Forget Your Earth -- Chapter 1

“Rose Quartz, the Pink Diamond,” Rose whispered to herself as she eyed her reflection in a mirror. “The new leader of Homeworld,” she continued, her voice faltering at the final word. She couldn’t imagine how White Diamond could’ve been shattered. She was never away from her quarters as of late. Nobody could figure out who did it. It certainly couldn’t have been the gems in the Geode system’s rebellions. The synthetically made Quartzes had proven to be more effective than whatever Charmelan’s defenses were.

Rose felt a bit of relief at that. It was only when the first of the Quartzes emerged that Cinnabar started using her weapons. The new Gems took care of that all too easily.

And now, the Earth was back to normal. She couldn’t remember how she reacted, but Blue was always throwing playful jokes at how she might as well have been an angry Tiger’s Eye.

Speaking of which… Where was that Gem? She got up from her bed and brushed her dress down. She leaned back, stretching to the side. Pearl was no-where to be seen. Probably in her quarters. Probably revelling in the fact that she even got her own room.

She pressed her left hand to the door, making it slide open. She stepped through it and pressed her hand once more on a pad outside of it. It closed again, pneumatics sealing the passage. She sighed and started walking. Windows passed by, showing off the Crystal System. She turned towards the control room. With a glance behind her, she noticed the ancient imprints in the ship’s carbonite floor, like they’d been walked on for a thousand years.

When she got to the control room, there were two gems, but not the ones she was expecting. Pearl and the Peridot she got to pilot her ship were heatedly debating over… something.

“Well if you ask me, I think you should keep your hands off the controls — Hey!” the Peridot shouted, using her robotic limbs to slap Pearl’s hands out of the way.

“You haven’t got them calibrated. Look. The entire ship is tilting to the right. You’ll never pull this thing to the System in time. At best, you’ll crash into Mars.” Pearl raised her brows and glared down at the green Gem.

“What do you know?” she growled before turning to Rose. “Oh! Pink Diamond!” She bent her knees into a rushed curtsy. “Your Pearl is meddling with the controls.”

Rose cast a glance at Pearl. Impressive, she was. She hid her smile and put on a false glare. “Pearl. To your quarters.”

Pearl nodded, pulling her short hair behind her ears. She cast a glare back at the Peridot before gliding down the floor. Rose ruffled the hair on her head before sending her on her way.

“Have you ever thought of that Pearl as… defective?” the deceptively tall gem said.

Rose stiffened. “Why would you ask?”

“She’s overzealous, even for a Pearl,” she said, reaching blindly for a tool at her left.

Rose bit her bottom lip, thinking of Pearl. “She might just be more intelligent from age. Six thousand years is a long time to have one.”

“Have you ever thought of having her harvested?” the gem asked, pulling her visor down as she grabbed the tool. “To get a better one?”

Rose’s eyes widened, but she straightened her face immediately. “Where’s Tiger’s Eye?” she asked, glancing around the control room.

“In her quarters,” the Peridot said, putting her hands into the controls. Lines of code reflected in her eyes. “I can’t exactly stop a massive Quartz from stalking off like well, a tiger.”

Rose blinked. Of course she couldn’t. Peridots probably couldn’t stop a brand-new Sapphire. Not that she’d say it in front of the Sapphire on the crew.

Rose glared, then turned around and left. She stalked down the halls, headed back the way she came. She passed the door to her room without even giving it a second glance. There Pearl was, giving away that she was defective. She was lucky that it was just a Peridot that noticed. If one of her fellow diamonds caught wind, then Pearl would be gone for good.

She stepped into a short corridor with two rooms on each side. It didn’t end in a dead end, but in a room with a fireplace and comfortable enough cushions on the floor. She glanced in there before seeing the escort gem. “Tiger’s Eye,” Rose said coldly. The gem turned around, her figure seemingly glowing in front of the firelight.

“Yes, Pink Diamond?” Her voice was smooth, for a Quartz at least. “Is something wrong?”

