven went off to a safer distance away from them.

"Ok Steven. I know I've put it off long enough, I'm sorry in advance, but there's something you need to know about White's Pearl over there," Bismuth said, firm and slightly urgent, but keeping her voice down in case that Pearl decided to get nosy. Steven glanced back towards White Pearl, who simply looked over to them with her single eye locked on them. Steven took a very deep breath.

"What is it Bismuth?" Steven asked, preparing his nerves for what answer Bismuth might have for him. Bismuth looked over to White Pearl once again before she too got enough of her own nerves together. Though, as a safety precaution, she leaned in and whispered to Steven instead, just enough so only he could hear her. When she finished, Steven had quite the shocked look on his face.

"That's what Yellow told me. Kinda. But either way, White Pearl's not what she seems," Bismuth replied. Steven looked back towards White Pearl again.

"... I wished I was more shocked about this. Pearl ..." Steven sighed gravely. A veteran to the big surprises like this, the idea of Pink Pearl becoming White Pearl, if he was honest, was far too convenient to be that much of a shock. It was scary, don't get him wrong, but White Diamond demonstrated mind control well before this.

As they were thinking over how to handle this extra situation, Pink Diamond and Peridot were over and busy handling some more of the scrap metal. It honestly wasn't anything too special here, just some talk amongst eachother and Pink Diamond trying to regain some attention. With most of their minds focusing on getting the work done though, it really didn't work that well. Still, there was a bit more going on than with just the main group: Newbie continued checking the area a little bit more, keeping her eye out just in case something were to happen. She didn't want to run into a Clawbog again. Much of the stuff she gathered wasn't too fancy, but as she got some scrap about the place she began to check off to the distance, something especially shiny catching her attention.
Newbie wasn't sure what it was, but as the others were busy, Newbie went off to get it. It looked small, enough to fit in her hands. Nothing too fancy, but it'll work out for them whatever it may be. Step by step, she got more and more metals in her grasp as good as a little Peridot could, though even with her nervous diligence, there was still some things that she couldn't detect.

"Come on, Newbie!" called Peridot, bringing her to her attention. Newbie quickly got the materials and scurried her way back to the rest, unaware that something was keeping its eye on her and their company. After she moved off to the group, the creature in question began to move in closer to Newbie.

"AAHH! A SLITHERDILE'S HERE!" Newbie screamed, catching the attention of potentially the entire colony, before she made a mad dash away. As for what this creature even was, well, it was far bigger than a Clawbog by far. Its body was as wide as a concrete pipe, its head like a cross between a salamander and crocodile, with a body elongated much like a weasel or ferret. Its legs ended in webbed feet. As for the overall size of this creature, it reared back for a moment to intimidate, and it was almost as tall as one of the Diamonds nearby!

"Who cares what it is, it's going for my sisters! BATTLE STATIONS!" Peridot shouted, and almost blindly rushing in and taking the lead. The Peridots caught in the alien's sights ran for cover in panic, but Peridot was a veteran in fighting so she took to the beast with vigor.

"Head in, soldiers!" Bismuth said. Been too long since she had a good tussle anyway. The large beast found itself in the company of quite a few of the Gems, though its targets were already set in the local Peridot population. The alien reared back on its hind legs and gave a loud word of warning in a hiss, but they weren't going to let this thing get by them without a fight. The alien made its first assault in a basic charge, but Bismuth got it covered with a basic maneuver: dodging the charge, grabbing the tail as it passed, and swinging it into the air! Now, normally that would land it on its head or back, but in a shocking display of agility, the alien actually spun itself upright, landing on its back legs even.

"You're a little quicker than I thought. Bring it on, you naked lizard!" Bismuth said. And boy did it bring it on. It knew it'll have to barrel through the party first, so it made a full charge at them first. This charge was met in force by Pearl and Lapis together, one hitting with her smooth wing, and the other with the blunt end of her spear. The hits struck the creature's legs, making it topple over briefly before getting to its feet. It was a bit of a rough hit, but not enough to knock it out completely. Next one it targeted was Steven Universe, it giving a good hiss and rushing directly towards him. Steven got out his shield, but -

White Pearl was in the way. The Slitherdile skidded to a stop, and even back up a bit as White Pearl raised her hand to make it stop, going bold enough to stepped forward a little bit even. The Slitherdile's eyes locked with the other figure, Steven keeping his shield up and ready for another charge. However, the beast didn't move, White Pearl suddenly pointing at the animal, and moving her arm in a circular motion. Over. And over. And over. And over. …

The beast actually looked more and more dazed. … White Pearl pointed right, and the beast spun right. She pointed left, it looked left. When she pointed to the sky, the Slitherdile flipped over and crashed onto the ground. A strange yet humorous display of control from White Pearl, as said Pearl grabbed Steven and rushed away.

