Chapter 1
38,000 years ago Alpha system 3XC planet Rhenium "scans have reported the abnormally in sector 5" a lower ranking peridot spoke,
"Sector 5? that dump, nearly all the gems harvested there have been defective, ugh i'm on it we don't need another batch of defective rubys" a tall Peridot commanded from the small sandy planets control room.
In sector 5 new ruby's emerged from the ground, the holes they left behind being irregular and slanted, waiting for orders already being ingrained into their minds that's what they did.
"Hi! i'm ruby"
"I'm ruby too nice to meet you!"
"Hello ruby im ruby"
All gathering to make introductions to each other a rumble was heard in the distance, they all turned and followed the sound.
"I wonder what that is"
"Maybe it's another ruby"
The group of around 30 faced a cliff where cracks were beginning to form the ground started to push out slowly as rocks fell from the top of the cliff face.
"A big ruby?" One of the rubys asked inquisitively
"A very big ruby"
A small ship landed in front of the cliff and out came a Peridot and a Poppy jasper, all the rubys fumbled into a long line Peridot rolled her eyes.
"You are all out already huh...okay let's do the defectiveness test everyone summon your weapons!"
looking unsure they all attempted, 27 out of 30 summoned a variety of weapons and admired them poppy jasper eyed the 3 still trying and noticed one of them was starting behind her.
"HEY! what are you looking at are you not gonna even try?"
Peridot and all the other rubys gazed followed poppy jaspers to the ruby in question,
"Oh what im sorry its just the big ruby can't get out" the ruby in question said embarrassed.
"Big ruby?" poppy jasper questioned to peridot, they turned to the wall behind them and noticed the cracks and swelling outwards, peridot closed her screens and approached the wall and placed her fingers against it.
"Strange i have never come across this before" peridot said looking lost "A quartz maybe"
The cliff rumbled some more and out of the cracks shot beams of white light everyone stepped back and a glowing hand shot out of the largest crack and grabbed onto peridots fingers.
"AHHHHH!" peridot squealed as she leapt back behind the rubys as a few brave ones pointed their newly summoned weapons at the light.
As the light dimmed a glowing form stepped out and dimmed to show the 40ft red gem she opened her eyes and simply stared forward at the group of gems in front of her.
"Are you a big ruby?" spoke one of the rubys from the crowd
"I...I am not a big ruby" she looked down to the gem on her sternum "I am a red diamond" she looked back up to the group unsure on what to do next.
Poppy jasper glanced to peridot whose mouth was hanging open and nudged her "what do we do you're the kindergartener you should know what to do!"
peridot straightened up and pulled at her cape with her remaining fingers, the rest of which were in red diamonds hand.
"This was never in training!" peridot whisper yelled,
Red diamond glanced around the group and smiled "Are you rubys?" At this the ruby's perked up and started to de summon their weapons.
"my name is ruby!"
"Ruby"
"Hiya i'm ruby"
"nice to meet you red diamond i'm ruby"
"Im ruby too!"
"Enough!"poppy jasper said impatiently "I am Poppy jasper facet 4F2 cut 9XP, it truly is an honour to witness the emergence of the second diamond to ever exist" she saluted in respect.
"And i'm peridot facet 3CQ cut 5XG" peridot also saluted.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all and the second diamond to exist, who's the first?" red diamond asked.
"That would be White diamond ma'am, we must bring you to her at once" peridot remembering her formalities poppy jasper moved forward and opened the gate to the ship.
Red diamond smiled excitedly "yes we must let's go" she looked around and then walked into the ship it was a bit cramped so she had to crouch inside and settled sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking around the ship as peridot and jasper entered "Where is she?"
"Who white diamond? not in here she's on homeworld i must call her to report what has happened" peridots eyes widened as she noticed red diamond on the floor.
"oh no no no ma'am you must take the pilot seat "
red diamond looked at the chair facing the large windows, it was built for no bigger than a quartz "I'm fine here thanks i don't think i will fit and also i don't know how to pilot a ship, well i don't think i do"
Peridot looked embarrassed "i'm sorry red diamond.. i um i meant no offence I'm sorry" sweat beaded on her forehead.
