"But all I know is nothing happens if you just give in
It can't be any worse than how it's been
And it just so happens that we just might win!
So whatever happens - let's begin!"
"This tyranny ends here! Are we going to let the Authority own us, like we're nothing? Are we going to do what they say without complaints? This world is ours, and we're worth more! This colony won't be completed! I urge you all to leave it or fight for it!"
At first it was just a game. A way to vent her frustration with her duty and purpose, breaking away from the dull boredom of Diamond duties. It's so exciting! she says at the end of the day, anticipating the next move.
Rose Quartz is flawless and fearless, the way Pink never felt. The masses cheers and follows her into battle when she raises her flags, urging them to stand up against the rule. It doesn't feel like hypocrisy; she tells herself she's different. Pearl, her beloved Pearl, is always by her side, giving her a reaffirming nod before she strikes against the soldiers sent to take them down.
Pink, alias Rose, wields her weapon with grace and strength. She taught herself and Pearl to fight – if only Yellow and Blue knew she could actually fend for herself, she muses. Her weapon is just as strong as theirs, and she has found her calling. She won't give up and she won't back down for anyone – not even her alter ego.
Some gems whisper: "Blue and Yellow are on their way to crush you! You'll go to trial for this, Homeworld traitor!"
"Let them come." She looks over at Pearl, moving like lightning by her side, then raises her own sword to cut through her opponents. Together they're a deadly pair of dancing brilliance, incapacitating but never shattering their opponents. I'd like to see them try to stop me.
They never come; they send soldiers to help. Pink is supposed to handle this on her own, and Rose defeats the soldiers as they are made. Eventually it's time to return to her moon base and play the role of the distressed dictator, desperately trying to convince Blue and Yellow once again that the Earth colony has to be abandoned.
But Yellow's pride and confidence is stronger than that, and Blue is equally ruthless. None of them has ever tasted defeat; no one has ever opposed their omnipotent ideas. Pink realizes that if she simply resigns, one of them will take the colony from her with force and finish what she couldn't. She has no way of stopping them, yet.
She watches the fights continue and she is no longer the small and deep cut Pink Diamond in a glass tower.
Returning to her Diamond self is the most boring part of the years, even though she is happy she won't have to battle for a while. Blue and Yellow has left her to deal with the colony herself; she has them on call if needed. Blue is more worried, and one time she brings her court to the Earth's atmosphere, in a futile attempt to stop the war.
Rose and Pearl advances on the palanquin, trying to force her to leave. They're successful, but have to flee themselves in the chaos that follows, into the protective vegetation of the Earth down below. One of their favorite hiding spot is a valley covered with thousands of splendid roses among the green bushes. Life on Earth is as flourishing as ever, untouched by the battles.
"It was so much fun today," Pearl says dreamily as she stores her swords in her gem. She loves the thrill of glory just as much as Pink does; and no one can stand in her way when she strikes. "But I thought Blue Diamond was going to discover us this time…"
"She won't," Rose promises absent-mindedly. "I love the fusion we met today. They were so complete, yet new! Isn't it beautiful?"
"Indeed, my Diamond," Pearl agrees, though she secretly can't hide the feeling gnawing inside of her that Rose's attention keeps diverting from her, with every new gem she decides to take under her wings.
Rose lets a bird land on her hand and watches it with fascination. "I remember the first time I saw a living, breathing creature…" she muses, smiling as Pearl comes closer to watch.
.
"Wow, look at this blob! It's so cute!" Overcome with excitement, Pink lifted up the green little creature in her hands. It had a small beak and large eyes, making a sound that made her giggle. She studied it closely, amazed by its ability to move its little arms. It had no gem, yet it was able to live. This jungle planet was definitely mysterious.
A large shadow loomed over her and she looked up. "Huh?"
An exact copy of the bird in her hands was towering above her; it was almost as tall as Yellow Diamond and much wider. It made a screeching sound.
"Oh, you must be a bigger blob!" Pink noted excitedly, when the little one jumped out of her hands and ran away. "And you're small just like me!"
