Code Diamond
(notes): SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 OF STEVEN UNIVERSE
Steven Universe was created by Rebecca Sugar, I own only my writings.
If you are not caught up on episodes, I do not recommend reading this.
Really.
(This started out as a comic, but then I just gave up, perhaps I'll draw it out later)
(I wrote this after the season 3 finale, so if we get more evidence later, sorry)
Don't you ever wonder what the stories lost in time said,
The ones that were never written, spoken,
But never forgotten
O*O*O*O
She had planets, moons, daughters.
She had an empire.
The eldest daughter was powerful, commanding, and strict.
The second was calculating, orderly, cold.
Both were fine leaders
But the queen was not satisfied. The queen did not see her daughters as worthy to take the throne. They were both impure; the eldest a nitrogen yellow, and the second a boron blue.
None of them were worthy; White Diamond decided that what she was missing was a third daughter.
~O*O~
The queen had a royal kindergarten prepared; it would take all the planets that she could spare to create a diamond.
The empress hoped it would be worth it, it had been a long time since she had formed a diamond and resources were no longer as plentiful as they had once been. Nevertheless, the plan went on as written.
When the diamond emerged, the queen was surprised that it was pink. No one had seen a diamond that color before, but the common gems thought that she was beautiful. White Diamond grinned, a rare diamond, perfect.
The Empress gifted the new diamond with a fresh planet, prime for colonization, and a pearl to start her conquest. Although the young diamond seemed naïve, the Queen was fairly satisfied with the results.
The youngest was naturally quite beautiful; her skin a delicate shade of light pink, and her eyes gleamed with energy. The common gems often whispered about her beauty, her kindness, how her pearl didn't look like her; what a strange master.
Pink Diamond did not bother to tell them that she had let her pearl customize themself. The pearl had been surprised; servants were not supposed to have choices. The lower gem was careful to design a simple outfit, comfortable, and easy to move it, perfect for serving her diamond.
~O*O~
Diamonds often ruled over their planets from a distance, not bothering to touch the surfaces that the common gems treaded on. The youngest however, was different. She could not stand staying on homeworld or in the moon base that the Queen had built for her. She wanted to explore, to see things, not to stay inside.
Changing her form to better suit exploring, the youngest slipped away from the moon base more and more often as she discovered new things.
She named the planet "Earth"
And slowly,
She began to fall in love with nature, animals,
Life.
~O*O~
The planet already had one kindergarten set up, courtesy of the Queen, and the youngest was curious. She allowed the kindergarteners to begin. The gems chose to begin with simple quartz soldiers, loading the gem seeds into the injectors, they began.
Pink Diamond was horrified.
The gems emerging sucked away all of the life in the area. The ravine, once teeming with life had started to become grey and colorless. The kindergarteners were ordered to stop, but they could not abandon the rest of the newly sown gems.
The youngest visited the kindergarten at first, but as time passed, the land became more and more barren. Soon she began to avoid it entirely.
~O*O~
After a while, the youngest began to grow lonely, her pearl refused to speak and the soldiers were made to defend. She wanted someone that she could talk to.
One night, she was woken up by screaming. It was a luxury to sleep away time, unfortunately it also left gems vulnerable. The youngest brushed through the curtains of her bed just in time to watch a ruby be dragged away. Her face froze as her gaze dropped to the floor, the shattered remains of a pearl glistened upon the floor, her pearl.
A new pearl was ordered; White Diamond did not understand why Pink Diamond was so sad, after all they were easily replaced. Nevertheless, the Empress was worried, common gems rebelled occasionally, but this one… it had gotten so far… it made her child look weak.
The youngest was told to get more guards.
She wanted someone that she could talk to.
Pink Diamond began to dream of a new gem, perhaps one that was intelligent. Strong, yet kind; as such a gem did not yet exist, the youngest felt obligated to create the gem herself.
Turning her imagination into reality, a new type of quartz soldier was born.
The others were baffled, why would a diamond need to create a new gem when they already had perfectly good quartzes already?
Nevertheless, they couldn't help but admit that Pink Diamond's Rose Quartz was one of a kind. Beautiful pink curls and full lips, not to mention her skill in combat. Her thick yet elegant sword was rumored to be made by Pink Diamond herself.
The youngest was satisfied; the new type of quartz was a defensive build, more for protecting than attacking, and best of all, the gem was kindhearted. Rose Quartz replaced the jaspers guarding Pink Diamond, and the two pink gems soon grew to be best friends.
The Queen was a bit worried that her youngest had yet to begin her era of conquest. It was okay, White Diamond convinced herself, she had been a late bloomer as well.
~O*O~
Rose Quartz and the youngest's second pearl soon became close friends as well.
The quartz took it upon herself to teach the pearl sword fighting after the servant showed interest during one of Rose's training sessions. It was uncommon for a pearl to be skilled in combat, but Pink Diamond didn't mind so the lessons went on.
