Outside the barn, near the grassy hillside, Little Peridot was watching the sunrise. She lay in the grass idly, lost in thought.

You see, our little alien had a bit of a dilemma that she was trying to mull over.

It seemed as if every one of her gem companions had a weapon of some sort. Whether it was a pair of gauntlets, a bullwhip, or even a shield, all of the Crystal Gems possessed the power to summon arms from their being.

Everyone, that is, except Peridot.

She never really considered it, at first; she was a technician, after all, and had little use for such techniques in her line of work. Then again, upon taking residence on Earth, she began question a lot of things. And of course, just because her class defined her previous existence, didn't mean it defined what she was capable of. A certain pearl's apparent combat prowess had demonstrated this quite clearly.

Little Peridot sat up.

"Of course!" she said to herself. "I'll go ask an expert!"

So she did just that.

"Oh, you wish to know how I learned to summon my weapon?" asked Pearl in response. She had just finished drying off the dishes, placing them aside on the countertop to gaze thoughtfully ahead. "Well, it was shortly after the start of the Rebellion, and Rose had insisted upon ensuring everyone was fully equipped for combat." The slender gem's gaze softened as it settled upon the portrait of said leader. "Oh, you should've seen the way she commanded our forces! Not a single general could match the brilliance of our tactics. I remember when I first took the front line of…"

But Pearl was too busy being thirsty.

She didn't even notice Little Peridot as she marched away, determined to find someone with a bit more focus.

Garnet seemed the natural choice.

"You want to know how to summon a weapon?"

"Yes! Can you teach me?"

"Hmm…" The fusion held her chin in her hand, pausing for effect. "Yes."

"Great!"

…

…

…

"Well?"

Garnet suddenly raises her hands, the gemstones in her palms igniting a purple light. Her voice nearly shatters reality:

"You must link your mind with the energy of all existing matter- channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem!"

Peridot is close to fainting, the gravitas of the situation too much for her to bear. Though she has no idea why.

"Which results in…"

With a stylish display of her limbs, Garnet effortlessly summons her gauntlets, which materialize onto her fists.

"At least, that's my way of doing it."

It takes several minutes for Peridot to recover from her aneurism.

After experiencing what she conjectured to be a state of mental psychosis, Little Peridot concluded that she needed advice from someone a little more approachable.

That being said, Amethyst was much easier to talk to.

"Heeey, homegirl. What's goin' on?"

Ignoring the quartz's rather frightening way of ingesting food, Peridot gets right to the chase and asks for her advice.

"A weapon, huh? Mmm…" The purple gem swallows her last sub whole before continuing. "I dunno, I usually just… do it, y'know?" She plopped down from her perch to land beside the technician. "You've gotta just feel it, deep in your guts." Peridot flinches at the poke to her abdomen. "We gotta find out what your guts are tellin' you! C'mon, let's go!"

"W-wait," Peridot stumbled as she was dragged along by her touch-stumps. "Where exactly are you- wooah-!"

"Just go with it, P-dot! We've got a looong way to go…

Apparently, Amethyst's idea of "training one's 'guts'" had to do with gravity-defying stunts, travelling at neck-breaking speeds, and other such activities that left poor Peridot with more scrapes and bruises than she'd ever care to receive.

Once she finally escaped from the quartz's overly-zealous influence, Little Peridot took a moment to breathe, despite having a need for oxygen. After recomposing herself, she was left with a feeling of dread. Was there no one who could possibly help her?

Unless…

"I'm a genius!"

Little Peridot gazed intently on the gem before her. Who better to learn from than a gem who possessed centuries of combat experience?

"Jasper, I need your help."

The bubbled gem said nothing.

"I need to learn how to summon my weapon! You're the only one who can teach me!"

Still nothing.

"…Please?"

…

….

….

"Fine then! Be that way!" Frustrated, the green gem kicked the pink bubble across the chamber. Turning around, she cursed under her breath as she exited the room. "I knew I shouldn't have asked someone so useless."

It was hopeless.

Out of all the people she'd asked, no one seemed to have the answers Little Peridot was looking for.

She stalks miserably to the television, stopping next to the sitting Lapis Lazuli and falling flat on her face. In the background, she can hear the telltale sounds of Camp Pining Hearts' opening pilot.

The blue gem notices her and looks down at the pitiful display next to her. "You okay there, Peridot?"

She receives a muffled reply.

Lapis raises an eyebrow. "What?"

The muffled words become slightly louder.

"I can't understand you."

"I CAN'T SUMMON MY WEAPON!"

This earns a surprised expression from the water gem. "Oh." She blinks. "That sucks."

Peridot lazily sits up, her arms wrapping around her knees. She turns to her roommate. "How do you do it?"

Lapis doesn't really know how to respond to that. So she shrugs.

"RRRRRRGH!" the green gem throws her hands in the air, before letting her head fall onto her knees. "I can't get an answer from anyone! Pearl's a basket case, Amethyst nearly killed me, and I don't even understand what Garnet does!" A small sob escapes her lips. "Why does it have to be so difficult?"

Lapis hums to herself worriedly. The water gem can't help but take pity on her companion. Suddenly, she gets an idea. Smiling, she stands up and unfurls her wings.

"Wait here," she assures the green blob. "I think I know someone who can help."

"Hey, Peridot."

"Steven."

The boy glances behind him, seeing Lapis and the others urging him forward. He takes a couple steps through the grass to sit beside Peridot. They watch the sunset together before he speaks.

"You know, when I first started living with the gems, I had no idea how to summon my weapon."

She lifts her head, only slightly, to look at him.

"Yeah, it took me a long time to finally figure it out. One time, I was even convinced that it came from eating ice cream!" Steven laughs to himself at the memory. Peridot remains silent. He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I realized, later on, that there's no real, right-or-wrong way of using your gem. It's different for everyone."

"Each of us has to find out our own way of doing things. That's how I learned how to summon my shield." He lifts his shirt to look at his gem. "I think about what's important to me, the things I care about, the people I love; and how I'd do anything to protect them." Letting go of the shirt, he turns his eyes back to Peridot. "But that's just how it works for me. Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst- even Lapis has their own way of doing things. Finding out who we are, and what we want to be, is part of that." His hand rests on her shoulder. "And I know that somehow, you'll find your own way too."

Peridot sits up slightly. "But how long do I have to wait?"

Steven shrugs with his arms. "It might be today, might be tomorrow- maybe even later than that." He stands up. "But however long it takes, you're still Peridot. Whether you've figured it out or not, we wouldn't be the same without you." Smiling, he reaches a hand out to peridot. "And when you do figure it out, it'll be in your own, Peri-ish way."

Peridot takes his hand and stands up.

"Yeah," She pauses, before grinning. "Hey, yeah! I'll figure it out all on my own- after all, I am the single most resilient Crystal Gem! Why, I'll bet I'll have it figured out by tomorrow , it's just a matter of time before…"

"Oh, great," Pearl groans. "Look what we've done now."

Garnet smiles knowingly. "That's our Peridot."

Lapis tilts her head. "Can we get rid of her now?"

Everyone laughs.

Author's Note: I might add an omake to this at some point. Who knows?