Hey, it's Season 5, let's go.
This is it. This is how I'm going to die.
Spinel tightened her coiled arms around herself as the remaining tears fell down her face. She had cried herself during the whole trip back to Homeworld. Because of her, she was going to get shattered. Because of her, everyone she loved and came to love all knew the truth she and Pearl held for so long.
But the worst part? Steven refused to look or talk to her, even when she repeated her apologies, telling him she did it to save his life and that she still loves him with all her heart. But he didn't speak a word to her.
Spinel hiccuped and rubbed the tears from her eyes. She had to stop crying. Whether or not Steven loved her anymore, all that mattered was that the truth was out and her baby's life was saved.
She knew what she was doing was the right thing. And yet... It hurt her so much. She never felt this overwhelming sense of pain and agony, not even when Rose... or Pink disappeared. But this? It almost cracked her gem from just thinking about it.
All she could do now was wait for the punishment at the trial.
The pink Gem stood on the triangular platform, her pigtails hanging low. On the side, Steven and Lars sat, the former hugging his legs to his chest. A blue Zircon stood by them, frowning nervously.
The yellow Zircon beside her, smirking smugly, "You poor thing, you've made a terrible mistake."
Oh shut up, this'll fix everything Pink has done.
Just the, two familiar Gems warped into the room, revealing it to be the Pearls.
Yellow Pearl confidently struck a pose, "All rise for the luminous Yellow Diamond!"
"And the lustrous Blue Diamond," Blue Pearl added, bowing.
In two bigger beams of light, Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond warped as well, both glaring down at them. The Pearls and Zircons saluted, and Spinel was forced to do as well.
"Spinel," Blue Diamond began, "What is this nonsense you told Aquamarine? Rose Quartz being Pink Diamond?"
Spinel looked up at them, "I've told her nothing but the truth."
Yellow Diamond glanced at Steven, "That's her? What a hideous form she's taken, even more than yours." She scoffed, "Well, if you say that this is the truth, we should shatter you for holding this lie far too long!"
Spinel gulped in fear, but when Blue Diamond blocked her path, she felt just a fast surge of gratitude.
"No." The blue monarch shook her head, "Perhaps she should explain her reason first. Surely she knows what really happened to Pink."
Her gratitude faded when Blue Diamond laid her glare upon her, "Only then will we find the perfect punishment for her..."
She swallowed as the Diamonds sat upon their thrones, ready to listen. She made a few more glances to the Pearls, then the Zircons, then to Steven and Lars. This time, Steven was looking at her, still unhappy.
"Alright, I'll start from the beginning," Spinel told them all, "I was at first created to entertain, mainly my Diamond, Pink Diamond. For months, we used to play in the Garden before Pink got her colony. But when she did, she brought me along to become another servant, like her Pearl. I did my best to keep her happy for the next few months while she was setting up her colony... but then came the day when everything changed..."
Pink Diamond kept looking through the files containing information of the colony's construction. Her Pearl and Spinel stood by her side patiently, awkwardly glancing at their owner and away.
"... Could you two imagine that running a colony would be this dull?" The Diamond jokingly asked them.
Pearl and Spinel shared another quick glance before the former replied, "I could imagine it, if you'd like me to, my Diamond."
"Me too!" Spinel agreed, trying not to be too sporadic.
Pink Diamond... wasn't happy with those answers.
"Would you like me to entertain you, my Diamond?" Spinel asked, hopeful to cheer her friend up.
Her Diamond shook her head, "I appreciate the offer, but no thank you."
Spinel was somewhat disappointed, but didn't talk back or say anything else.
"Pearl," Pink Diamond calmly ordered, "Show me the status of the Prime Kindergarten."
Pearl obeyed silently and pressed her hand to the control panel, her gemstone showing a hologram of the Kindergarten. "The first Quartz soldiers are due to emerge soon..."
Pink Diamond finally perked up, nudging Pearl out of the hologram, "Finally! Something exciting!"
With a squeal, Spinel wrapped her arms from behind the pale Gem and laid her chin on the other's head. Pearl was briefly annoyed before smiling gently.
Pink Diamond and Spinel hopped down from the top of the stairs into the observation room as Pearl calmly walked downstairs to them.
"Hurry! We've got to see this!" The pink monarch urged gleefully, "Quickly, turn it on!"
"Yes, my Diamond," Pearl complied, touching the orb. The room filled with a large projection of the Prime Kindergarten. Spinel walked backwards, observing the sight before she fell back, prompting a polite laugh from Pearl.
Pink Diamond was in awe, "Are you both seeing this? We're creating life from nothing!" She watched as an Amethyst soldier emerged from the wall. "Welcome to Earth!" She outstretched her arms to welcome the Gem.
But due to this being a projection to what was happening on Earth, the Amethyst soldier walked right through her, over to 2 more Amethysts and embracing them.