Red looked at peridot she was slightly confused that peridot was so scared did she say something to her without realising, red opened her palm to find 4 green fingers they floated and automatically flew back to peridots hand as she stared up the ship and jasper closed the gate.
"Wait! what about the ruby's, we can't leave them behind" red diamond stood and hit her head on the ceiling causing a dent in the metal.
Poppy jasper flinched at the loud bang which caught her off guard "They will be fine we can collect them later, you are our top priority" Poppy jasper opened the gate again and yelled out to the crowd of ruby's "we will come back later stay here!" and promptly closed it again as peridot keyed in the coordinates to homeworld.
The craft lifted into the air and made its way through the atmosphere of the small planet, red diamond shuffled to one of the large windows to peer out and watch the bright orange clouds rush by and give a clear view of the planet below past the kindergarten, it was sparse with deep orange and red sand past the horizon, the massive sand dunes shifted constantly creating an ocean of sand.
red diamond was in awe, her daydreams cut by peridots voice "my diamond do you wish for me to contact white diamond now?"
Red still staring out the window watched as the further away from the planet "Sure" she turned around "I'm ready"
peridot nodded and opened a new panel to block the main window, a small camera floated in front of peridot and the split in half screen showed peridot and the other half a grey screen with a single white diamond in the center, a few moments later a grey and white gem appeared on-screen "this is pearl at the white diamond call centre who is making this call and state your request"
peridot straightened her back "This is peridot facet 3CQ cut 5XG, i request to talk with white diamond immediately it's very important"
Pearl rolled her eyes "look peridot facet 3CQ cut 5XG" she said in a snarky tone "i'm sure it is important but white diamond is very important and so is her time which i don't want to waste, now if this is not an emergency then call your systems communications hub"
"But" peridot stammered before orthoclase hung up the line.
"That was rude" red diamond said from the other side of the room
"That was disrespectful" poppy jasper marched forward and called again, her face taking up the entire screen.
The same gem appeared again "this is Pearl at the white.." she was interrupted by poppy jasper "put me on the line with white diamond immediately or you will regret it!"
"And who are you?"
"Poppy jasper facet 4F2 cut 9XP and this is an emergency we have found another diamond "
"I...i will transfer you immediately"
Poppy jasper smirked and left the screen for peridot "And that's how you get it done"
Peridot mumbled clod under her breath as poppy jasper stood next to red diamond the screen connected to show white diamond looking expressionless, her eyes merely glancing at peridot then returning to the multiple screens around her waiting for peridot to speak "what's the emergency then?"
Peridot fumbled with her salute "my diamond i have called to report about an incident in Alpha system 3XC planet Rhenium, our scanners picked up an abnormality in sector 5 and when we went to investigate and well...we found a diamond"
white diamond raised her eyebrows and turned to peridot "Where is she? show me"
As peridot turned the camera to red diamond, red gave an awkward wave.
"You must come to my headquarters at once, i trust you are on your way here now. when will i be expecting you to arrive?"
Red turned to peridot and she intervened "At the least 30 hours, this ship is built for short distance gem harvesting not for intergalactic travel my diamond"
White diamond ignored peridot and didn't break eye contact with red "And who else knows of your existence"
"Just peridot, poppy jasper the rubys and the gem on the communicator"
"The rubys?"
" when i woke there were many rubys"
"...come here as soon as possible where we can meet in person, i await your arrival" white smiled a sharp grin but it wasn't sinister.
"see you soon"
whites smile got even bigger then she cut the connection
"I can't wait to meet her she seems great" red relaxed next to the large window again and watched the stars go by lost in her thoughts she thought about everything that had happened so far. She knew what a diamond was and that she was born to rule she felt it inside of her a passion to lead and she knew about other gems that quartzes were warriors and pearls were servants, would she get a pearl? but there's a lot of things she didn't know about like what homeworld was and her powers which she could feel inside of her gem like a light burning sensation in her chest, would white diamond teach her all she needed to know and answer all her questions?
As the ship finally entered homeworlds solar system red perked up, the planet fastly approaching was massive compared to Rhenium, the planet was only 40% natural but considering its size the rural areas are worlds of their own, at the top of the planet was a dark storm with swearling clouds she hoped they weren't heading there.
