Star Sapphire struggled to keep up with Tsavorite's fuming march down the halls of the palace.
"I can tell you're excited about this," she said coyly.
"I am the opposite of excited about this," Tsavorite snapped. "My efforts are about to be wasted."
Star Sapphire slowed for a moment, then floated forwards at her top speed to catch up with her garnet. "Things are about to become quite awkward. Be careful."
Tsavorite looked back over her shoulder as she turned the corner. "What's that supposed to-"
"Look, it's really fine- it'll all work out," said a familiar voice from above. Tsavorite stopped in her tracks, and looked into the room she had entered. It was some lesser dance hall, furnished exclusively in pink. Standing in the center were White and Pink Diamond.
"No, I insist that you let me take control of this," said White Diamond, scowling down at the smaller Diamond. "You've proven that this kind of responsibility is above you." The larger gem noticed Tsavorite enter and looked her way.
"Ah, what's this? If it isn't my Tsavorite! Come here, if you please," cooed White Diamond.
"Yes, my Diamond," yelped Tsavorite, rushing to the center of the room and saluting.
White Diamond gave Tsavorite a wink and returned her attention to her fellow Diamond. "Oh, Pink, did you know that Tsavorite is an expert in disciplinary measures? Why, she could even help you!"
Pink looked down at the garnet, embarrassment evident on her face. "I don't know if that's necessary, White-"
"Either you'll work with Tsavorite, or I'll do it for you, while you take a respite in the tower," White Diamond threatened.
"F-fine, I'll work with Tsavorite," Pink sighed.
"Oh, I'm glad to see you've come around to the idea," grinned White Diamond, turning to leave. "And if I hear about any trouble you give Tsavorite… you'll take a respite in the tower anyway!"
With a flourish, White Diamond departed the room, leaving Tsavorite and Pink Diamond to exchange glances. Star Sapphire floated up behind Tsavorite, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.
"See what I meant?"
Tsavorite simply grimaced, and under her breath, hissed "Salute."
"Oh, yeah. My Diamond," said Star Sapphire, saluting.
Pink Diamond groaned and fell to her knees, then crossed her legs on the floor and pouted.
"This isn't fair. I'm a Diamond, and White thinks I can't handle anything on my own."
Tsavorite rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. "My Diamond, what exactly is the problem?"
"It's not as big of a deal as White thinks. I just want to get that out of the way," Pink sighed. "And you don't have to keep saluting like that."
"Of course, my Diamond."
"You're still- oh, never mind. The problem is on the Galaxy Refractor."
"I've never heard of a Galaxy Refractor," said Star Sapphire.
"Well… that's because I was trying to keep it a secret," said Pink, smiling. "I had a great plan, too. Blue, Yellow, and White have been planning a big ball for a while, and they plan on making this speech about the progress of the empire, and how they want to begin colonizing this new galaxy they found… so, naturally, I've been planning a prank."
Tsavorite worked hard to contain her rage. "Continue, my Diamond," she said, forcing a smile.
"I had this space station built, with all the gizmos- it's covered in mirrors, to reflect light. While the other diamonds are giving their big speech, I would have used it to create a big light show! Everyone would be watching it instead of listening to them. It could've been great."
"And what exactly happened, my Diamond," said Tsavorite, gritting her teeth.
"Well, I put an Emerald named Trapiche in charge of the station- I told her that she and her crew could work on whatever they needed to there, until the ball, but when I hailed the station again, Trapiche said they weren't taking orders from me anymore."
Tsavorite could not help but raise her voice. "To clarify, my Diamond, you're saying that the entire crew of this station mutinied?"
"I don't know about that. But if you could find out about it and take care of it for me, I'd be very grateful. And don't hurt anyone if you don't have to."
Tsavorite's eyelid spasmed in frustration. "Of course, my Diamond. If you could just give me the coordinates-"
Tsavorite could not finish before the diamond had scooped her up into a hug. "Oh, thank you- look, I was mad at White Diamond earlier but the truth is I don't know what to do and-"
"PUT ME DOWN!" Tsavorite screamed, having finally lost her composure.
Pink Diamond quickly dropped the garnet and backed away. "Sorry- some people need space- I think I get it- I'll just send those coordinates to your ship," she said, flustered. She scrambled to her feet and left Tsavorite and Star Sapphire in the room alone.
"You look so much better when you're stoic," Star Sapphire sighed.
"Excuse me?" asked Tsavorite, already stunned by recent events.
"Oh, nothing," Star Sapphire replied. "You want to head to the ship?"