She sighed, "I wish I could just be there..."
Pearl and Spinel frowned to see their Diamond bummed out, but the latter spoke up, "Why can't we just warp there? I'm sure they'd love to meet you in person!"
"I can't," said Pink Diamond solemnly, "If I do go there myself, Yellow and Blue would be furious. Oh, but can you imagine? Me, down there, laughing and playing with the Amethysts?"
Pearl nodded, "Of course," She projected an image of Pink Diamond laughing with the Amethysts.
"Awww, you look so happy!" squealed Spinel.
"Not when Blue and Yellow find out."
"They won't find out," stated Pearl.
Both the Diamond and her Spinel stared at her, "How's that?"
"Because..." Pearl then showed Pink Diamond shifting into a Rose Quartz, "You look just like a Quartz. You changed your shape for a day!"
Pink Diamond gasped, "That's brilliant!"
"Oh yeah!" Spinel lightly pounded her fist into her palm, "Why didn't I think of that? Golly, you're so smart, Pearl!"
Pearl actually blushed, "O-Oh, thank you. Anything to help our Dia-" She paused and so did Spinel when they looked up, not seeing their Diamond.
"He he, down here!"
They looked down to see a Rose Quartz in her place.
Rose, Pearl, and Spinel all warped into the Kindergarten, seeing how lively it is with the multiple Quartzes walking around.
"Pearl! Spinel! Look!" Rose gasped, her eyes forming stars, "This is... incredible! We have to go down there and check it out!"
Grabbing her servants by the arms, she leapt into the air and floated down into the small crowd of Amethysts. Rose looked around in amazement before an Amethyst with poofy hair shoved past her and ran off without apologizing.
Pearl rushed over to her owner, "Oh no! I'm so sorry, these Amethyst guards can be so rude!"
"Aw come on, Pearl!" Spinel chirped, "We're here on Earth! I never knew it was like this!"
Rose laughed as she got up and embraced the pink Gem, "Oh Spinel, I'm so glad you're excited as I am! You both are the best!" She too wrapped an arm around Pearl, "Thank you both for talking me into this, I couldn't have done this on my own!"
Pearl stared blankly while Spinel simply giggled, "Anything you make you happy, my Dia-"
The pale Gem quickly and frantically shushed her, "Spinel, you're going to get us in trouble."
"She's right, Spinel," Rose became worried, "And after what Yellow and Blue said..."
Spinel felt downhearted, "Oh... I'm sorry..."
"It's fine, Spinel," Pearl reassured, "But maybe it's best if you keep hidden at times, what do you think, my Q-" She blinked when their owner wasn't anywhere.
Rose was already up ahead, greeting a Amethyst that just emerged.
"Heeeey," A random Amethyst guard slightly tugged on Spinel's heart-shaped bun, "Heh heh, what are you supposed to be?"
When Spinel backed away, Pearl smacked the hand away, "Back off! She's none of your business!" With a sigh, Pearl dragged the pink Gem away from the crowd.
"G-Gee... That was close."
"Like I said, we need to be more careful."
"Understood..." Spinel lowered her head, feeling ashamed.
Pearl felt a great surge of sympathy for the pink Gem, but before she could say anything, the Amethyst guards began to move out. Rose began to follow them, but Pearl and Spinel stopped her in her tracks.
"My Diamond?" said Pearl, "Please, let's not draw any more attention to ourselves than we already have."
Spinel nodded, "Yeah, what if someone recognizes me or the Diamonds find you missing?"
"Oh, you two are right," Rose sighed sadly, "But things were getting really fun…"
The pale Gem thought of something else, "What if we took some time to explore some of Earth's other features?"
Their owner beamed, "Pearl! You're so smart!"
Outside the Prime Kindergarten, the three ventured out, seeing the beautiful plantlife up ahead.
"So this... is Earth..." Rose whispered.
"It's like the Garden... but bigger!" Spinel breathed, staring in complete awe.
Pearl smiled, "And this is just a small portion of the resources available for making Gems on this planet."
"I have to see it all," Rose spoke as she ran ahead, her servants following right behind her. They ran through a flower garden, Rose tossing petals up into the air. Pearl had blushed, but even more when Spinel handed her a hibiscus, sticking her tongue out cutely. Pearl took the flower and nodded in thanks, but then Rose took them into a forest.
There, they chased a butterfly around, laughing together as Rose embraced them both. They reached a river, gazing at a fish until they looked up and saw a group of humans. They were collecting water from the river, nodding to each-other and leaving.
Spinel could've sworn one of the humans was holding a squirming bundle in its arms, but she ignored it as Rose realized something.
As they returned to the Kindergarten, Pearl and Spinel saw that their owner seemed uneasy.
"Is everything alright, my Diamond?" Pearl asked, "You seem troubled."