Satellites and floating structures following the main ring that circled homeworld following its orbit and as they neared cities and settlements came apparent and they were heading to the biggest of them all.
"Is that the main city" Red stood up and ducked before she could hit the ceiling again.
"Yes my diamond i mean Red diamond we are here and we are going straight to white diamonds tower"
The city was sparkling with buildings 100s of ft tall, red's eyes widened as she spotted the massive laser guns following their move from the wall surrounding the city "will those be a problem?" she asked concerned.
"we have been given level 10 clearance" poppy jasper stood next to the window with red diamond "Oh those, don't worry about them those are just for security Red diamond"
The ship landed in the port and waiting was the pearl from the communicator as they stepped outside, the sky was a light purple filled with stars and ships she felt comfortable here, at at home.
"white diamond sent me she requests your presence immediately, follow me" the white pearl said as she bowed and turned.
The group of 3 followed her inside the tall white building that seemingly went on forever "you're a pearl right? do you belong to white diamond?" Red asked
White pearl leading the group to a large warp pad stopped and showed her identification to the 4 quartz guards guarding it "yes, white diamond owns many pearls and i am one of them"
"What is she like?"
Pearl stood on the warp pad as the rest joined her "My diamond is a kind and strong leader" the white pearl avoided eye contact and warped them to the top floor of the tower, Red made a not so graceful landing as she wasn't expecting to be moved so fast.
"woah" the room was humongous white marble adorned the floors and walls of the hallway on one of the walls there was a mosaic of every colour under the rainbow in intricate patterns and swirls, she approached the mosaic filled with 100s of individual tiles "Wait are these...gems, real living gems? " she placed her hand on the wall and brushed her hand over them.
"Those are just defects, my diamond is very talented and gave them a purpose" white pearl smiled and admired her diamonds work.
Red didn't say anything as she let the pearl lead them to a set of doors but turned back so see the reactions of poppy jasper and peridot, Poppy jasper didn't seem bothered about the 'art' and peridot only looked slightly uneasy she however was shocked was this normal here?! but kept composed as not to make a bad impression when meeting White Diamond.
White sat on her floating throne facing the large windows and balcony overlooking the city. 100s of white glowing screens surrounded her giving little light in the dark room "My diamond" white pearl stood tall with her hands clasped behind her back, whites chair swiveled around as she swiped the screens away and with a clap of her hand the room lit up in a bright glow.
"Ahh you are here" white diamond was taller then red, at least two heads taller, with a flash she teleported in front of her causing red to flinch "A red diamond, that's new how exciting" white crouched and looked into the gem on her upper stomach "yes definitely a diamond" she stood and grasped her hands "Welcome home"
"Thank you it feels great to be here" Red already liked her, her energy was great very positive and strong the only thing that put her off was her unnaturally large smile and pointed teeth
"We will get you sorted at once" white glanced to peridot and poppy jasper who saluted once they noticed she was staring directly at them "pearl! Send a quadrant to sector 5 of planet Rhenium, have the Rubies at that location shattered and harvested"
"Yes my diamond" white pearl left the room
"Clear quartz!"she called out and a large white gem holding a machete came out from a a sliding door that was invisible before.
"Shatter them" she pointed to peridot and poppy jasper as she put her hand on red diamonds back and lead her forward, peridot squealed and poppy jasper summoned her weapon a mace as the quartz approached.
Red diamond pulled away from white "What!?"
White diamond raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you doing this they did everything you asked of them!" Red felt adrenalin in her body things were going so well but this all came out of nowhere.
"Please...my diamond i'm so sorry please don't do this" peridot backed away and hid behind poppy jasper who was preparing to fight for her life.
"All will be explained soon enough Red don't worry about them, thats a sign of weakness" white wasn't phased by peridots pleas.
Red blocked white quartz "i'm a diamond too, white quartz i order you to stand down!" red diamond put up a good facade but inside she was shaking.
