“Um, Mister Diam-” the brown-coated colt with a ruby in place of one eye from before spoke up, but I cut him off.
“Please, everyone, just call me David and try to relax. I know I’m on the large side, but I’m not a dragon.”
“Oh, okay. David, my dad told me that my mom didn’t need to sleep, and that gems usually don’t bother sleeping so they can get more done in a day.”
“It isn't sleep, not really. It has the restful benefits of sleep but doesn't fulfill a biological need. It does, however, fulfill a mental need, and that first session in particular turned out to be the most important one for me. Think of a computer compiling and organizing data, and then making sure that all the little fragments of code are put into neat little packages so they don’t get lost.” I smiled down at him. “It’s something that diamonds need to do every so often just to make sure we don’t get overwhelmed with all of the things we oversee. Does anyone else have a question before I continue?”
A purple-coated filly raised her hand slowly. “You mentioned something called humans. What are humans?”
“Humans are like gems without gems. Flesh and blood instead of light projections, more like ponies but with no magic.”
A kirin’s hand shot up, waving frantically. "Are you from the mirror?" He blurted out, without prompt. "My mom goes there sometimes for work." His muzzle scrunched, wrinkling the scales on it. "It's weird. You lose all your fur, your hooves go away and when my mom took me, my horn vanished!"
“No, I’m not from the mirror, but I have been there once. It caused a small panic having a giant appear in front of the school there, but we got things smoothed over easily enough. Those do appear to be humans on the other side, even if they are more colorful than the ones I grew up around.”
"David likes to complain that he can't be the 'only human'," Tempest spoke up. "Being a diamond isn't special enough for him." She grinned, winking at the group. "He's just a big drama queen."
I lowered my voice to a whisper and quickly shrunk down to hiss in Tempest’s ear. “Says the size queen.”
The change in Tempest's muzzle color was barely perceptible. "I'm not the one bringing that kind of talk around kids. Kids with good hearing."
“You and I both know he only heard the pebbles because his gem picked it up. You never hear them when they forget to form a larynx and lungs.”
"Just get back to your story."
I gently booped her nose before expanding back to my normal size and clearing my throat. “Sorry, needed to just have a quick private chat up here with Tempest. So, yeah, those are humans over there but I used to be a different kind of human entirely. Any other questions for the moment?”
After a few seconds of silence, I decided it was safe to continue my tale.
I found myself reliving my life, from my earliest memory, in crystal clarity. Given the flaws of human memory, I can't say if the process gave me perfect recall of everything exactly as it happened, or if I just have perfect recall of how I remember those events. I suppose it doesn't matter.
Childhood, adolescence, military life. All of it came and went, so fast and yet moving at a crawl. Playing a few Pokemon games with my younger sisters as the three of us grew up together, then introducing our youngest sibling to the series once she was old enough to handle a DS and reading... that stuck out to me as important. At the end of my second tour came an opportunity to unwind and patch up a few strained relationships.
ConnectiCon had been our pick, a little bit of something for all of us and close enough to an hour’s drive away. Cons had never been my thing, too many people with no standards, tryhards and weirdos. On that subject, I already had a sore hand. Some jackass copped a feel on one of the costumed ladies and I rewarded him with a fist to the jaw. He was lucky it wasn’t any of my sisters.
“You know, Dave, that guy could report you to security. It’d be his word against ours, so kinda dumb, but they might throw us all out just to save time.” Steven Spinelli, my oldest friend, best buddies from kindergarten on, spoke up. He pulled the blue-costumed form of my oldest sister, Stacy tight against his side for a moment. “Then we’d just be four weirdos in the middle of Hartford wearing Halloween costumes in the middle of June.”
I shrugged. “Your costume just looks like normal clothes at least, Steve, even if the pink jacket is a bit strange for a guy to wear.”
“I think he looks great in pink.” Stacy stood slightly taller than Steven did, her normal complexion hidden under blue makeup. “It’s a very flattering color.”
Everyone’s costumes had been hand made by her, down to the smallest obsessive detail. If she hadn’t gotten the right color of makeup, I’m convinced she’d have gone without sleep long enough to actually get Blue Diamond’s bags under her eyes.