Spinel stood on her tippy toes, "Yeah, wasn't today fun?"
Rose didn't look at them, "All this life that's been growing wild here on Earth... None of it... will survive my invasion. We're not creating life from nothing. We're taking life, and leaving nothing behind."
Lightning struck behind them and rain began to fall as Pearl and Spinel began to panic, feeling like they made a mistake.
"Forgive us, my Diamond," Pearl pleaded, "We shouldn't have brought you to such a place."
"W-We're sorry!" Spinel added, "We just wanted to make you happy!"
"No... I needed to see this."
During the brief pause in her story, everyone was in complete shock.
"So you're saying Pink Diamond just decided to protect that planet?!" inquired Yellow Diamond as she stood up, scaring her Pearl and everyone else, before she sat back down and sighed, "Now that explains everything..."
"What does she mean?" Steven finally asked Spinel.
Spinel continued, "After that one visit, Pink Diamond tried to stop the colonization. When she told the other Diamonds she didn't want to go through with the colony, they told her to continue it. When she told them she wanted to preserve all life on Earth, they created the Zoo and threw a handful of humans in it. She did everything she could... but I guess as Pink Diamond, her status meant nothing to Yellow, Blue, or White. So, she was left with no choice, but to disguise herself as Rose Quartz, and she and Pearl went to scare off every Gem from Earth."
"What about you?" Blue Diamond asked.
"I had to hide." Spinel answered, "Pink knew it would be suspicious if a Rose Quartz was seen with a Spinel, especially the one belonging to a Diamond, so I had to constantly hide while they were rebelling. When she was Pink Diamond, I could be by her side."
Steven's eyes glistened, "But... then how did Pink shatter herself? Why didn't you or Pearl tell anyone?"
Spinel hung her head in misery.
"And then we'll be done," Rose told them, "It's going to be easy!"
Pearl frowned slightly, holding the sword, "There's got to be another way. I mean, maybe-"
"Blue and Yellow don't care," Rose scowled, "They never have. This is Pink Diamond's colony. We can end it all right here, right now."
Spinel's eyes almost began to water, "B-But doing this?! Rose, I don't think I like your idea. Something about all this feels... wrong."
Rose touched her shoulder, "It'll be quick, I promise. You don't have to do anything, Spinel. Just stay here and wait for Pearl to fetch you when she's done."
Spinel frowned, but complied quietly.
Pearl clutched the sword tightly, "T-This is crazy... Your status, our purpose. None of it will matter anymore. This will change everything."
Rose nodded vigorously, "I know! Isn't it exciting?!"
Both Pearl and Spinel shared a glance and nodded solemnly, "It is." spoke the former.
"We can leave our old lives behind. If this is really my world, I want to give it to the Crystal Gems. I want to live here with human beings! I wanna live here with both of you! We'll all finally be free!" said Rose, hopeful.
The pale Gem smiled and became determined, "Okay, I'm ready."
Spinel stared at her friend, horrified, but decided against saying anything. Even with her bright, cute exterior, her colors seemed dulled and no real joy resonated from her anymore.
"B-But, when the Diamonds see a Quartz stealing me, they'd want to shatter us even more!" She told Rose.
Her owner's eyes glistened, "I know. But we're doing this for Earth, Spinel. I'm more than willing to take the risk. This rebellion will be over before you know it. Then, you won't have to worry anymore. I promise." She delicately placed a finger on Spinel's gemstone, "Besides, you'll finally get to meet the others! Doesn't that sound great? More friends you could ever ask for! A brand new place to play!"
"... ... Yeah. I guess so..."
Placing the sword down, Pearl and Spinel both held Rose's hand, the former speaking, "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"This is gonna be scary," Spinel added.
Rose smiled faintly, "I can't exactly shatter myself."
She pulled them in for a hug. When she pulled away, she shape-shifted back to Pink Diamond. She walked over to the entrance of the palanquin, picking up some dirt, Pearl and Spinel waiting patiently.
Walking back over to them, Pink Diamond held out a hand, Pearl taking the hibiscus from her and tucked it into Spinel's heart-bun. The pink Gem blushed for a brief moment from the kind gesture when Pink Diamond crushed the dirt, transforming it into pink gem shards.
"Convincing?" She asked.
"Very so, my Diamond..." Pearl nodded, uncomfortable as Spinel was.
"Soon, it'll be just... Rose." With that, Pink Diamond swallowed the shards. Pearl began to unsheathe the sword, but her Diamond stopped her.
"Wait! There's one last thing I need to do."
Pearl placed the sword on the floor, "Yes?"
"No one can ever find out we did this. I never want to look back," Pink Diamond held Pearl's hands and placed them over her mouth, then did the same to Spinel, "So, for my last order to you two as a Diamond... please, let's never speak of this again. No one can know."