White quartz lowed her weapon and looked at white unsure who's order to follow
White put her hand on her chin she thought for a moment then grinned "Okay those two can live but they are your responsibility now " she motioned for white quartz to leave and poppy jasper de summoned her weapon, peridot fell to her knees "thank you thank you thank you!" between sobs
white diamond looked slightly annoyed "Shame they would have looked good on the wall...now red you have a lot of information you must know"
Red was surprised that worked and thought she would have to start an argument "do i get to keep them, as like a part of my court?"
White laughed "You're thinking far ahead love, no they are your subordinates let me explain what will happen now" White teleported back into her chair and opened her screens which expanded across the room.
"Yes you are a diamond but that doesn't make you a diamond of the authority first we must see if you are worthy" she flicked her wrists and 4 siverly bubbles surrounded her with a green, blue, yellow and purple gems inside.
Red moved closer "are those.. diamonds?"
"You have quite the eye, yes they are and you will join them until we have enough to start the tests, it will take a few centuries maybe even millennia to collect more diamonds but in statis you won't even know time has gone by"
Peridot and poppy jasper looked at each other in shock. Other diamonds they had never heard of any beside white then all of a sudden they find red and now 4 more what is going on.
"I don't understand"
"I know this is a lot to take in, peridot and poppy jasper wait outside a moment" white ordered
Red nodded to them and they left the room white relaxed a bit and smiled "Better, now being a diamond means power, leadership and most importantly perfection correct?"
"Correct" replied Red.
"But sadly that's not always the case in every gem type there are defects even ours. without me the empire would fall apart, gems across the system look to me for leadership but as the empire expands there is a lot more to do and i'm limiting myself and the gems when we could go so much further and advance so much more, but i cannot do it alone i will admit that so for the past few millenia i have searched for those to co rule with me but just any diamond won't do so i made the tests and trials you will complete to find the perfect diamonds."
"but i thought you and i were the only diamonds why is it kept secret that there are more of us?"
White grimaced "How to put this... a diamond is perfect we have the whole empire on our shoulders and any weakness will cause homeworld to crumble and collapse, if i let every diamond who popped out the ground rule we would all be dust for homeworld would have collapsed, so i weed out the weak with these tests. so far i haven't been successful but i'm hopeful one of you will succeed" she pointed her thumb to the floating bubbled diamonds floating on top of her "the gems of homeworld cannot know that there are weak defective diamonds or they would lose hope in us and there loyalty will falter"
"So you keep them in the dark, know one knows there are other diamonds"
"Exactly, well not everyone but they are sworn to secrecy like the gems you pleaded for, they will keep there mouths shut or else" white transferred the bubbled diamonds away "when i collect hmm lets say 8 or 9 diamonds the trials and tests will begin to see who is worthy, but for now you will join them in statis"
"what about the rubys you ordered to be shattered"
"You really think 30 ruby's won't talk about a new diamond?" she laughed "that's too big a security risk"
"Then have them bubbled and when i prove i'm worthy to join the authority they will belong to me" Red challenged
White diamond leaned back in her throne and put her feet up "you're still going on about them" White typed an order into one of her screens "Done"
"Good and thank you" red unclenched her hands
"Pearl!...PEARL!" white diamond yelled "Oh right i sent her off, go and get your gems from outside then i will put them in stasis with you" she motioned to the door
Red diamond nodded and left the room to find jasper and peridot talking next to the mosaic "i will explain later we have to go back in"
"You don't need to explain anything you saved us"peridot said enthusiastically "My diamond" she added and saluted and so did poppy jasper
"Well i have known you all my life" red diamond smirked and followed behind as they walked down the corridor back to white diamonds control room, red scooted to the mosaic and grabbed a gem from the wall a put it in her own gem without anyone noticing she was unsure who or what gem she picked up but she would find out later.
Back in white diamonds room "okay now poof them and put them in your gemstone"white commanded "And i didn't just give you you life just to kill you so don't start a fuss you two" white stated to type one handed on her screen.
"It's okay were are just going into stasis" Red diamond told them and poppy jasper nodded in understanding and summoned her weapon.
"wait wha.." peridot let out before poppy jasper poofed her then herself, Red diamond picked their gems off the floor and put them in her own gem "okay i'm ready"
white nodded and teleported in front of her and with a quick flash white diamonds pole arm was though Red diamonds chest and then poof she was gone.