Soon Pearl and Rose Quartz fought together to defend their master from various assassins and threats (which were dismissed as 'defective gems' by the others)
They got the feeling that not everyone liked Pink Diamond eventually, but they knew that all of their master's gems were loyal.
It was just how she was, even though she had the smallest army, the youngest's loving nature showed when she talked, when she led, when she smiled.
And so, Pink Diamond's army was by all means, the most loyal.
~O*O~
The eldest and the second were not amused; they sensed that something was different about their youngest sister. They did not like how the Queen favored her, if this kept up, they might not get the throne. So the two sisters set up a plan.
They worked together to influence the Queen.
"It's a shame…she'll be seen as weak; when I was this old, I already had three planets"
The Queen was worried, it had already been a few thousand years, but the youngest hadn't tried to conquer anything, she seemed satisfied with 'earth'. It was undiamond-like behavior.
Pink Diamond wasn't too surprised when the Queen told her to begin conquering. But, the youngest had been given many tours of fully conquered planets (courtesy of her sisters), and she was horrified by the lack of organic life.
Yes they had been beautiful,
But in a horrifying kind of way,
In a lifeless way
She couldn't bring herself to do it.
~O*O~
The eldest grinned at the absence of action from Pink Diamond. With a couple well placed sentences, the second sister managed to convince the Queen that she should be worried.
When parents get worried, they get controlling
With a heavy heart, the Queen told the youngest that she would colonize earth for her
So Pink Diamond could begin on other conquests
The youngest was horrified; she could not bring herself to harm earth,
Or any other planets.
Sensing hesitation, White Diamond's eyes narrowed
"This is not a suggestion, if I don't see change soon, I'll have to give you a push"
"This is only because I love you"
Pink Diamond was surprised to feel the tears
She did not understand, she had never seen a gem cry before
Closing the channel with the Queen, the youngest went to find her quartz
A trail of tears slowly crystallized on her face
~O*O~
"Isn't there a better way?"
"I know I can't fight her forever… I'll end up hurting more planets…
I'd rather…"
Rose nodded, a sad smile
What had to be done must be done
~O*O~
So the once loyal quartz started a rebellion
The pearl was confused; she was not sure what to do, loyalty won, she stayed
The youngest grimaced; the pearl had to go with Rose…
The words were like knives as they slid out of her throat
Her pearl fled
The youngest cried again
~O*O~
The rebellion grew
More and more gems from other diamonds joined
Pink Diamond pretended to be surprised, but she didn't have to pretend to be sad.
The youngest claimed a second planet, a doomed planet
The Queen relaxed, Pink Diamond felt her insides churn
The ice covered planet was named 'Mars', the youngest felt that it was fitting
It was never added to the moon base mural, it's story was lost in time
Gem production carved out what began to look like craters, the ice vanished
Drip drop dripdrop
~O*O~
Yellow Diamond presented her sister a gift to replace Rose
A seed of an exceptionally strong jasper
It had not gone as the sisters planned, but the situation could be worked with
New plans were underway.
After all,
What comes from a diamond returns to that diamond
~O*O~
The kindergarteners hastily threw together a second, smaller kindergarten on earth to form the gift, meanwhile throwing in a few extra gems.
The single gem that came out right was the gifted one. It was as if it had stolen the others' nutrients, a strong soldier in a field of weaklings.
The jasper was made to serve and protect the youngest, and she did love the quartz, but Pink Diamond knew that it would never be like Rose.
The jasper was loyal, but it was fooled just like everyone else.
~O*O~
The rebellion grew,
And grew,
And grew.
Soon even the common gems knew about it,
Pink Diamond smiled a sad smile,
It was time
~O*O~
An audience had gathered,
The youngest had made sure of it,
But it was mostly common gems; no one would pose a threat.
A single figure arrived, her pink curls waved in the breeze
A declaration was made.
Enraged, the others tried to defend, only to be struck down almost instantly.
Hurt enough to not be able to fight, not hurt enough to poof
They couldn't do anything,
could only watch…
As Rose Quartz stabbed Pink Diamond
…
…
The youngest of the Diamonds,
The most loved of the Queen.
The sword perfectly pierced through the youngest's gem,
As the cracks spread, a loud splintering echoed through the room
Tears splashed down, drip drop dripdrop
"Protect my planet"
The gem whispered before it all went dark
"Of course, my diamond"
The other whispered
~O*O~
A white light glowed,
Crack,crack,…
A shattering sound exploded through the room
A figure calmly walked away from the explosion, dust covered sword in tow
A single tear slid down her cheek
The plan had worked, so why was it so bittersweet?
~O*O~
A pearl clutched her mouth in horror
She wasn't supposed to be watching, Rose had told her not to,
Transparent tears slid down from her eyes
One after another
w-what was this?
Through her haze of tears, she couldn't help but see the embrace
Read their lips,
She finally understood
It only made her sob harder, shoulders shaking; the pearl pressed close her mouth to prevent from crying out
Her new master walked away from her old master in a burst of light.
