Chapter Text

“Colony YE43e is almost completed. However, the reports say that the conditions for gem harvesting are 80% of what we expected, which is not good enough. The gems we are harvesting are not going to be any good for my standards.”



Pearl could hear Yellow Diamond from the communication hub. White Diamond would not be happy with this information. It has been eons since Yellow Diamond brought out any good news on the gems that she harvested on her colonies. She wondered that maybe the problem was not the colonies at all. *she gasped* Oh lord, where had that thought come from?



“Silence, Pearl!” Snapped White Diamond, before turning back to her sister on the screen. “That is not acceptable, Yellow. What is it, sister, that has been happening to your colonies? You haven’t been able to harvest good gems for eons, now. I’m starting to think you lost your touch for the thing!”



“White, it is not my fault that we can’t find any good piece of rock in this forsaken end of the galaxy.” Yellow’s tone became a few octaves higher. “I am sick of this sector of the universe. The standards here are just too low! Don’t you dare put this on me, sister.”



White closed her eyes and stood silence for a moment “I see. What about you, Blue, how is your status with your newest colony? Are the kindergartens set and running already?



Pearl swallowed and let go of her breath. Pearl had seen Yellow Diamond and White Diamond fight before, of course, but for some reason, she was always on the bad end of these occasions. Once, White Diamond made her stay still for 50 years after a particularly bad conversation with Yellow Diamond about a random colony Pearl could not remember the name.



“Yes, they are going perfectly well. Everything is perfect.” Pearl noticed that Blue Diamond’s voice had a stressed tone, almost as if she was being ironic about her status.



White Diamond noticed it as well. “What’s bothering you, sister?”



“Pink! Of course.” She practically yelled, making Pearl shudder unnoticeably. “She is being a handful these last few years. I think she is probably bored. She has been asking questions about colonies, demanding to be more participative on the kingdom ruling, and giving tantrums about not being taken serious by us for ages now. I am getting tired of her.”



Pearl made a huge effort to stay still on her post. Every time they started talking about their off-colour sister, Pink Diamond, the atmosphere between the three authorities became uncomfortable. Being the Pearl of the flawless White Diamond, it was weird to think of a diamond that would give tantrums about not been respected by anyone. White Diamond was the ultimate diamond. It was no secret that she was even more powerful than Yellow and Blue combined. It made Pearl curious about how Pink would be like in “gem”. She had already heard some very unsettling stories about Pink giving Yellow and Blue a hard time, through their video conferences, but White was never there. White had never even seen Pink. When she heard that another diamond came out of a fourth hole in the ancient kindergarten of Homeworld, she was a billion light-years away from Homeworld and did not bother to go there and meet her sister. “She is defective” She had said. “Make her disappear!” But Blue would not pursue her orders and that was the worst five thousand years of Pearl’s life. It was past now.



“Oh, this again, Blue?” Yellow said as if she had heard of it a million times now. “Sister, by now you should have gotten a hold of how to deal with Pink. Tell her she is yet too young to participate. She understood it when I told her.”



“Yellow, this was eons ago.” Blue snapped. “She is older now and she is getting tired of us telling her she is not ready to have her own colony.”



White put her hand on her forehead and let out a frustrated breath. “What are you implying, Blue? Do you think she is ready to have her own colony?”



“No, not at all. I am just saying she is pissing me off, White. She wants to meet you, too. She thinks real fondly of you. She thinks you do not care for her, at all.” Her voice became pleading.



Pearl turned her head a few centimetres. She had known Pink’s insistence about meeting her older sister for a couple of thousands of years now. She thought that it was not that bad of a desire. They were sisters, after all, and White, as the leader of the diamonds, had a high prestige among every existing gem, why would that be different for Pink?



White let out a frustrated sigh. “If only you had shattered her as I said in the first place. I am not leaving my sector of the universe to see our little off-colour sister, Blue. Give her a colony, if you must!” She made a pause and looked angrily in Pearl’s direction for a few moments, who straightened up ready to receive either an order or a reprimand from her diamond; and turned her attention back to her sisters after a while. “Here, tell her that I am sorry for being too busy to meet her. And tell her I am sending her one of my most valued Pearls as a gift for conquering her first colony. I was thinking about getting a new one, anyway.” Pearl’s mind was at shock, she felt White Diamond lift her by her arm all the way up to the front of the screen. “Give her a tiny planet from some undermined sector of your part of the universe, Blue. And I will be shipping this Pearl in one of my ships. Make it sound as if it is a big thing and tell her that this Pearl has been with me for a long time. She knows her manners and is used to being a diamond’s Pearl.”