//------------------------------// // The Open Sky // Story: A Lost Crystal Gem - The Story of Sunset and how she became Spinel // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Across the blue sky everything was silent. No planes ever traveled across that place so the construction floating harmlessly and mysteriously across the vast beyond was left to its own for hundreds of years. Once it had been the scenario of multiple fights, where warriors of great power and renown had come together to honor the Diamond Authority. Later on, it was used as the place where the rebellious gems said no more and fought back for every single living being in the planet. To say that it was important would be an understatement, with only a certain strawberry battlefield holding an even bigger importance to the Crystal Gems. That had happened so long ago, before humans could remember, but it still shaped their lives without even knowing which was alright for Rose Quartz and the rest of her family. It was also a place that was of little use to the remaining Gems living on Earth, mostly a training location or a place to reminiscence about the past, and boy, did they have a past. Each of the Gems had several thousand years under their belt and whenever they went back memory line it could be quite far away. Whatever the case may be, this morning was no different to any other, until a beam of light from the warp pad signaled the entrance of the newest member in the temple. The redheaded girl walked slowly from the pad, until she found herself looking at the four diamonds carefully build on the wall. None of the others had told her exactly what those symbols meant but for whatever reason Sunset knew that they were very important, something that represented the past and their original planet. Whatever they were it meant nothing to Sunset since she came from another dimension, in fact, she wasn’t even interested in the meaning of the diamonds and with a snort of contempt she kept on walking. Sunset’s body still felt weak, each one of her steps was as much of a struggle as the last. That morning Sunset even had difficulty leaving the bed due to how tired her body felt. She was sure that the one thing she could point as the guilty party on all that was the shard right at the place where her heart used to be. Looking this morning at the mirror on her bathroom -well, more like the bathroom of the house she was renting, there was not much of a space in the temple for her so far- Sunset found out that the shard was growing bigger since last night and it had taken her several seconds to remember exactly the reason for the gem currently growing. Whatever the case, Sunset knew that the shard would probably keep on growing until it was the size of the other Crystal Gems. What that would mean, not even the pink haired Gem could say, it was something that had never happened before and that was not good for Sunset. The redhead had prided herself as one who usually got every answer back when she resided on Canterlot; now, she was at a lost continuously, both from dealing with humans and even more due to gems. It left a bitter taste for the once prideful girl. Finally climbing the stairs, Sunset began to take deep breaths through her mouth feeling the thinning of the oxygen around her. Being so far up on the atmosphere really did a number on organic beings. No matter, Sunset began to climb down in the direction of the arena not knowing exactly what she was doing at that place. It wasn’t forbidden for her to get access to places like this since she had already seen some of the places the Crystal Gems visited, like the Strawberry Field. Thinking back, Sunset was sure that the Strawberry Field was the first place she had visited alongside Rose Quartz, there was probably a big reason for all the weapons and how solemn the usually smiling Rose looked that day, but no matter how much she asked, the taller woman simply refused to open up about its importance. Whatever the case may be, Sunset finally reached the open space of the Arena and tried to regain her breathe. Whatever may be happening to her body was doing quite a lot on her stamina because just walking that much left her breathless, even more with the altitude change. To think that the Gems could come and go and never get tired truly showed how alien they were, even in comparison with a girl that was literally from another universe. The redhead finally regained some energy and took a long look around, truly appreciating the clouds and the way the sky looked from being so high. It must be quite the spectacle at nights, far away from manmade lights and pollution, looking so far away with many stars and constellations dominating the sky. Sunset shook her head slightly knowing that her mind was thinking so many different things. It was unlike herself or at least the Sunset that had lived in Canterlot, the one who was completely obsessed with the idea of becoming a Princess. Now, that same pony -or human or gem, who knows what was going on with her body- was looking at the morning sky wondering how the stars would look in the Sky Arena. Just one year alongside Rose Quartz and company and she had changed so much, who knows what would happen if she spent more time alongside them. Thinking about that seemed to be the only thing she could, but not alone for long since Sunset heard the warp pad activating. A minute later, a dark skinned woman with a square afro walked into the Arena, quickly finding the redhead sitting at the edge of the ruins. Without a word Garnet sat down at her side. “Did Rose send you?” “Not really” the thick English accent of Garnet answered back. Sunset was very curious about how exactly Garnet had gained that way of talking but it was probably a story for later “Rose is still on the temple and none of the others know you left.” “Then why are you here?” “Because we are all worried.” The mysterious Gem said in her usual calm and collected voice “When we saw the Gem pierce through your heart, it was as if the world had stopped for a second,” Sunset was quite surprised because this was the first time she had heard Garnet talk about their feelings “Rose and Amethyst had grown closer to you; it is something that had never happened.” “What do you mean?” “Because we will outlive every single human being on this planet, we have problems in our interactions with them. Rose may be the one who looks out and worries about human beings but is more in the general sense.” “I know what you mean. Rose is… amazing, but sometimes she can be so hard to understand.” “Is because she doesn’t know how to interact with others, she just doesn’t get human beings. To her they are curious creatures but nothing more, an amorphous mass that live on this planet and that are worthy of protection. Until you.” “Why me? There’s nothing special in me.” Now that was something new, self-deprecation, what would Princess Celestia say if she saw her like this? “You are an exile of your world, with no way of coming back; in the end, you are trapped in this place with no idea of what to do. That’s why Rose took you under her arm, because you remind her of herself.” “How could I? She was exiled because she fought to protect a whole world… I was exiled because I was a freaking brat that wanted more power, Tartarus, I basically demanded more power.” “But in the end you did the right thing; you could have let those people die but you did something amazing. You saved their lives with no desire beyond seeing them safe, isn’t that worth of praise?” Garnet asked Sunset with a smile on her face making Sunset blush at the words of the dark skinned Gem. “I… thank you… do you want to know something Garnet?” “What?” “Since I sat down I have been holding my breath” Sunset said with her voice slightly shaking. Garnet’s eyes widened slightly behind her thick lenses in response “I only took air whenever I needed to talk, but beyond that I was fine, I didn’t feel any pain or panic, I just didn’t need air. What’s happening to me?” Sunset asked feeling tears already gathering on her eyes before a hand touched her shoulder. Looking at her side she saw Garnet giving her one of her very rare full toothed grins. “Whatever might happen, you have to remember this; we will always be at your side, no matter what.” and with those simple words Sunset felt her worries vanish, knowing that with Garnet with her there was no foe Sunset couldn’t defeat. The two turned back to watch the clouds pass by, simply relaxing on the Arena, the gentle wind relaxing the redhead. She knew her adventures in this world were just beginning but never again will she be alone.