Rose narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. How could she be so oblivious? “You know exactly what’s wrong. You’re here, lounging about, while your crewmate is left both piloting and doing mantenance?”

She glanced down at her feet then at Rose’s face. “I—”

“Just go, before I have you harvested.” Rose waited for Tiger’s Eye to pass by before following her out. She knocked on Pearl’s door, waiting for it to open.

It took a few minutes before she showed up, her clothes in perfect order. “Pink Diamond,” she said. “Come in!”

The door closed, and Pearl gave a sigh. “Thank the stars it’s only you,” she said, sitting down on a cushion. Her legs splayed out and she rested her arms on the pillow. “I thought it’d be that awful Peridot. That... Triangle-Head... is so…” She clenched her hand into a fist. “Sorry, Rose.”

“No, it’s alright,” Rose said, sitting down beside her. She found herself sitting on her pink hair. “But you need to be more careful. That Peridot thinks you’re defective.” When she saw Pearl’s shoulders tighten, Rose grinned and leaned in next to her. “I told her that you’re just getting smart with age.”

Pearl sighed and leaned back on the cushion. “I guess I should…”

Rose nodded. “It’s alright. This is Earth we’re headed to, not Homeworld. There aren’t many civilized Gems on the colony. That’s why the others are sending me this way. So I can lead securely.”

Pearl heaved a sigh. “They probably still have Pearls on Earth. I’ll still have to be… that.”

“They’ve got humans on Earth, Pearl. Remember the creatures I actually wanted to lose my title over?” She laughed, and she saw Pearl crack a faint smile.

“Yeah,” she said wistfully.

“And on Earth, even the Pearls can have humans.” Rose didn’t know this, but she wanted to alleviate at least some of Pearl’s anxiety.

At that, Pearl sat up. She blinked and then turned to Rose. “I… don’t know how to…”

Rose laughed. “Act like that around other Gems. They’d never think you’re above average.”

“No, really.”

Rose stared, her cheeks curling upwards. She planted a kiss on Pearl’s gem. “Well, you have to feed them, water them, and let them grow.”

“Like one of your plants, huh?” Pearl said, rubbing the gem on her forehead tenderly.

“Exactly like that.”

Pearl laughed nervously. “It’s probably not that simple.”

“Oh, but it is.” Rose stood up and grabbed Pearl’s hand. Pearl got to her feet and stared into Rose’s eyes. Rose stared back, her eyes shining. “If you can take care of that Peridot back there, then I’m sure a human isn’t a hassle.”

She backed away, hand still extended. “Come with me, Pearl. And try being yourself as we go out.”

“But the other gems…”

“The Sapphire’s not anywhere around here and the others are all in the control room.” She grabbed Pearl’s hand and pulled her closer. “Come on, let’s try it.”

Pearl flushed, her cheeks turning blue. “Alright.” She strode down the halls, faster than Rose. She glanced about the halls, her eyes flickering about. Rose watched her glance up and down at the slits between metal, how she paused and narrowed her eyes.

“They could certainly find something to patch up these cracks,” she whispered. She stood up on her toes, tracing her fingers along a crack in the ceiling. “The vacuum of space can only make them bigger. Then the ship’ll get destroyed…”

Rose found herself getting more and more amused by Pearl’s investigations. At least, until she caught Pearl giving a backwards glance at her, like she was checking to see if Rose was happy with the way she was acting. Rose’s heart sunk a bit, her smile fading.

“Pearl, look,” she said, stopping at a window on the outer side of the hall. Earth was coming towards them at a rapid pace. “Earth’s a safe place, a haven perhaps. You’ll be safe, I’ll be safe, and I wouldn’t let them harvest you, even if you are defective. Just relax.”

Pearl stared at Rose, giving an owlish blink. She nodded and stared down at her feet. “I understand…” She looked around, and her shoulders loosened. Still, she said, “Pink Diamond.”

Rose inched closer to Pearl. “We’ll be alright. Just you wait.” She paused a second. “Just you wait.”