The enormous creature charged at her with a furious hissing. She backed off quickly, smiling nervously. "Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to –"
The glob attacked her with an unexpected speed. She ran madly in the other direction, jumping through the vegetation until she collided with the leg of Yellow Diamond.
The older gem was about to enter the planet's Moon Base. "What have I SAID about touching ORGANICS?" she bellowed.
"But it was just so cute –"
Pink yelped when the enormous creature rounded a corner and charged at her again, but Yellow Diamond stepped in front of her with one resolute movement. Unfazed by the creature, she sent an electrical current from her hand which momentarily paralyzed it. When it stopped, the blob made a scared sound and sped away in the other direction, disappearing into the nearest bushes.
Pink breathed a sigh of relief.
Yellow glared at her. "Don't get close to the organic infestation again."
She picked Pink up and carried her into the moon base as she commanded orders to her Pearl. Pink crossed her arms in front of her chest, grimacing.
.
They soon meet the newly formed fusion Garnet on Earth, and Rose gains another follower who would die for her.
Returning to Homeworld is a task Pink hates, but she cannot avoid it. A Diamond has duties, and has to be present during certain events and trials; Yellow and Blue remind her often. She keeps up the façade, more bored than ever, ready to return to the battlefield. Pearl reminds her of the virtue of patience; she comforts her Diamond with the promise that it will all be worth it once they are free.
One day Pink walks into the large halls towards a gathering room, when she spots a group of gems passing her by.
"Keep moving forward! Into the Diamond chambers!" Several straight-necked Agates herd a group of colorful gems between them. The off colors follow silently, huddled together, heads drooping. One of the Agates brings up a whip from their gem, using it to make the gems move faster. "We haven't got all day!"
"Wait, what's going on?" Pink speaks up, causing the Agates to halt and salute her.
"A mass shattering for indecent fusions and off colors, my Diamond," the leader Agate informs her. "Yellow Diamond's order."
"No, you can't do that!" she bursts out, stepping forward. Pearl closes up behind her with an equally intense stare. "I'm a Diamond too, and I say you can't do that! I'm ordering you to let them go!"
The Agates, all with yellow uniforms, stares at her. Pink and Pearl rush past them into the chambers, seeing the terrified gems cornered among sharp stones.
"You can all go home!" Pink exclaims. "This is cancelled! Have a nice day!"
She grits her teeth as the off colors are escorted out again. This is wrong. I can't stand for this any longer.
"My Diamond, I will have to report this to Yellow Diamond," the leader Agate informs her dryly. She has no choice but to obey now, but her loyalty to her own Diamond shows through.
Pink is promptly scolded when the news eventually reach Yellow.
"You have made no progress with your colony," Yellow informs her coldly. "I expected more of you, Pink. But to interfere with my work is unacceptable. This won't happen again, do you understand?"
Still, she gets off easily; she is a Diamond after all. Yet Yellow reprimands her often and Blue tries to encourage her, and more than once she has caught the two of them talking - arguing - about her. She knows she is a burden.
Again it all returns. If she was made the way she was supposed to be, she'd be fine with this. She'd be a pride to her colony and someone for them to count on. Now she's just in between. At the end of the day she sits on the steps of her palanquin with tears running down her face. Pearl leans into her side, almost crying with her, holding her hands.
"What they are doing is wrong. What I'm doing is wrong. I must disappear, Pearl."
"Disappear?" Pearl's voice is frightful.
"If this is really my world, I want to live here with you and all human beings. I must pick a side." She looks with teary eyes to her only confidant, smiling despite it all. "Imagine all the things we could do when we're free."
"What about the other Diamonds?" Pearl knows she shouldn't ask, but she needs to.
Pink rolls her eyes. "They don't care about this colony. Pearl, will you help me do this?"
Pearl answers the only thing she can answer, but she does it with a feeling from deep inside her gem, and it feels like happiness. "Yes, My Diamond."
The idea of freedom sounds better than this life, and she never wants to put her swords away again and be a regular Pearl, who has to obey every rule, stand pretty like an object, and be directed by a hand clapping. Pearl feels bad for Yellow and Blue's Pearls – she has worked with them before and she knows they don't know what they're missing out on.