"A simple hypnosis, Pink Diamond," White Pearl said. But this "simple hypnosis" barely lasted long as the Slitherdile realized it was much bigger than both White Pearl and Steven together. And just in time to avoid a diving attack from Bismuth too, her hammer arm hitting ground instead of alien flesh. While missing the first hit, Bismuth did clock it in the face the second swing, sending it flying off a ways. It got back onto its feet pretty quickly, only to feel some metal slap its side in rapid fire thanks to Peridot.

"You got guts, Peridot. Let me give you a hand," Bismuth said, suddenly picking Peridot up and much to their surprise, throwing her right at the alien! Peridot straightened out, and her foot slammed right into the animal's eye, making it screech and stumble back. No creature liked getting something in their eyes, no matter the animal. Peridot laughed at this display, but the Slitherdile went in for another attack, raising its back foot for a kick. Peridot dodged it easily, and it's foot met with some metal sticking up from the ground.

A little more fuel to the fire, and the animal was hopping on one foot, gripping the other as it yelped in pain. Not the best showing ever, but now it was very infuriated. Steven would go in to try and help, but White Pearl had a sort of strong grip on him, and he couldn't seem to shake himself free.

"My priority is to keep you from getting hurt. Your involvement is a hindrance to that," White Pearl said.

"But my friends need me!" Steven retorted, just as he saw Pearl getting thrown from the fight and to them.

"Your protection is my priority," White Pearl replied, as if she didn't even see her fellow Pearl get wrecked. The Slitherdile saw they were standing still and decided to go for the easier meat, this time running on two legs like lizards do, mouth wide open and hissing good and loud. Steven was starting to panic, trying to at least bring up his shield again, but his arms were trapped in White Pearl's grip.

"Steven!" Pearl shouted, rushing over to his aid. And just in time too, giving a bee-line kick to the animal to knock it over the two. White Pearl didn't even flinch, but the Slitherdile flew over them both, crash landing into a pile of metal, making a number of Peridots scatter for cover.

The Slitherdile exploded out of the metal pile, metal scrap flying everywhere before launching out after the other Peridots finally. Many of them quickly bolted into the only place of safety, which was the tall structure they've been working with. The Slitherdile crashed right into the side, strong enough to make the entire structure shake and threatening to buckle. It tried to get itself in there with different methods: ramming its crocodile jaws into some of the opening, and trying to knock it down with its sheer power. It then started to feel something grab its tail, turning and seeing Peridot pulling as hard as she could. It started whipping its tail around, swinging Peridot all over the place. The others soon began grabbing hold, and finally made it stand still: Sapphire grabbing peridot, Lapis grabbing Sapphire, Pearl grabbing Lapis, and Bismuth grabbing Pearl.

As the whole group of Peridots watched, the Crystal Gems grabbed hold of eachother, and Bismuth's strength was JUST enough to actually move the entire group, including the Slitherdile. Soon, they all formed a powerful chain, with Peridot holding on the hardest to the Slitherdile's tail, the Slitherdile growing dizzy very quickly.

"Diamond, we have liftoff!" Peridot exclaimed. And upon finishing, and with enough speed in the spins, Peridot released the Slitherdile, sending the alien beast flying off into the air! It screeched, still spinning like crazy, and soon as the group landed down, the Slitherdile finally landed off beyond the horizon, the only evidence of its landing being a notable dust cloud. Steven was glad they're safe, though his nerves did calm down and he gave a sigh of relief when he saw the Slitherdile coming back around and walking away. A tough giant animal, but a meal wasn't worth getting swung around like that.

