"Take them back to the Tower, now."
"I. Won't."
"Then I'll do it MYSELF."
"You don't have to do this!"
"Yes I do! This is what White Diamond expects of ALL of us! From a thin flake of Mica, to the deepest, hardest, STONE! We all must make sacrifices, for the sake of our PERFECT EMPIRE!"
"Your first colony was an utter failure."
Yellow hung her head. She didn't need telling twice, but her superior seemed intent on reminding her of her shortcomings.
"I don't understand how you could manage to forego every single instruction I gave you and make such a fool of yourself. There shouldn't be leeway for the inhabitants of a planet to rebel. You are conquering."
The smaller Diamond remained silent. As much as it hurt, she knew she must bear the criticism.
"Have you anything to say?"
". . . No."
"You have embarrassed us. You have embarrassed me. You know what we must do with defective Gems, don't you?"
She kept quiet. When she raised her head, White was glaring at her.
"We shatter them," she made herself say, voice quiet.
Even though she was only a head shorter than the largest Diamond, she felt so much smaller, so much more insignificant. Blue had done just fine on her first colony. Why couldn't she have done the same?
Yellow knew she had been given the harder planet, but that should be no excuse.
"We will talk later. You may go to your room."
And she followed her orders, slinking away through the large white doors.
". . . and all of you must be dealt with. You understand that our Empire must be flawless."
Even though she detested what had to be done, Yellow made no objections to her superior. Across the room, Blue looked just as irked, but she wisely held her tongue.
The Gems lined up in front of them gave their last salutes. The Amethyst looked on the verge of tears, arms framing her cracked gem.
"You're disgusting. I hope you're shattered someday," someone spat.
Yellow stiffened. Her eyes flicked down to a Lapis Lazuli, standing defiantly with her fists by her sides. The gem on her forearm was split but shone brightly.
"6B, shatter them," White droned, and the Topaz she spoke to moved forward, brandishing her weapon.
Yellow closed her eyes against the scene, but that did not stop her from hearing the sickening cracks of their gems being crushed.
Her sixth colony had been a success, and yet Yellow had heard nothing from White in the last few hundred years. Was she not doing well enough? Did she need to exploit more planets?
Blue was ahead of her with seven colonies, and she envied her greatly. White clearly favoured her blue counterpart over her, and she didn't understand why.
She promised herself she would do better.
The newest addition to the Authority was . . . different. She was so small, and even though her gem orientation mirrored White's, she seemed to be utterly helpless. She was childish and, quite frankly, annoying. Only yesterday Pink had bothered her about having a colony of her own, and she was barely one hundred years old!
Both Blue and White seemed to share an affinity for her, even though she acted like a brat much of the time. Yellow would have words with her counterpart in the near future. The so-called "Diamond" needed discipline.
Pink had found her in her sauna today. She presented her with some strange, multicoloured organic. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be a rather erratic flower.
"I visited Blue's Andalusite colony," she said proudly, and brandished the plant. "I found this and it reminded me of you!"
She had to admit it was very yellow. And now, as the smaller Diamond all but shoved it in her face, she could see that though the petals were thin, they looked like stretched-out variants of her own gem.
She let her fingers brush the planes of her diamond.
"Yellow? Do you like it? You do, don't you?"
She was silent for a moment.
". . . It is a pretty specimen."
Pink beamed at her. "I know! I gathered a whole bunch of them. I have them in every colour — they're in my room. I'm trying to plant them to make the Authority symbol. White would love it!"
Yellow sighed. "Plants can only grow in soil, Pink. There is no soil on Homeworld, least of all in your room."
The Diamond appeared to wilt (much like the flowers in her room were doing, no doubt). ". . . Oh."
After a few moments of thought, she seemed to brighten up. "But planets have soil on them! I can plant them on a planet!"
"Not all planets have soil on them."
"But Blue's has! I can just put them back there."
". . . No, you can't. By the time the colonisation is completed, there will be no minerals left in the soil. The plants will die."
Pink looked crestfallen. Yellow gazed at her steadily.
Suddenly, the tiny Diamond stomped her foot. "It's not fair! I can't do anything I want! Why can't I have my own planet?"
Her senior sighed again. "You're inexperienced."
"I'm a Diamond too! I deserve a colony!"
"To do what with?" Yellow snapped. "To waste our time and its resources growing organic life? White will surely agree."
The young Gem shot her a poisonous look before storming out.
She needed to be taught a lesson.
The nerve of that Gem!
She didn't even act like a Diamond and yet she demanded her own worlds, her own Gems! It was one fad after another. First the flowers, then the pebbles she found on Nortira, and now colourful, wriggly organics from yet another of Blue's colonies.
Yellow had locked her in the Tower.
She needed to be taught how to be a Diamond. She couldn't go jeopardising colonies, disappearing on their planets and bringing back organics, leaving them with radio silence for days. It was nonsense.
And still, White met regularly with her and Blue, laughing, indulging in themselves, leaving her to do all the hard work. Everything was demanded of Yellow and yet nothing was given back. Some days she felt broken. The only support she ever got was from Blue, and yet she was always occupied with that bratty little Diamond.
She felt so alone. So unwanted.
Another Ball.
Even though she wouldn't admit it aloud, Yellow found the Balls amusing. There was something relaxing about watching Sapphires, Jades, Quartzes and clockwork Gems dance and drift together across the floor.
She glanced down at Pink. The little Diamond looked a little put out, but nevertheless she was always entranced to watch their Gems interact this way.
For a Gem created for one strict purpose, the youngest Diamond was certainly dynamic.
She was creative and, as Yellow found herself spending more time with her, thoughtful. From every colony she visited she brought back gifts for no reason at all. Yellow had the inkling Pink was forever trying to impress her.
She was intolerable at times, but she found herself warming to her. As much as she denied it in the beginning, she was bringing their family together, making it just that little more worthwhile to be around one other.
Pink lifted her gaze and was startled to meet Yellow's own eyes. She quickly recovered and beamed at her, gesturing at the multitude of dancing Gems.
Yellow nodded and smiled. Pink seemed satisfied and turned around, this time waving to get Blue's attention.
Pink's Balls were the only time Yellow got to see all her Gems so happy, free to forget their duties for the while and just enjoy themselves (in a uniform way, of course). Not even White could find a way to dampen her spirits here.
For the first time in centuries (perhaps since the time Blue emerged), Yellow found she was content.
Finally, Pink had been given her own colony, and she was ecstatic. Her joy was infectious and it affected even her new Pearl, who always seemed so serene.
Though Yellow had been too busy thus far to supervise Earth's progress with her, she had promised to take her down to receive her new Gems soon, to teach to her the courtly manners she must present herself with.
Though she was young, Yellow had confidence that the youngest Diamond was on her way to becoming a fully-fledged leader of her Court.
She would never let known her feelings to anyone else, but privately, just within herself, she vowed to keep Pink Diamond safe.
A/N:
I know, Yellow thinks things are finally going smoothly, and though Pink's excited about her new colony, she's at the unhappiest point in her life! You can hate me all you want :)