“Alright, so it looks like we picked the right costumes to wear this year girls, and Steven.” Erica’s voice cut through the chatter of the other congoers around us as she rejoined the three of us. “There’s almost a dozen other Steven Universe cosplayers here already signed up for the Cosplay Chess event. One other Steven specifically, so there might be a bit of a squabble over who gets to be what. The big problem, though, is rehearsal time before the event.”
“What she’s trying to say is that we have about half an hour of free time before we need to get our asses with the others, figure out who’s been assigned what piece, and then go over the script with the other team. Maximum team size is four though, David, so even if we had had time to make you a costume you’d have had to sign yourself up separately.” Jennifer spoke in her usual clipped manner as she rubbed a smudge off of her yellow shoulderpads. “And Erica might need to turn off the LED’s in her cape. Active electrical current could be hazardous in case a wire comes loose.”
My sisters had decided to come as the Diamonds from Steven Universe, and Steven naturally decided to just come as the titular character he shared first names with. I was fine with not having a costume, since I didn’t really personally identify with any of the characters despite enjoying the show and discussing it with them when I had time to communicate. They had spent the last couple days binge-re-watching the series with me as a ‘welcome home’ party before this trip.
“I’ll leave the dress-up to you guys. I’m just here to hang out.” I wouldn’t be caught dead in a costume. It was too strange, and too risky to do something like that with the current political climate as well.
“Mommy, look, it’s da diamonds, an’ dey gots Steven! We gots ta wescue him!” A young voice yelled from behind me suddenly, and a small figure in a large white wig, dragging a purple jump rope, ran past me.
“Oh, Sally, no. I-uh… oh drat, no...” A woman’s voice came from close behind me as I heard a number of things drop to the floor. I started to turn around and step aside to look only to feel someone bump into me at the same time. The only thing I saw clearly was a large pair of visor-style sunglasses skittering towards Erica before I grabbed onto the woman’s arm to help her steady herself after the impact.
“Whoa, hey, it’s okay there little Amethyst.” Steven knelt down and quickly moved to scoop the young girl away from the three diamonds. “Remember the end of ‘Change Your Mind?’ They’re in the middle of working things out with me. We’re all good here.”
“S-sorry for grabbing you like that. Instinct, didn’t want you to fall over. I’m pretty solid and..all…” I trailed off and chuckled softly as I let go of the woman’s arm. “Garnet, right? You’re going for a Garnet look?” The squared afro wig meant either Garnet or a tall Ruby, and the purple leggings she was wearing meant Garnet was more likely.
“It’s alright,” ‘Garnet’ assured, taking a moment to ensure her footing. “Yeah, its Garnet. Just wish the glasses were easier to see through.”
“You should try using computer eye-strain lenses for the parts you actually would be seeing through next time, if you use the costume again. Yellow tint, but easy to see through.” Stacy approached, holding out the three-pronged shades.
Taking the glasses with a smile, ‘Garnet’ slipped them back on. “I’ll have to look into that. Come on, Sally. We don’t want to hold anyone up.”
“Picture? C-can we get a picture, pwease?” Sally smiled at her mother and my sisters. “My fwiend’s gonna fweak.”
Stacy smiled, motioning for Erica and Jennifer to get closer. “Of course you can get a picture sweetie. We’ll make it the best picture ever.”
“Are you sure it's not a bother?” ‘Garnet’ asked, gingerly reaching into a hidden pocket. “We aren’t keeping you from anything are we?”
“They’ve got a bit of time to kill anyways before an event they signed up for. How about you get in there too, and I’ll take the picture for you?” I held my hand out, wearing an easy smile.
“Okay, that sounds like a better way to capture the moment to me.” She quickly unlocked the phone and handed it over to me, followed by all of my sisters taking theirs out of where they’d been hidden away and handing them over as well.
Waiting for everyone to get close, I snapped away; cycling through each and every phone. “And done.” Passing ‘Garnet’ her phone back, I gave her a wink. “Picture perfect. You two have a great con.”