And then came the applause from the Peridots off nearby. The group was given quite a bit of praise from all of the Peridots in the colony, treated like great heroes. Though, it could be with her being their eldest sister, but Peridot was given the most of this attention by her younger sisters. Peridot sure was enjoying this one way or another, many of the younger and older Peridots giving their praises. Steven (who was finally released after the threat was gone), looked onto the happiness and enjoyment Peridot was receiving.

"So she's spending another night with them?" Sapphire asked after a while, as they were going back.

"Peridot looked very happy with them, I couldn't say no," replied Steven. Though while this was a good thing on the surface, Steven felt a little bit unsure actually. The walk back gave him a lot of thought about the subject though, especially with the alien attack.

"Well, it's hardly unlikely. Peridots had always been programed to be together, especially with their own kind. Sounds like your Peridot's simply reverted to type," Yellow Diamond concluded. It was more instinctual than they expected, but Steven was seeing a little bit more than just that, as he looked back to the settlement. Their Peridot was still in there somewhere, probably celebrating or just calming down from their main attack.

"Yeah … I guess she is. Being with her family. Taking on the world, helping her sisters out when she can. She's very happy to be here," Steven replied, all the while thinking on family a bit more. The others went to his side, also looking over to the clearing themselves, and to where Peridot was. Slowly, but surely, they all began to reach the same conclusion, beginning with a small tear from Steven himself.

"I-It's hard to think of anything more important," Pearl replied, wiping a tear away.

"So … I guess that's it then," Connie said. Everyone paused, but the decision eventually was reached. There was no doubt about it. Steven eventually spoke what everyone thought.

And everyone began to walk away from the settlement. Ready to head on back to the ship for one more night. It was a bit of a big decision, but after they all saw just how well Peridot was with the rest of her cut, it was one that they all felt in their hearts that it should be good for her. After all, when it came to interactions with her own kind, Peridot hardly had any, if at all. The closest Lapis could think of was Blue Peridot in Blue Diamond's city, and even then it was barely anything. This was what Peridot needed, and what she wanted.

Nightfall. And by this point, much of the work had been completed and caught up, much to the relief of the foreman Peridot, and every other Peridot had decided to rest up for the next morning. Many of the Peridots were a bit worn out thanks to the alien attack earlier, so it didn't take them too long to go off to sleep. But even with that, not all of them were as quick to go off to sleep, even with the calming moon giving some a night light to sleep with. Within one of the settlements, as Newbie Peridot was just ready to go off to sleep herself, Peridot just couldn't really go off to sleep. Newbie took a little bit to notice that her roommate was still awake, and laying there with her eyes open, looking outside.

"Big sis? Aren't you sleepy?" Newbie asked. Peridot shook back out of her daydream, looking to Newbie.

"No, I'm fine. Really, I'm okay, you get some sleep," Peridot insisted. But at first, Newbie didn't do that. Instead, she went over to Peridot's side, hopping up onto the bed with her, and looking out the window with her. She thought something was keeping her attention, but she didn't see anything out there except for the stars of the night. Peridot snapped back again.

"I … I'm just contemplating what happened today, that's all. I mean, not everyday you actually beat something that's made to eat you," Peridot said, putting in a few chuckles even so it sounded more convincing. Newbie smiled warmly.

"Oh, that's all? You looked like you were thinking about something more spooky," Newbie said, but it did sound like she bought the idea. Newbie, feeling comfortable about things, went right back off to bed. If only Peridot could just fall asleep like that without these thoughts going through her head.

"... Ok. ……. Ok. Think. Hard. …" Peridot silently looked to her hands, each one representing one side to her dilemma. She had to weigh her options, risk and reward, and of course her own personal thoughts. In one hand she was seeing those she had been with over the last five years or so: The Crystal Gems and Elements of Harmony. Her friends that, while at first she barely had much thought on first arriving on Planet Earth, now had a lot to thank for. Her ability to fight, her metal-kinesis, and her self-worth couldn't have been as well without them.
On the other hand she saw the Peridots she had met and stayed with over the course of these last few days. Sure, it was barely a blink of an eye in comparison, but these Peridots were the family she had been missing for so long. She couldn't remember any time before where she actually had proper time with other Peridots, from her cut or otherwise. It was in her nature to be with a group of her own kind, and she felt most at home in this place than anywhere else in a natural sense.

"I need some air. Er, space," Peridot concluded. She couldn't think straight in here.

