The two Diamonds saluted one another. On some small level, Pink had always been slightly scared of Yellow. Gems didn't age and, by extension, didn't believe in seniority, which meant that no one Diamond had more power or authority than another (as Blue had once told Pink, after she confided in her, her opinion on Yellow), but Pink couldn't help but feel that Yellow was wiser, and more powerful than she was.

"Word has spread across all of Gem space. Everyone is talking about... The Diamond who won't build a colony." Yellow said, with her arms folded, scowling in disapproval.

Pink made her best effort to be brave and confident. "I don't care about gossip, Yellow. Frankly, I'm surprised you do."

Yellow inhaled sharply through her nose. "Do not underestimate the importance of this, Pink! A Diamond must command authority and power to all Gems! Not just the ones in your court, who, incidentally, are talking the most! Do you know what Gemkind is saying about you?"

"I think I already said, that I don't care, Yellow!" Pink said, bluntly.

"They're saying you're apathetic, lazy and unambitious!" Yellow snapped. "And frankly, I don't know how else I would describe a leader who spends two of her only planet's years, without ever setting foot on it!"

"Unambitious..." Pink said, slowly, beginning to anger. "Do you even know what I'm doing here? I told my entire court! Did that make its way down the gossip chain?"

"It doesn't matter." Yellow said, coldly. "You have a planet full of resources, you are neglecting!"

"I'm working to ensure that the resources on that planet last!" Pink said, angrily. "Once I can find a way to ensure that other Gems gestate in the same way I did, I can grow Gems for millennia, without ever sacrificing the organic resources the Earth's ecosystem produces! I have the ambition, to see the earth as an indefinite supply of Gems and resources, instead of just a short-term gain!"

"Potential resources are not as important as immediate progress!" Yellow insisted.

"You think so?"

Pink had been planning for her confrontation with Yellow for a while. She tapped the side of the display a few times, and a diagram of a complicated chemical compound appeared on Yellow's screen.

"You know what this is, Yellow?" She asked angrily.

Yellow frowned at Pink disapprovingly, lacking the emotional maturity to vocally admit that she didn't.

"It's a formula for biofuel, synthesized from the sap of the Terravore Tree. It's 120% more efficient than the fuel our Diamond Ships use. If this fuel had entered production, we could have had interstellar ships the size of Light Kites centuries ago! You know why we don't?"

Again, Yellow didn't, but didn't say so.

"Because the Terravore Tree is extinct! Because the only planet with the right conditions for growing it is..."

With some more taps on the display, Pink sent Yellow another image. This one was of a small planet, or rather, what was left of it. The entire surface was grey and lifeless, and it was cracked and broken. Massive chunks of the world had simply broken apart, and were hanging in orbit. It was as though the world had been burnt, and then crushed in some gigantic fist.

This image, Yellow did recognise. "Mine and Blue's kindergarten..." She stated, without emotion or remorse.

"You destroyed it..." Pink said, her voice filled with sorrow for the planet, and a yearning for Yellow to feel the same. "If the two of you had grown the way I did..."

"You do not represent the future of Gemkind!" Yellow interrupted, furiously. "You were made to support our expansion into uncolonised space! Not to resculpt our society on our behalf! The way you gestated was a freak accident, and I would thank you not to treat it with any more significance!"

Pink's face burnt red with frustration and anger. "How can you be so stubborn!? You'd rather stretch your court into nothingness, due to lack of resources, than update your archaic, and pointless way of doing things!"

"My... way of doing things..." Yellow cringed at Pink's lack of formality. "… gets results now! While you're daydreaming, your Gems' loyalty is fading! And when Gemkind discovers that there exists such a thing as a weak, vulnerable Diamond, it jeopardises us all!"

Pink ground her teeth, trying not to give Yellow the satisfaction of replying to her insults. "Yellow, in the nicest possible way..." She began, threatening with every syllable, to not be very nice at all. "Why don't you pay more attention to your own court and colonies, and keep your nose out of mine!?"

Pink made to end the call, but found the interface didn't respond. She jabbed at the icon angrily, but it had been locked open. Yellow leaned closer to her display, threateningly.

"Pink, listen to me very carefully. You are taking liberties that are not yours to take." Yellow said in a quiet, sinister voice. "One way or another, the Earth WILL become a colony. I suggest you return there, while you still have an opportunity to be its leader..."