They remained silent for a moment until Pink Diamond stood up and left the palanquin, leaving her servants alone.
"Pearl..." Spinel's voice was so quiet, only Pearl could hear her, "I'm scared..."
The pale Gem's blue eyes glittered with guilt, "So am I..." Then she turned her head and smiled weakly, "But... it'll be for the best. And... I'll always be there for you, alright?"
Spinel, uncertain, glanced to the side, "... Alright." She wrapped her arms around Pearl, who reciprocated it...
Just then, in Spinel's mind, the frightening moments of her life played out. Watching her Diamond's so-called 'death', her friends fighting and being shattered, and Jasper almost slamming her helmet onto her.
But most of all, the last memory that played was Spinel looking up at the sky, seeing three large stars glowing. A thin pale arm grabbed her, pulling her to the side and another arm wrapped around her. Everything went white as the last thing Spinel could hear were the sounds of the Corrupting Light shining and her friends' screams in terror and pain...
"S-STOP! STOP!" Spinel clutched her head in distress, "PLEASE! I-I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
As she fell to her knees and sobbed, the Diamonds were in disbelief.
"So…" Blue Diamond began, "It was all planned out… That explains why her Agates or Sapphires weren't there, why her Pearl wasn't with her but Spinel was… all so she could fake her own DEATH!" Her aura spread across the room, forcing the Gems around her to cry, except Lars.
Yellow Diamond wiped her tears away and frowned scornfully, "How could she have done this to us? After everything we've done for her, she abandoned us! All for... that miserable chunk of rock..."
Spinel, in her distress, exploded with fury, "Of course she would! You all treated her like a child, spoiling her and pressuring her! She told me all about it all those years ago, even in the Garden! I didn't think about it too much, but now that I can think for myself, I don't blame her for wanting to leave!"
All around her, Steven, Lars, the Zircons, the Pearls, and the Diamonds were shocked by Spinel's outburst, but she didn't stop there.
"Back then, I was only made to be a playmate and nothing more! I couldn't talk back or defend my Diamond. Not even from you…" Her pink eyes spiraled, "But not anymore... I'm not the Spinel you knew from thousands of years ago! I'm no longer a playmate or a coward! I belong to no Diamond or any other Gem in this galaxy! I am my own Gem, with lives to protect!"
She glanced over to Steven, who stared back at her with wide eyes.
"So, now that I've made my statement and told the truth to everyone, I'd like to say one thing to you," She directed to the Diamonds, her tone lowering to a snarl, "You are nothing more than dirty, selfish, genocidal, loveless monsters who only care about themselves… You take away life and leave nothing behind. YOU DIAMONDS DESERVE TO BE SHATTERED!"
...
The room fell silent, Spinel panting for breath, unafraid as she glared up at the thunderstruck Diamonds. The Pearls cowered in fear of what's going to happen, the Zircons panicked, and Steven and Lars could only hug. Steven stared at the pink Gem in horror, wondering if she knew what she was doing.
Yellow Diamond clutched the arm of her throne so hard it cracked as she shook with rage.
Spinel kept pushing her growing fear away as she was ready to get shattered for the story she told, her actions, and the words she spoke. She didn't care anymore, as long as Steven was safe and no longer on death-sentence.
"How dare you speak like that...?" Yellow Diamond's voice nearly made her tremble, "I WILL HAVE NO MORE OF THIS NONSENSE!" She began to fire a destabilizing energy, directing her hand at the pink Gem.
Spinel took a breath, shut her eyes and clenched her fists…
"NO!" Blue Diamond grabbed the yellow monarch's wrist, "You can't! She's only been following her Diamond's orders!"
"You heard what she just said!" Yellow Diamond shot back.
As quick as lightning, Steven grabbed Lars by the arm and ran over to Spinel, "Come on! We need to get out!"
Spinel looked around, trying to figure a way out, but saw the wall. Furrowing her brow in determination, she coiled an arm around the boys and ran from the platform. She inflated her fist and smashed through the wall, revealing the outside world; Homeworld. She stopped at the edge, finding no other place to jump to safely.
"Hey!" Lars yelled, "Those crazy giant chicks aren't gonna be distracted forever!"
"We have to jump!" Steven told her.
"But-"
The Diamonds stopped their arguing and saw them trying to escape, and Yellow Diamond fired an attack at them, destroying part of the edge and causing the three to fall. Spinel did nothing but give one last glance to the terrified Pearls and Zircons as she, Steven, and Lars descended down the tower and into the abyss.
"You think you can protect Pink Diamond forever?!" Yellow Diamond's voice boomed in her head, "You may be safe on that little speck called Earth, but you're in our world now... We will have Pink Diamond back, even if we have to SHATTER YOU ALL!"
Her voice echoed repeatedly as Spinel saw the bright colors fade and the colors of Homeworld dulled into darkness...
WELP.