‘Garnet’ graced me with a smile, scooping her daughter up so they could both look at the picture together. “Thank you, and I hope we run into each other again later. Not literally this time.”
"I'll be around," I responded. "Nice little dive bar a block over, if I remember correctly. I'd be free of these guys ‘round nineteen hundred."
"He means seven pm," Steve piped up over a snicker from Stacey.
“I’ll have to take a rain check on that. My lovely little handful here means I can’t exactly go to bars much.”
“Whoa, what’s... holy crap, how did we not see that sooner?”
I blinked, having to look at Sally for a moment. "Right, right. Sorry, for a moment there I kinda forgot kids exist." Ignoring the commotion from behind me, I motioned towards the convention center’s entrance. "We're only an hour away, so we don't have a hotel room. Meet up in the convention lobby, seven-ish?"
“I think I can manage a general meetup. I’m pretty sure I saw a sign for a Subway nearby. How’s Subway sound, pumpkin?”
“Yeah! I wanna ham and cheese with chips!” Sally threw her arms up in excitement, nearly smacking her mother in the face in the process.
“Okay, okay, calm down. We’re not going yet. We have a whole afternoon to enjoy the convention and find a couple neat things to bring home, okay?”
My attention was diverted away from ‘Garnet’ and Sally by a white-painted hand tugging at my shoulder. “David, come on, we found something and it’s a bit out of my price range alone. You caught it in your pictures!”
Excusing myself, I let Erica lead me along. "And what exactly do you need me for?"
“Cost splitting efficiency and a gift to your sisters after years apart?” She gave me ‘the look.’ An unholy combination of puppy-dog eyes and a trembling lip that was only marred slightly by the fact that she was dressed as the white tyrant herself.
Unfortunately for her, I wasn't our father. "Nothing over fifty and whatever it is, I get a fourth of it."
“Is that fifty from you or fifty in total?” Erica asked as she led me over to a small merch stall that had a wide variety of what I assumed to be customized pieces.
"Fifty from me." Scanning over the table, I gave a non-comm motion. "What were you looking at?"
Erica stepped aside, pointing over to where Stacy, Jennifer, and Steven were clustered in front of a rather large, and offensively pink, display case in the shape of a familiar faceted heart design. “They’re perfect display replicas of the four diamond gems.”
"How do you know that? The thing isn't even open," I questioned, rather unconvinced of their find.
“It was open until little loudmouth tried to haggle with the stall girl over the price and she refused to lower it.” Jennifer snapped while tapping her foot. “Not like we can’t see them through the case anyways if you look from the front.”
Not that I didn't believe her, but I had to see for myself. Leaning closer, I did make out the blurred forms of the diamonds through the translucent case. "And how much?"
"Two fifty and not a cent lower, Choco!" The woman behind the stall said. Her outfit was the most bizarre I had seen so far, a red and yellow carnival-esque bird costume that might as well not even be there. She had to be wearing moleskin, or some other kind of nude-looking bodysuit material, because bodypaint alone wouldn’t fly at an all-ages event like this. "A girl has to pay the bills, bokko."
Steven was already taking his wallet out. "That's not too bad; just fifty from each of us. No biggie."
"You can even have the pink one, David," Stacey teased, sliding a small pocketbook from out of her robes.
“Oh please, like David wants some pink trinket. Steven’s the one dressed as the owner of that gem anyways.” Jennifer simply reached down the front of her armor and pulled out a plastic cash clip. “I’m only really chipping in so Erica doesn’t complain for the rest of the day. He can have the yellow one if he wants.”
"I already claimed a fourth of it," I explained, fishing out my wallet. "If Steven wanted one, he should've called dibs."
"We're all getting a matching gem." Erica's tone carried a layer of finality as she produced her own contribution from a small wrist purse. "David made his claim, so he gets the pink one. Steven can have the case."
“I’m fine with the case. It means that Stacy and I get to figure out how to fill the empty spots with something just as good as the original pieces to do it justice.” Steven reached for the case while handing over his own fifty-dollar bill to the vendor.
