Everytime a new colony was founded, a ceremony would be held on Homeworld to thank the Diamonds for their valued leadership. Every Diamond had to appear at the ceremony and that posed a problem for Pink. It wasn’t the appearance itself that was the problem. If she could naturally go out amongst her subjects everyday, she would. But everytime a new colony was gained, even though it wasn’t her own, she had to put on a show, a mask, a falsehood for those subjects.

“Where’s Pink?” Yellow asked from her hovering palanquin.

“Down here,” Pink replied lazily from behind Yellow, sitting in the midst of a throne seat far too large for her. She was scowling into the middle distance with her arms crossed and back bent forward.

Yellow turned her palanquin around only to look at her in shock. “What are you doing in your natural form? You can’t go out there like this! Change immediately,” Yellow commanded.

Blue frowned from her seat to the right of Yellow’s. “It hurts her to hold that form for too long. I told her she should wait until the last minute to change.”

“She should start soon then,” White called from the front. “We don’t have long until the Pearls start introducing us.”

“Yes,” Yellow agreed. “Stop stalling.”

Pink’s expression somehow turned even more cross than before. But she said nothing to Yellow, who continued to stare at her expectantly. She took a deep breath and concentrated on her mass, how wide she’d be, how tall she’d be, and her extended hair. She felt her form weaken and shift, larger and larger, until her head felt the end of the throne’s backrest.

Yellow scanned her with a scrutinizing look. Her eyes targeted her stomach. “Your gem. It’s the same as it was before, you need to make it like ours.”

Pink looked down to her midsection and saw her true gem, tiny and uniquely shaped. She closed her eyes and sighed. This was the most insulting part.

“There,” Yellow said, finally satisfied. “Now you’re perfect.”

Pink grimaced. “I should be perfect the way I am,” she muttered.

Only Blue, worriedly looking over the back of her throne, seemed to notice her words. Pink looked to her solemnly, to show the anger was not directed at her. Blue nodded, but then motioned with her hand and face to ‘chin up’ as the massive door ahead of them opened. The cheers of the adoring public were palpable now, and Pink was always happy to see them, so she smiled.

‘But’, she contemplated to herself, ‘they never really get to see me do they?’

‘They see a show, a mask, a falsehood.’

The light of Homeworld’s sun graced her towering form. And the crowd witnessed a perfect diamond.