"Log Date 7-11-2," Peridot spoke to the tape recorder, "It's the third rotation of the Earth since commencements of a..." She inhaled deeply, "collaborative approach to stopping the Cluster."

"I've finished drawing the blueprints for the drill head!" Pearl called out to her, "Peridot, if you could come take a look at this."

Peridot begrudgingly ended her recording and stepped outside, "Remind me why I should listen to you? Oh, right." She played a recording;

"...The Pearl here has exhibited an aptitude for engineering that I begrudgingly respect, though that doesn't explain the spontaneous singing, crying, singing while crying."

Amethyst snickered as Spinel asked, "What's with the recorder?"

"Well, she doesn't have her stuff anymore," replied Steven, "I thought it might make her feel a little better."

As the green Gem played her recordings of her saying 'clod', Spinel placed a hand on her chin, as if thinking of something... and Garnet walked over to them, "Alright, I chased away those cows, let's get to work."

Peridot cleared her throat, "Before we begin, would you mind un-fusing? It's making me incredibly uncomfortable."

The Crystal Gems stood silent.

Garnet finished tying the leash onto the fence and walked away, with Peridot protesting.

"Do we really have to do that?" Steven asked, while Pearl and Amethyst were setting up parts and pieces.

"Her having free reign of the place made me incredibly uncomfortable." responded Garnet.

Spinel, seeing Peridot struggling to reach a microwave, walked over to her, laid on her knees, and pushed the item over to her. The green Gem scowled at her, "I was just about the reach that."

"You're welcome," Spinel kindly replied. Peridot was puzzled by Spinel's patience with her, but tried to ignore it as she tried to get the microwave open.

"... Need help with that?"

"NO! I just need some sort of... leverage optimizer..."

"Leverage optimizer? You mean..." Spinel looked around, "A screwdriver?"

Peridot blinked at her, "If that's what you call it, yes." Before she could reach for it, Spinel handed her the screwdriver just as Steven and Amethyst walked over.

"Ey, Stretch," Amethyst greeted, grinning, "How's Peridot holding up?"

Spinel shrugged, "All is good, I just handed her the... 'leverage optimizer'."

Steven and Amethyst were confused until they saw the screwdriver in Peridot's hand and they began to snicker, much to Spinel's confusion.

"He-Hey, Peridot!" Amethyst pointed at her nose, "What do you call this?"

"A scent sponge."

Steven curiously poked his nose as the purple Gem began to laugh, though Spinel wasn't agreeing with what she was doing.

"Okay, what's this?"

"Vision sphere."

"They're called 'eye-balls' Peri-"

Amethyst cut Spinel off, wiggling her fingers, "Peridot, these?"

"Touch stumps."

"This?!"

"Gravity connectors."

"THIS?!"

"THAT'S YOUR BUTT!"

Amethyst and Steven laughed hysterically, but Spinel stood up, "ALRIGHT, that's enough, you two! We are not making fun of how others see the world!"

"Aw chill out, Spinny!" Amethyst leaned against her, "We're just having fun! No harm done!"

Steven chuckled, "That rhymed!"

"Making fun of others isn't funny!"

"... Funny?" Peridot raised a brow, confused, "What's that?"

Ignoring the others and moving to make Amethyst fall to her side, Spinel tried to explain, but Steven spoke up, "It's what you are!"

Pearl then came over, "Peridot, if you can get the magnetron out of that microwave, we'll have everything we need... except for the drill head."

Spinel seemed to agree, "Yeah, where the heck do we find a giant drill head?"

"Why don't I just get an Injector drill head from the Kindergarten?" Peridot suggested.

"... Oh, well," Pearl considered the idea, "I guess that's something you can try."

"She's not going to the Kindergarten without a chaperone!" They heard Garnet shout.

"What?!" Peridot sat up, "You've got to be joking!"

Garnet placed the tires down, "You'll know when I'm joking."

Peridot sighed in annoyance.

"Me and Steven can go with her!" Amethyst offered happily.

"Yeah!" Steven agreed, "We'll keep an eye on her!"

Garnet nodded, "Approved. Keep her in line."

"Uh..." Peridot glanced at Spinel, "Can... she come along as well?"

Spinel blinked, but smiled, "Of course."

At the Prime Kindergarten

"Log Date 7-11-2," Peridot said, holding her recorder and leaning against the injector, "The Amethyst, the Spinel, and the Steven have volunteered to help me dismantle this Era 1 drill. How stylistically displeasing. The newer ones have a nicer finish."

"You making more nerd notes?" Amethyst teased.

Spinel groaned, "Oh my stars- Amethyst, don't start."

"What?" Peridot stopped her recording, confused, "What does she mean by 'nerd'?"

The pink Gem sighed, hopping off the injector, "Nerd is a way to describe someone who's knowledgeable at technology, which is nothing to be ashamed about." She narrowed her eyes at Amethyst, who simply snickered.

"Yo Stretch, chill. There's no shame in a little fun."

Steven hopped down as well, "Yeah, cut it out!"