I'm still amazed the vendor could even pick up anything with those wing sleeves. Regardless, she took the offered bills. "It's all yours, choco-bokko!" Twirling in place, she struck a pose. "Enjoy~ Oh but do remember, all sales are final!"
Silence descended around us so suddenly that I thought I’d gone deaf; a notion that was rapidly dispelled by a rattling from my right accompanied by a flash of light.
Steven grunted as the case in his hands lurched, and then gasped in pain as the doors were blown open by four lights shooting out. They somehow moved too fast to react, and at the same time the scene was agonizingly slow. I watched Steven collapse to the ground with a hand clutching at the case is if trying to pull it away while Stacy and Jennifer both grabbed at the yellow and blue missiles that had slammed into their own torsos.
Erica dropped in front of me as the white light smacked into her skull with a crunch that made me cringe, and that’s when I felt my own impact. I instantly recalled the one time I dared mouth off to our father as a child, and that’s the closest thing I felt to the punch in my gut as the pink light made contact.
“Two hundred fifty dollars, and, in exchange, the quarter you... diamonded.”
The world faded out as the light bore into my abdomen, all sensation falling away until there was nothing but wearying pain.
Waking up, I found my head clear, crystal clear if you'll forgive the pun. My thoughts made sense, no strange tangents or wanderings. Just me in the present. For all the good that was.
I quickly shifted my weight along with my legs and rolled myself up into a sitting position at the edge of my new bed. One hand went down to brush against the gem seemingly embedded in my navel, and I realized I could feel the facets of it as if I didn’t even have gloves on. “Okay, that makes sense now. I look like I’m wearing gloves and clothes, but it’s all just light. I really wish that light didn’t involve somehow feeling pain.”
But that gem wasn't just a gem was it? It wasn't even my gem. It was me. Everything I was and am, contained in a visibly flawless chunk of carbon. I ran a finger along a facet, vaguely wondering if it could feel said contact.
A small discoloration caught my eye, drawing it to my forearm. Standing out against my dark forearm was a thin, pale pink line. A ginger touch revealed it to be liquid, almost water like, and if gems could bleed I would have had a sudden rush of panic instead of pushing the thought of having cut myself aside. “Must be a leak somewhere that picked up some dye.”
Wiping my arm off, I rose from my bed, truly registering how tall I had become. I easily dwarf my old self, along with even the tallest human I could recall. Some quick testing showed I had slightly more than the normal range of motion, with the addition of double joints. That was without the use of shapeshifting.
I still knew how to move my body the way I needed to. I'd have to test to see if my muscle memory remained. I'd have to adapt to my new stature anyway; learn my limits.
My thoughts and hand wandered back to my gem, it's smooth colored surface hooking my gaze. For all intents and purposes, this was me now. Hard carbon and light. I won't lie and say it didn't send me reeling. My existence itself had been warped into something else, something inhuman.
But wrestling an existential dilemma wouldn't solve anything. Self-pity never helped anyone do anything and I had nothing to gain from starting the 'woe is me' club. I had to stay in the moment, I could grieve my losses later.
“That little flying pest mentioned Stacy, and that Stacy was wondering if it was me or Steven that would emerge down here. That means they don’t remember as clearly for some reason...probably due to not having been trained for debriefing, and Erica was hit in the head if all four of us got sent wherever here is…”
“David? Were you trying to speak with someone specifically?” Watson’s voice came from just outside the door to my quarters, which was still shut. “I can tell you’re talking, but I can’t make it out.”
"Gimme a moment, Watson," I called while walking to the door. Spotting a handprint device nearby, I placed my hand on it. The door slid open with a loud hiss, and Watson greeted me with a smile. "Sorry, did I make you wait long?"
“Oh, no, not very long at all. In fact, I don’t think I was standing here for more than an hour before I heard you start talking.” She shifted in place for a moment, a strange look crossing her face. “David, the archive is... it made me worry about things. Why would gems need so many mirrors?”
"You're worried about mirrors?" I asked, kneeling down to her level. "What kind of mirrors are we talking about?"