With a single tap from Yellow. The call ended, and the display vanished into the diamond in Pink's hands. Pink slowly sank to her knees, with Yellow's words ringing in her ears. What did Yellow mean? Was she threatening to shatter her? To invade her colony? What could Pink do?

"Boy, she is a piece of work, am I right?"

Pink jumped slightly, having briefly forgotten that Green Pearl was there. Pink cradled her forehead and sighed. "She's so forceful... I wonder if Blue ever had this problem with her?"

Pink considered telling Blue or White about what Yellow had said, and the threatening way in which she had said it, but ultimately decided not to. They would probably think less of Pink, for not handling Yellow on her own, or worse, they might agree with Yellow, and put additional pressure on Pink.

"If it makes you feel any better, the other Diamonds don't take her as seriously as she'd like." Pearl said. "She's mostly just a lot of hot air."

That actually did make Pink feel slightly better. "Really?"

"Oh sure!" Pearl sniggered quietly. "Actually, there was this one time everybody likes to talk about."

Pearl cleared her throat and lifted her hands. With a gleam of her Gem, her hands and forearms morphed into somewhat caricatured puppets of Blue and Yellow Diamond. Pink gave a surprised and delighted gasp at Pearl's outrageousness and daring.

"The war with the Endromercs is getting out of hand!" Yellow Diamond's puppet squeaked, with a less than perfect impression of her voice given by Pearl, out of the corner of her mouth. "I need to throw all of my troops at the front line, like a primate, throwing poop!"

"Uhhh, I don't think that's a good idea, Yellow!" Said Blue. "If we pull back to sector 198-17, we can regroup, and then win for sure!"

The Yellow puppet began twisting left and right, flailing her lifeless, fingerless arms. "No! No! No! Pulling back is for losers, attaaack!"

Pearl's Blue Diamond puppet morphed into a series of other Gems.

"This is obviously a really dumb idea..." Said White Diamond.

"Yellow Diamond, did I hear that order right?" Said an Agate.

"I foresee you'll get your butt kicked." A Sapphire advised.

"I'm just a dumb Ruby and even I think this plan is stupid!" A Ruby had apparently said.

Pink burst out laughing. She couldn't believe Yellow had been so stubborn and idiotic, although Pearl was obviously exaggerating to a certain degree. Pink couldn't believe Yellow had had the nerve to criticise her for her initial jitters, about ruling a colony. It occurred to her that Pearl may have been describing the military campaign, Blue had mentioned.

"So, wait... why is there no record of this on the Galaxy Net?" Pink asked, between giggles.

Pearl frowned, as though confused. She turned to her hand which was morphed into Yellow Diamond. "I dunno... Why is that, Lil Yellow?"

"Because things are only true, if there's documented proof!" Yellow Diamond said. "If I erase all evidence of my big screw up from the Galaxy Net, it'll mean I'm not such a big knuckle head!"

While Pink burst into a renewed set of giggles, Peridot walked from the lab into the biome, carrying a large syringe of their new formulae, in her hands.

"Pearl!" She shrieked, in disapproval, and concern for Pearl's safety. "Stop that immediately!"

Pearl rolled her eyes, reverted to her normal form and crossed her arms.

"I know you like pushing her buttons, but what if Yellow found out about that?" Peridot sighed. "One of these days, she won't stop at yelling at you..."

"Don't worry, Peridot, I won't tell her." Pink said, reassuringly. She nudged her shoulder. "You have to admit, it's pretty funny."

Peridot smirked, reluctantly. "I suppose Yellow can act somewhat... rashly... can't she?" She smirked, as though proud of herself for being so outspoken. "I saw the call on one of the lab screens..."

Pearl gasped dramatically, and pointed at Peridot. "Rebel spy!" She accused.

Peridot ignored her. "Despite her communication skills, or lack thereof, I suspect Pearl is right. Yellow can be stubborn and impulsive, but I doubt you need worry about any threat you might have perceived."

Pink smiled, grateful for the condolence from the two Gems. "Thanks guys."

It certainly seemed to Pink, though, that the lesson from Pearl's story was more serious than the comedian Gem had made it seem. Pink's takeaway was that Yellow often acted on her base emotions, and favored immediate results, over long-term planning (something she had recently learnt, first-hand). Pink was convinced, more than ever, that if Yellow was tempted to intervene in Pink's colony, then there was little chance of her restraining herself.