"Anything to get out of this place," Tsavorite groaned.
The hatch closed behind them, and Star Sapphire headed for the central console, beginning preparations for launch. Tsavorite gestured towards the back wall of the cabin, and a storage compartment opened for her. Inside was a collection of weapons and supplies, which she considered carefully.
"I still don't see how she's a diamond at all," Tsavorite huffed as she examined a compact long-range communicator, shaped like a Pearl's shell.
"Because she is a diamond," said Star Sapphire. "Cut and carat and everything."
"I suppose," Tsavorite admitted. "Perhaps gems even that brilliant can have flaws."
"Perhaps," Star Sapphire echoed back with a smile. "Coordinates are locked in. Are you ready for this?"
"The whole station? Don't be silly. We're going to find out exactly what's going on, and once we know, drown this station in quartzes."
"And after that, an evening in?"
"Of course not," said Tsavorite, lowering herself into her captain's chair. "There will be more work to do then. Better work. Now let's get this over with."
Star Sapphire nodded and pushed their ship to hyperspeed. The stars turned into a twinkling blur as they raced onward, but only for a moment, as they returned to clarity quite abruptly.
The ship jolted forwards, throwing Star Sapphire from her seat and into the control panel, on which she poofed immediately. With one hand, Tsavorite braced herself to avoid a similar fate, and the other she used to catch Star Sapphire's tumbling gem. The garnet winced in pain, ascertaining what she could as she recovered from the shock. The station was visible through the bridge of the ship, though more distant than their jump should have taken them. It was far above them instead, and the controls began blaring altitude warnings. The haze of an atmosphere was beginning to rise into view. They were falling towards a planet. Impact in seconds. She weighed her options and acted on the first viable strategy. She held Star Sapphire's gem close and curled herself into a ball, shapeshifting herself to resist impact. The whole ship rushed at her at once.
When Tsavorite came back to her senses, she was in the back corner of the ship, against the ceiling. She gave her physical form a cursory evaluation- integrity good, gem intact. In her grip was Star Sapphire, reduced to her brilliant blue stone. The windows had been blown out, and some native plant, a hard, spearlike thing, had run through the centerline of the ship, nearly bisecting it. The drive had to be dead. Tsavorite pushed herself up to her feet.
The hailing alert crackled on through the half-functional ship display. Tsavorite stumbled towards the console and gestured to receive the call.
"Hello, whoever's out there, this is GES Dark Matter, requesting assistance. We've just crash-landed and-"
"Oh ho ho, Dark Matter? You're still alive?" crackled the response. The display conjured only a vague silhouette, but the tone of the voice was not friendly. "That's too bad. For you, I mean."
Tsavorite had not felt fear often, but she could feel something begin to surround her gem with discomfort, a gnawing anxiety.
"Just who do you think you are?"
"I'm a nice host, so I'm going to greet you at the door. I am Trapiche, and on behalf of the Galaxy Gems, welcome to Chatoyan 4. You'll be staying for a while."
Tsavorite hunkered down over the console, shifting glances outside the ship, waiting for an ambush.
"Do you think you're going to get away with this?"
Laughter, from many sources, could be heard through the feed.
"Ah, but didn't we already? What exactly are you threatening us with?"
"As part of White Diamond's court, I could have a flotilla of battlecruisers decimate your station in the blink of an eye. I could send a legion of amethysts to crush your gems to dust!"
"You could do that, if you had long-range communication. But we've already seen to it that you don't," the voice paused, perhaps stifled a giggle, then continued. "Let me lay this out for you. There is one, one warp pad on that planet. It's linked to the one warp pad on this station. If you want off of there, you come see me. And we're going to have a little talk if you do."
"If I do?"
"Well, you'll have to get through the Galaxy Gems stationed planet-side. Do that, and we'll see if you don't change my mind. Unless we change yours."
The transmission sputtered out, and Tsavorite backed away from the console, her head swimming. She was stuck on a hostile planet filled with rebel gems, and her only way out was through a hostile space station also filled with rebel gems. Dealing with rebel gems was, of course, Tsavorite's purpose, but this was something new. She was on their turf now. To them, she was the rebel. Tsavorite returned to the storage compartment and selected a few items, before lowering herself along the cabin to a space of shattered window. She wiggled herself through and and onto the planet's surface. A few clicks away, a dust storm rolled along an endless plain, static lighting scouring the wasteland in its wake. Tsavorite looked down into her palm at the dormant Star Sapphire, and coiled her fingers tightly around her.
If it was a war they wanted, they would regret it.