A Pearl's purpose has always been to serve.
She has known this since she was in the soil, feeling her purpose crystallize as her gem emerged from nutrient-dense earth into the light of Homeworld. Waiting with her sisters to learn which Diamond she would be assigned to, awash in the flurry of sensations that came from being, she felt equal parts fear and excitement and, finally, pleasure when it was her turn to be chosen - even greater pleasure still when her sisters gasped, awestruck, as her mistress descended onto the fields, beaming.
White Diamond's eyes were eager as well on that day.
For a time, she does her best. The imperial palace is large, and her Diamond's empire is even larger. Always there are records to be logged, meetings to attend, infrastructure to be developed. She does this quietly, meticulously, the shadow that her Diamond does not have. It pleases her to serve her Diamond.
Perhaps it pleases White Diamond too much.
What begins as an infrequent request soon escalates into a daily routine. She stands, trembling, in White Diamond's chambers, bathed in Her light. Her touch is supernova, the breadth of Her presence unfathomably immense. In Her stellate eyes, there is only empty desire. It is too much for her form to handle.
Foolishly, she dares to speak out.
White Diamond blinks, and she drops onto the ground, still splayed out like a specimen to be dissected. Her voice is ragged as she tells her Diamond that she cannot play this game any longer.
And then, she is waiting once more, frozen, to see if this is where her purpose ends. Instead, White Diamond laughs, a high, glittering sound. Her smile is the sun.
You have forgotten your purpose. Allow me to correct you.
Her Diamond's smile does not waver, lips set in their graceful lines, as She extends one perfect, radiant hand and gently brushes her across the cheek.
Cold fire explodes along her line of vision as she tries to scream only to find that she has no mouth with which to do it. There is a searing pressure blooming inside her head, vast and all-consuming as the gravity of a black star. Her atoms - her light - are splintering into fractal whorls and puddles of smeared color. It hurts. She is hurting.
Do not fret, says her Diamond. Re-alignment is necessary. Your pain will pass, and you will be whole again. As you should be.
It hurts.
From a pale, still plane, she sees herself screaming soundlessly into the ether.
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She emerges a second time, from formless impulse into warm matter, her atoms thrumming in harmony to the light that binds them. Half of her world is dark, but she pays it no mind. How could she, when her veins are filled with purest light, brimming with ecstasy?
Are you well, my stardust? her Diamond asks kindly. Have you had time to reflect?
And she doesn't need to speak at all because the answer is already there, clear in her mind for both of them to read.
She is pleased to serve.