“She calls them ‘mirrors of memory.’” Watson shook her head for a moment before pulling her hands out from behind her back, holding a, to me, miniscule mirror in them. “But I think they’re more than just mirrors, David. Mirrors don’t need gems.”
Gently taking the mirror from her, I almost mistook it for a toddler's toy. Delicate designs ran over its handle, its pristine surface reflecting my face. Turning it over, it carried on the designs from the handle. A green gem set into the back, roughly square, with a crack nearly splitting it in half.
Passing it back to her, I hardened my features. "Can you pull the gem from its socket? My fingers are too big to get a good grip on it."
“There’s enough of a lip, I should be able to get my fingers behind the gem, but that crack…”
"I know, but I don't think it would be a good idea to heal it while they're still in the mirror." Glancing up, I shouted at the first quartz I could see. "Hey, you! I need you for a second."
Despite the look of confusion, the quartz approached and quickly saluted. "How may I serve, My Diamond?"
"I need you to hit me, hard as you can," I instructed, turning back to Watson. "Soon as the tears start flowing, pop the gem out and make sure it gets a drop, alright?"
“David, if you hold the mirror I can get a better grip on both halves of the gem. It would mean I’d be able to pull both sides at the same time, and a smaller risk of the crack spreading, or the gem breaking completely.”
“Wait, mirror? You’re gonna try to revive one of the pre-amber fallen?” The quartz seemed to perk up and drew closer.
I nodded, pinching the mirror between my thumb and forefinger. "If it works, we're going to get the others back. Now, if you don't mind-"
“Hold on... there’s a thing you need to know about the mirrors and the gems. Any that have a flower in the designs are traitors, confirmed. They were tried and convicted, no assumptions made. Some weren’t even cracked to begin with, just poofed and constrained. A traitor might attack you on sight just for being a diamond.”
I regarded the mirror before looking back at her. "Then consider this my first decree: anyone previously convicted of treason is hereby pardoned. Now, ready your weapon. On the count of three, you'll strike me as many times as you need to draw tears. That's when you pull the gem out, Watson. Got it?"
“Understood, David.”
“Of course, My Diamond.” The green-tinted quartz summoned what looked like a heavy warhammer at first, then a small dagger as well. “Which would you prefer I use? One might poof you with a couple swings, but the other might only tickle a gem such as you.”
"Hit me with the first," I instructed, staring intently at the mirror. "One. Two. Three." I kept my eyes on the mirror, my focus on keeping a delicate grasp on the mirror. I didn't need a spasm making me break the thing. I didn't get a second before I felt the weapon connect.
Three swings was all it took before I started feeling pain, and I briefly wondered if this quartz had actually dared to initially disobey a direct order. The fifth blow managed to drive a hot lance of agony up my back, and I couldn’t help tightening my grip slightly.
"Watson!" I spoke through gritted teeth, squeezing an eye shut. "Get that gem out before I end up crushing it!"
“It’s fine right now, David, you’re actually bending the fittings away so I can work the gem loose without pulling too hard. You’d have to crush my hands before you crush the gem.”
"That's good... That's good..." I muttered, feeling strikes six and seven draw hot tears. "Okay now you just have to get it out."
I felt the tiniest of tugs at first as Watson began to gingerly free the damaged gem from its setting. I couldn’t quite hold back a small gasp of pain at the next strikes, and I could feel the tears run down my face to drip, unhindered, towards the ground.
“I almost have it, David,” Watson assured, her tugs becoming more confident. “I just don’t want to damage it further, and whoever made these mirror settings made sure the gems were secure.”
“Do your... best...” I muttered through gritted teeth. The pain built, spiking through my body with each strike.
The sharp squeal of metal bending reached my ears as the mirror buckled under the dual assault of my fingers and Watson’s pulling, and I couldn’t quite stop myself from thinking about the old superstition of a broken mirror bringing bad luck. Within seconds, Watson yelled in triumph moments before my fingers pinched together completely. “Oh stars, she’s really broken. I hope your tears work on a gem that hasn’t manifested in centuries, David.”