Seeing Pearl like that, Rose understood, sheathing the sword, she picked up the crying gem
A boost of air and they were off, flying away from the shards of their past
"Be strong, Pearl… Do it for her"
Rose smiled, it didn't reach her eyes
~O*O~
The jasper screamed, a horrible anguished sound,
If only she had been there,
She could have…
Her face hardened, gems shouldn't cry
"Who did this?!"
"It was her" They whispered "Rose… Rose Quartz…Pink Diamond's quartz… the leader of the rebellion"
Jasper would never forget the last thing her diamond had said to her
"Stay safe, my perfect jasper"
Would never question the timing of the mission. Never ask why she needed something so far away
And Jasper would always remember that hateful name,
How could a quartz betray her own diamond?
'Rose Quartz' it burned in her mind
~O*O~
The shattered pieces were carefully collected
Placed in the hall
Every time a diamond walked past that frame
They can't help but notice
The single missing piece
~O*O~
Despite being glad, the eldest and the second twisted the event in favor of homeworld.
Yellow Diamond took back her jasper, looks like an insider was no longer needed, and returned it to her ranks.
Blue Diamond visited the planet briefly during the war to keep the troops in line, alas, she never got to claim it as her own.
White Diamond was in mourning, inside she knew, how could she not have, but a mother could never give up on their child. She showed complete apathy* during the war, she was past caring.
With a strange domino effect, the diamonds started the war,
but in the end,
The rebellion won.
No one is ready for change, but change always comes.
~O*O~
The Gem War
This was the story of its beginning,
The rest is your job to discover
O*O*O*O
(Notes)
Ahhhhhhhh, I couldn't stop forming theories in my head about Pink Diamond and Rose's relationship after Earthlings O-0
(This is a oneshot, sorry U-U)
*(definition) apathy: a lack of interest, emotion, passion
I really couldn't stop finding a way to justify the shattering either, I know not everyone is kind, but I know that everyone has some kindness in them. U-U
Wow, typing this out really turned most of this into my headcanon,
I know that most of this won't be cannon, but that's okay :D Perhaps in an alternate (angsty) universe UwU (I secretly hope that cannon is more sad than this, I am evil :)
Inspired by theories, code geass (it's a gr8 anime, go watch it really), and science.
(The rest is boring theory justification, read on if that's your forte)
-Pink Diamond is the youngest- If you look at all of the moon base murals you can see that all of the diamonds have orbs around them, White Diamond has the most, Yellow Diamond has the biggest, and Blue Diamond has the most orderly. But Pink, she only has one, with one moon, which I am taking to be the earth. The murals also vary in complexity, white and yellow diamond's being the most complex. Perhaps suggesting that they are older? And last but not least, on the diamond insignia, white is at the top. Blue and yellow are in the middle and pink was at the bottom.
-Pearl was there- After eyeball told the gems and rubies about her witnessing the shattering; did you see Pearl's reaction? Amethyst didn't know, and Garnet was like 'meh' but Pearl? Pearl looked like she was about to throw up. I know Steven was horrified that his mom shattered someone, but Pearl looked sick on a whole new level. Almost as if she was there?
-Diamond color= purity- Okay, so I did some research on how different colored diamonds are formed and get this, transparent (white) diamonds are the most pure! Yellow diamonds are yellow because of high levels of nitrogen. Blue diamonds are blue from high levels of boron. So blue and yellow diamonds are impure, not as good as white. Green diamonds are from radiation, and pink diamonds happen from warps/ missing parts in the diamond's lattice. So Pink diamonds are defects. (and that stems another theory about diamonds killing each other doesn't it?)
-Jasper- She is so hard to write for because I don't quite understand her yet, but after watching a few clips, I feel like I have a better grasp. We know that she was Pink Diamond's jasper which means she had to have been made when PD was alive. But she talks as if she was meant to replace Rose Quartz "I've been fighting since the moment that I emerged, because of what you did to my diamond" At first I thought that this meant she emerged AFTER PD was shattered, but then why would PD even be her diamond? I also find that despite everything, Jasper seems to want to impress Rose (When she held up the two poofed gems in front of Steven, Connie, and Pearl). She would have big footsteps to fill if she was meant to replace Rose which equals constantly comparing herself to Rose. I actually like Jasper a lot as a character heh,heh…. O-O;
-White diamond is ruler- The orb that the white diamond mural is holding, I think that it is supposed to represent homeworld. As in the original planet. Also, white is at the top of the diamond insignia so I see her as a leader figure. It's just my headcanon that she is their 'mother' since all gems are technically sisters, I just find it more interesting. Hey, she hasn't been introduced yet for a reason, right?
-The moon base was built by White Diamond- idk, I watched a theory, It's made of white material? (but so is the moon so ehhh)
-Only something made by a diamond or another diamond can shatter a diamond- I just thought that this was interesting because in real life, diamonds are pretty tough :D
My fingers tire of typing, so I'll just leave now OwO; this is the longest thing I've ever written X)
(kudos if you caught that Undertale reference)
(double kudos if you got down here, you get a hug :D
Goodbye,
~PhysikLily