It took some quiet maneuvering, but eventually she did end up from her quarters, and off towards outside. It was just quiet enough for Newbie to stay asleep, so Peridot had somewhere to think without someone to bother her. Her eyes looked up to the stars, knowing where her friends would be going by tomorrow morning.

Chief. Peridot turned around fast just to find her on the roof, the familiar glow of her mask impossible to mistake.

"Hi, I-I was just uh … getting some fresh air," Peridot said. Chief got off the roof, going right over to her.

"That what you're doing? Yet we already told you the dangers out this time of night," reminded Chief. With what they fought already today, it was a pretty believable thing.

"I already know why you're out here, Peridot," Chief said, "One of our patrol already told me what the others had said."

Peridot stopped cold, her gaze glancing back over towards the rooftop, finding the very Gem in question casually watching the conversation from the rooftop. Whelp, that was over quickly, but Peridot couldn't say they were wrong about it either.

"OK, you caught me: I don't know. I don't want to give up the Crystal Gems, but I can't give you guys up. I just met you, for stars sake!" Peridot said, going into a rant almost, "I mean ok, I'm on this galactic trip and suddenly I find that one piece I've been missing ever since I came out of that hole of mine, but what does that mean if my best friends have to leave me here? If I stay here, I leave them, but if I leave them, I lose you - UGH!"

In her temper, which was building more as she ranted on, Peridot ended up finally just falling to the ground on her back.

"This is not fare. Why's fate deciding to make me its play thing?" Peridot wondered. Chief Peridot took a moment before she went on speaking too. Though, Peridot did note that the light was dimmer than before.

"Hey, look at me," the chief instructed. Peridot did, but found that the chief didn't have her mask on this time, showing the face of the same Peridot she used to be, right down to the same gemstone placement. Peridot got off her back and got back up.

"I want you to answer me honestly, Peridot. … Do those other Gems mean that much to you?" the chief asked.

Peridot didn't answer at first, but all she did was nod to her, keeping her gaze down. Chief took a glance over towards the settlement behind her, knowing there were hundreds of Peridots in her care. This feeling was something familiar to her, caring so much for other Gems. Eventually, Peridot found the chief whistling, calling the attention of one of Peridot's closer siblings. Newbie.

"Newbie, come here for a minute. I got a task for you," Chief instructed. Peridot kept quiet as Newbie came outside to see them.

"Newbie, know that river you like to play at? I want you to take Peridot there for me," the Chief instructed.

"That's it? Okay, chief, but … so late?" Newbie asked. Chief nodded before turning to Peridot.

"Peridot. I want what's best for all of my sisters here in Farid, and that includes you. You want to stay with the Crystal Gems, don't you?" Chief questioned again.

"That's an order, Peridot," Chief firmly stated. Peridot stopped, but she was starting to see what the whole situation was. A tear started to come down from her eyes, which she wiped off soon as it slipped passed her visors.

And Newbie and Peridot began to go off on their way, with the chief watching from afar with a content smile on her face. It was a bit sad seeing her older sister go, but she knew that it was the right choice.

"Farewell, Peridot. Good luck."

(Laiya’s Song (ライヤのうた) HD Jungle Emperor / Kimba Ep 7 Trial of Donga JP parody "My Home, I Know")

My home, I know
Is out there calling out my name

So out into the night, Newbie began guiding Peridot along the way. Even with the risk of wandering around at night, the stars and moon of Farid actually make it look a bit pretty. Both Peridots went along side by side, though on the way they still were catching sight of some of the aliens fluttering about in the sky, looking like butterflies but glowed like shooting stars. None of them bothered the two Peridots walking through, which was a good thing. Plus, this did give Peridot some more time to think about things. Namely, memories of her friends.

My home, I know
Will be there, but won't be the same

This memory train began way back in the day, her early days on Earth. It seemed so foreign to her now, that once upon a time she was so distant and uncaring to the world around her thanks to the activity of her Limb Enhancers. Her travels through Equestria still were something in her mind as well - meeting Rainbow Dash, exploring Cloudsdale, all sorts of things.

My home, I know
My family will always be.

Down the line, her memories began showing her time with Ruby next. Oh, the times she had shared with her. Thinking back on it, Peridot had a lot to thank Ruby for: ever since she had lost those Limb Enhancers of hers, it was Ruby who helped her regain herself and learn to be strong without them. And down the line too, she got her Cutie Mark from saving her, evidence still there on her face.