Peridot scrunched her nose, whispering to her recorder, "As you can see, this planet is annoying and everything is annoying. Amongst its… transgressions is the need for the Amethyst or the Spinel to ask permission from the permafusion."

"Perma-fusion?" Amethyst glance over to the short Gem, "Is that what you call Garnet?"

Peridot scoffed, putting away her recorder, "I could call her lots of things! I could call her two things! Two clods! Walking like she's… one clod!" She snickered.

"Alright, that's-"

"Hey Peridot! Do Spinel next! What's weird about her?"

"Hmm," Peridot pondered, examining the pink Gem, walking around her, pulling on her dress, inspecting the white bow around her waist, and even staring at her spiky pigtails, "Well, that depends on her purpose. What was your purpose before you joined these guys?"

Spinel bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming, "... I was made to entertain…"

"... Pffft! Entertain? With that appearance?!" Peridot began to laugh, even Amethyst joined in, "You must be joking! You don't even look the part!"

Spinel's fists clenched.

"I mean, look at you, you're a total mess! Not in a defective way, of course, but you certainly could scare any other Gem back on Homeworld! Dull colors, dark pink dress with black, spiky hair, and those black lines on your face! They look like tear-stains! What kind of 'entertainer' would have that?"

"Peridot, please stop…" Steven's worry grew, but Amethyst, still grinning, blocked him from walking over.

"Even your own gem! I do say, it's got great facets and edges, it's perfectly cut. Whoever made you must've been setting you up to be the best! In fact, it's in the shape of a heart. Has it always looked like this?"

"... No..."

"Ha ha ha ha! Then why is it upside-down?!" She guffawed, "Seriously, what were you supposed to look like?!"

Spinel glowered, "You really wanna know?"

Peridot nodded, unaware of Spinel's boiling anger, "Of course, just for a minute or two."

Sighing, and with all her strength, Spinel glowed white, her gem turning right-side up, and her whole appearance changed. When the glow faded, a new Spinel appeared, this time having; heart-shaped buns, brighter colors, no tear-stains, white top with rounder sleeves, no dress, and round squeaky shoes, through her eyes did remain the same.

While Amethyst and Steven stood dumbstruck, Peridot was in awe, eyes forming stars, "Wow... you look even better!"

Spinel was about to protest, but Peridot began to examine her form again, "Yes, now you look like an entertainer. Heck, why did you even change your look at all? You look better this way!"

"No thanks, I'll just..." She glowed white and changed back into her original form, "Stay this way."

Then Peridot took a few steps away, a hand on her chin, "Well, I have made my conclusion. Spinel, you're the only one of the Crystal Gems who's actually a Gem!"

Spinel froze, so did Steven and Amethyst, her smile fading into a frown.

"W-What do you mean?" She asked.

"Come on! Isn't it obvious?" Peridot jokingly exasperated, "You've got everything a Spinel needs from what I've seen, and if we ignore your design, you aren't even defective! Steven's just a hybrid abomination, needing to be fed and expel it, Pearl doesn't have an owner, Garnet's a fusion, and Amethyst... she's got what a Quartz needs, but just... stayed in the Earth too long, no wonder why she's so short."

Amethyst tensed up, "Short?"

"Well, yeah!" Peridot grinned, "Now for you, you're supposed to be a Quartz soldier, but they're usually big, strong-muscled, and very loyal. And from what I can see, your hole's way smaller than the rest! I presume it's been... 500 years since you emerged? Ha! No wonder you're-"

"OKAY." Spinel angrily interrupted, "We're officially done talking about this. Amethyst, what do you say we get the drill and leave?"

"Sounds great," deadpanned Amethyst as she severed the drill head. The pink Gem grabbed it and the two began walking away.

Peridot nodded, crossing her arms in approval, "Heh, at least they're both strong, right, Steven?"

However, Steven glared at her, eyes glistening and he followed behind the Gems. Peridot stared after him, bewildered, wondering if she had said something wrong.

"Oh, it's lovely!" Pearl said as she checked the drill head, "To think we'd be using the same technology that started all this to fix it! This drill is pure irony!"

"Sure is..." Spinel murmured, making sure her back was turned on Peridot.

"Actually, it's mostly carbonite," Peridot pointed out. Steven remained silent as Amethyst passed by them, "Oh oh oh oh! Amethyst!"

Amethyst stopped and turned her head, still peeved.

"Check out this…" Peridot picked up a hammer, "Hm… Rhythmic pulverizer?!" She fell backwards and laughed at her own joke.

The purple Gem didn't laugh, "Whatever." And walked away.

Peridot sat up, confused, "Wha ...?" She turned her attention to Spinel, "Hey hey! Spinel!" The pink Gem didn't turn and she left as well.

"... That was the incorrect response." said Peridot, "Why aren't they laughing at my joke? Why isn't Spinel looking at me?"

Steven glanced at her, "You hurt their feelings."

Peridot stared at him, "Hurt their feelings?"

"Yeah, what you said back there was… awful."

"Awful? I wasn't awful! I was being cool!"