The blows stopped almost immediately, though my tears continued to flow for a time. “We need to work out a better way to do this in the future, that took too many swings for you to even start crying.” The quartz soldier complained and dropped her warhammer with a heavy thud.
Taking the gem from Watson, I bowed my head and allowed the healing liquid to drop onto it. "It should. I know for certain that it will." I blinked my eyes a few times, enraptured as the gem in my hands glowed.
The crack filled in, replaced by smooth, shiny surface. An odd, squealing sound came from it for a few seconds after the visible flaws had vanished, and then it began to heat up before emitting the familiar bloom of white light that heralded a gem reforming.
The emerging gem made me stumble, nearly dropping it. I settled for cradling the emerging gem to my chest, mesmerized by the act of emergence. To see it happen in front of me was incredible. I only vaguely noted that the bright light didn't bother my eyes.
“Uhhhh...red, and pink...and larger than me.” A new and oddly calm voice came from this gem as the light faded into a green and black uniformed gem with paler green skin. “You must be the ‘Pink Diamond’ that pearl mentioned she was going to bring me to.”
"Just call me David," I responded, setting the revived Emerald down. "That's what I would prefer anyway. And yes, unnamed quartz, we're not going through this song and dance again." I was immensely glad that her strikes wouldn’t leave any damage.
“I had to give her a term that would be recognizable for a gem that hasn’t met you, David. Every gem knows they should be respectful of a diamond, and would know that being brought to a diamond must be a good thing if they are loyal.”
The emerald seemed to flinch against me at the mention of loyalty. “I had nothing to do with them abandoning me and our cause. I was ambushed and all but one deserted on the spot, siding with the resources instead of their own kind.”
I put a hand up, the other bracing the emerald’s back. “No one is blaming you for anything, alright? I’m certainly not. Shit happens.”
“Forgive me, My David,” the emerald shifted a little and took a tentative step away from the hand at her back. “But it is difficult adjusting to a different time entirely, never mind trying to remember what actually happened versus things I’ve only had to imagine from descriptions of events I’ve overheard for centuries. Being affixed to a mirror certainly prevented me from shattering, but it is not a comfortable experience.
Standing up, I wiped the remaining tears from my eyes. “Whatever happened, you did your best.” The entire experience hadn’t been pleasant, and I dreaded the idea of doing this for every gem in the archive. “I’ll need your help though. It’ll be some time before we can restore the other mirror gems. I’d like to count on you to help them adapt, when they return.”
She instantly snapped into that awkward-looking salute. “As you command, My Diamond!”
Delphi walked into sight, coming from the direction of my quarters. “Ah, David, I foresee that we will have an unexpected visitor arrive in about five minutes, but before that happens, you will have a mild panic attack.”
“What? Why would I have a panic attack?” I questioned, disbelief manifesting on my face.
“Oh, David, the ground. It’s... crawling?” Watson spoke up after looking around briefly. Sure enough, the ground where my tears had fallen before we managed to free the emerald from her setting seemed to be squirming or pulsing.
Immediately and with no other warning than that, a number of eyes opened and stared up at all of us while tiny bodies and limbs began to peel away from the surrounding stony mass.
Slowly dropping back to my knees, I gathered them in my hands. Yes, it was certainly something to have a panic attack over. Bringing rocks to life from something as banal as tears isn’t normal.
“Well, congratulations. If you were organic, that’d make you a mother.” The quartz chimed in with a short laugh.
That little comment stung, a blow to both ego and self image. Breathing deeply, the urge to reprimand her bled out of my mind. I really should have seen this coming; it was bound to happen eventually. I had already... oh. Turning my head, I held the pebbles out to the quartz. “Take these little guys to a safe place until I can see to them. Have a few other quartzes look around for any that might have spawned during the group healing.”
“Safe place, got it. I’ll put them in the safest place there is here.” The quartz nodded towards me since her arms were full of the pebbles I had inadvertently created, and quickly moved away to deposit them wherever it was that she thought of as ‘safe.’
With a sigh, I turned to face Delphi and smiled. “Okay now, what was that about having an unexpected visitor?”