Pink hates playing that part too. Pink treats her like a friend, and Pearl has never felt more valued.
Their group has grown since they started. Bismuth makes their weapons and Garnet predicts what they need to know. Snowflake, Crazy Lace and the others are all by their sides in every battle, protecting each other. But Pearl knows she's more important than the rest. She is the only one who knows, and she will follow her Diamond through anything.
When the time finally comes, it comes too fast. Pearl wanted more time, more time to savor the secrecy of their game. Her purpose will be lost and she will be free, but she will always be bound to Rose.
She dutifully carries out her role in Pink's plan, even though the thought of using a sword against her beloved is agonizingly painful. She catches the Diamond gem in her hand and keeps it hidden.
Quickly she flees the abandoned palanquin, into the rose-covered hiding space in the woods. She collapses, transforms back into her true form, and cradles the Gem in both her hands as she waits. It's the longest wait of her life, but it takes only a few days for Pink to reform in her new form. When she does, she holds Pearl close.
From that day, Rose is unstoppable. Together with the Crystal Gems, the fight resumes. She gains more allies and is revered for her act; the terror reign of Pink Diamond is over. She sees Pink's most loyal soldiers break down and it hurts her, but she won't look back. Not anymore. Just like Pearl, she feels loved for the very first time.
She knows this is the right decision.
.
Garnet sees the attack incoming only moments before a blinding, terrible light lights up the sky.
It's frightening, a distorted ominous vibration and tone that make their gems want to crack into pieces. The heavy sound comes from the sky, moments after the last ships leave the atmosphere. Seconds ago the Homeworld gems were running towards their ships but not everyone made it in time.
Rose expands her shield but it's too late; she can only protect Pearl and Garnet, and Bismuth bubbled inside a lion she saved from the brink of death. They are all that remain when the furious light finally recedes and leaves behind an empty battlefield littered with corruption. Even through the reflective shield she can feel the painful, agonizing vibrations in the core of her gem - the sensation of having her gem almost torn apart.
She loses everyone else.
Rose crumbles inside. Why would they attack Earth when I'm gone?
When she and the others look for their friends, they're all gone. Their gems are still intact, but they will never emerge in their true forms again. They turn into terrified monsters and their fear and confusion hurts Rose deeper than anything she has ever seen. She and Pearl and Garnet are forced to destroy their physical forms when they attack.
Rose tries desperately to heal them, but the only thing she can do is to bubble them and keep them safe.
Pearl is overwhelmed by regret – if she didn't agree to do this, this never would have happened. The Diamonds would never have exacted their revenge if their beloved Pink never disappeared. Pearl cries for their lost friends too.
The war has finally ended and the Earth is free. None of the organic life has been harmed in the attack. With her friends' broken gemstones in her hands, Rose realizes that freedom always means sacrificing something else. She never thought the price would be so high.
I wanted to disappear and take the blow, and instead everyone else suffered.
There is no way to reverse what's been done, and she looks up to the sky with tears running down her face.
"I'm sorry."
Before she couldn't picture Blue's face distorted with agony, her cutting scream as she picks up the faked shards, or Yellow with gritted teeth and teary eyes. Now she can. She can see Blue leaning against Yellow's chest for support, the imposing silhouette of White behind them.
They're still out there and she will never forget them, but she can't go back. She wishes they would understand, like they never understood before, and she wishes she could embrace them, like she used to before. I love you all, but I love Earth more.
Pearl kneels by her side and together they gaze at the stars, hand in hand. It's a moment shared so intimately it feels like fusion. The corruption song still vibrates faintly in their ears; the gem-shattering frequency still lingers over the sparkling sea and empty beaches.
She remembers the happiness on Earth instead and vows to never let sorrow sully her again. She takes a hold of Pearl's hand as they honor their fallen friends.
Freedom has a high price, but to her it will always be worth it.
.
Author's note: Wow, the last episodes were so messed up. I was real upset by some of Rose's behavior and her relationship with Pearl definitely isn't all peaches and cream, but still it's so fascinating to me. I still love the Diamonds' dynamic so much. So excited for the next episodes. Gosh.
I would love a review! Let me know what you think!