My home, I know
is always there waiting for me.

And then came a rather harsher memory: the moment she found her whole family split apart. It was a sad memory, to be sure, but overtime their bond did become stronger as they all understood. She couldn't recall any time she felt better than the moment she found them all together again.

I don't know where
And in a way, I don't know why …
But I do know
Where my love and harmony lie.
My home, I know.

"Here it is," said Newbie at last. Soon, Newbie and Peridot were now along the same banks of Newbie's river, the waters sparkling crystal clear in the moonlight. Undisturbed.

"Yeah, thanks. Well, let's see, what can I use here?" Peridot wondered. Both she and Newbie looked around a little bit, but a little bit was all they needed before they found something sitting by the river bank. It looked like a large piece of wood, a log seemingly. They weren't sure where it came from, but Peridot found it's convenience a bit too convenient for it to just float to that spot. Both Peridots went over to said log.

"I'm … not sure how long it'll be, but I promise, I'll be back," Peridot promised. It was a promise she was hoping to keep. Newbie was a little confused, but understood just enough that Peridot was leaving.

"I-I'm needed elsewhere," Peridot replied, "The other Gems. They need me with them for a while."

"Oh. Ok," Newbie said, feeling a little bummed out as Peridot pushed the log out a little bit. Before it could be pushed out enough to drift downstream though, Newbie stopped Peridot briefly.

"... Thank you. Thanks for coming by and finally seeing us again. A-And after seeing you fight that alien, I know I can be great too! I wanna grow up and be just like you. So, when you come back, you're gonna see the best Peridot ever," Newbie said, doing some punches, though when she kicked she did fall onto her side. She had a long way to go yet, but the heart was still there. Peridot smiled.

"Sounds great, Newbie. Looking forward to it," Peridot replied. Newbie sure was happy, but she began to feel a little down again, her smile going away for a bit. Next thing Peridot knew, Newbie was hugging her tight.

My home, I know
Can't always stay here all the same.

Soon, Peridot was on the river. The log, floating gently along the current, began to carry the green Gem off on her way. Peridot looked back to Newbie, who at first was just sitting there by the same spot on the bank. But after a bit, Newbie actually started running alongside the river, keeping up with Peridot for as long as she could. Newbie kept going down the riverside, until a part of the path finally stopped cold. Any further and Newbie would've fallen into the water. Newbie and Peridot looked to one another, Newbie called out to her.

But long as I
remember you calling my name.
I'm coming home. …

"GOODBYE! Peridot!"

The Pink Diamond ship was ready to go. The night for the Gems were a bit restless with their own decision, but that didn't mean they were given enough time. They were leaving that morning, and White Diamond wasn't gonna wait any longer than she had. The group started to head into the ship, but one of them was a little bit unsure still.

"Oh, yeah I'm coming. … I hope we're doing the right thing," Steven said. It still hurt all the same, even if this was what they consider the best for Peridot.

"Everything will be just fine, Steven. It's where she needs to be," Sapphire concluded. Steven looked over to her though, and even Sapphire had a small tear come out of her eye. Even the future seer was feeling a bit emotional about the situation, yet Steven simply wiped away the tears from Sapphire's face. Both took one more look out to Farid.

The voice was faint, but just loud enough for the others to hear Peridot. Looking off away from the ship, Peridot was running like a madman, tired but grateful to see them not taking off just yet.

"Come on, what do you think's gonna happen?" Peridot asked, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"But those other Peridots. I mean … we thought you wanted to stay with them. You were getting along so well," Lapis said.

"Of course I got along well with them, they're my cut - my family. I care a lot about them, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna ditch the family I already got. You guys did so much for me: taught me how to fight, made me feel confident in myself without those Limb Enhancers, heck I even got my Cutie Mark thanks to you guys! You're my family too, and I'm not going anywhere," Peridot concluded.

There was a little silence, but Bismuth broke it easily when she picked Peridot up and got her onto her shoulder.

"Then I'll be the first to say it: welcome back buddy," Bismuth announced. The others didn't need to say anything else to welcome back their green friend.

My Little Universe: Season 8

by EquestrianKirin

Family Ties