"No, you weren't. Look at their faces, they're clearly not happy."

Peridot squinted her eyes, noticing the look in Amethyst and Spinel's eyes as they talked with Pearl and Garnet. Almost as if her spirit faltered in her, Peridot mumbled, "... Why do I feel… smaller?"

"Cause you feel bad!" Steven replied, sharing their anger, "You made them feel awful! Spinel likes the way she is and Amethyst is self-conscious about herself, and you just told them that they were… wrong."

The green Gem was stunned, slightly horrified. She tried to defend herself and maybe insult them, but the words felt stuck in her throat. As Steven left, Peridot glanced over to Spinel, who was now glaring directly at her, and she cowered from their eye contact.

Feeling ashamed, Peridot rubbed her arm.

As some time passed, Peridot was working on the drill, all alone with the leash still tied to her. Apparently, being unable to encounter Spinel and Amethyst to apologize, her guilt had manifested into frustration as she tried to work on the controls.

"This little thing…" She grunted, fumbling around.

Peridot then noticed Amethyst and Spinel walking past her, not giving her a glance. Grumbling, she turned back to her work, hearing another pair of footsteps.

"How's everything going up there?" Steven called up to her.

"Fine!..." She snapped, "There's nothing wrong! Everything's fine!" However, she accidentally pushed a button, turning on the drill, and she began to panic, "Ah! No no no no no NO! STOP!"

Steven became worried, "Peridot?"

When the drill began to spin rapidly, the short Gem fell off, landing near Steven and coughed, "The panel!"

Thinking fast and ignoring Peridot's protest, Steven hopped onto the drill, continuing to spin out of control. Peridot tried to chase after him, but her leash caught onto a piece of rock, making her fall to the ground.

"What's going on-" Spinel ran out, seeing the boy stuck in the uncontrollable drill, "STEVEN!" She screeched, running over to save him. However, the drill headed towards her, even as Amethyst stood beside her.

Remembering something about Spinel reacting to Steven in danger, Peridot tugged on the leash, ripping it from the cord and she quickly got onto the drill. Amethyst yelped and pushed Spinel away from the drill, avoiding being hit.

Steven continued to scream as he hung on, but Peridot climbing towards the controls, pressing a button and stopping the drill as it leaned over. Steven was about to collapse and fall from his dizziness, but a pair of gloved hands caught him.

"Steven!" Spinel cried out, pulling Steven in for a hug, "Thank the stars you're okay!"

Snapping out of his dizziness, Steven nuzzled her back and pulled away, "Don't thank the stars, thank Peridot!"

Blinking in surprise, Spinel and even Amethyst looked up, seeing Peridot hanging off the edge of the drill, weakly giving them a thumbs-up.

"We leave for one second and everything goes off the rails!" Pearl yelled, horrified.

"I blame the cows," said Garnet.

Pearl sighed to calm herself, "No it's fine. It's fine. We'll rebuild it! Stronger, better! We'll add seat belts!"

"Don't forget pillows!" Spinel shouted.

"Got that!"

While the other two Gems chatted, Amethyst, Steven, and Spinel were cleaning up the remnants of the drill, Amethyst finding a unicycle.

"Craaazy day, huh?" Steven joked. Spinel gave him a simple shrug and Amethyst tossed the unicycle aside, rolling her eyes.

Hearing footsteps, they all turned to see Peridot approaching them, holding behind her back and clearing her throat with her free hand, "Hey… I just wanted to…"

"Spit it out," Amethyst muttered, Spinel keeping her unhappy stare.

Peridot groaned and face-palmed, "Why are you earthlings so difficult?!" She pushed a button and her recorder played:

"Log Date 7-11 2. This entire planet is backwards, there hasn't been one instance of correct behavior exhibited by one of these 'Crystal Gems'. I've concluded that they are all defective… but I am no better. I failed my mission and now I'm working with the enemy. And I can't even get that right.

I have apparently 'hurt' Amethyst and Spinel's 'feelings'. That I've made them feel 'wrong', which was not my intent. If I've damaged my standing with the best Gems here, then I've made a serious mistake. I should have never make them feel bad, especially Spinel's choice. I'm still learning. I hope you understand. I want to understand. I'm sorry … Peridot, Facet 5. End log."

Peridot stopped it, "As you can see-"

"Oh, Peridot!" Steven was touched by her apology. Peridot looked away, grumbling.

Amethyst glanced up, "Peridot… … Thanks."

"Thank you for the apology," Spinel added, her glower had melted into a smile.

Peridot gave them an awkward smile.

"... But you're still a nerd," Amethyst grinned and left.

The green Gem was slightly annoyed, "I'll be sure to add that to my list."

"How do you feel?" asked Steven.

"... Big."

Spinel and Peridot's friendship in this arc in a nutshell:

Spinel: I wanna like you.

Spinel: Actually, I hate you.

Spinel: Nevermind, I like you-

Spinel: Wait no, I hate you.

Spinel: Wait, I like you again- uuuuuuuggghhhh...