Consciousness didn't come all at once. First, it was a pulse. She was unaware, unalive aside from that warmth. Pressure, pushing down on her from all sides, hotter and hotter. Then, came other sensations - tight. Constraint. Even before her systems booted, before a single line of code unscrambled itself, she found herself held too fast by it. And then, nearly all at once, she existed. Wonder bled through her small, crystalline form, and for a blissful while, she had no name, no purpose.

The gem- for she knew, intrinsically, what she was- simply floated in her steadily expanding mindscape as she became more...solid. When in her minds eye she had form- finally internalizing her...self, as a small light, she floated around, reaching out eagerly with newly formed...hands, running them through the streams of code, parting them, internalizing them, picking curiously through functions that seemed to multiply as she soaked it in. The code for eyes brought with it "sight", ears unlocked "hearing", and mouth would allow her to "speak". This amused her for some time, the act of becoming. She almost hoped it would never end- but still the heat and pressure remained. It didn't take long for her, whoever she was, to grow...Scared. Frightened. It was fear- the name of the emotion had come easy to her- a programmed response to stimuli that might hurt- and it did hurt. Becoming hurt.

She combed through code, her "fingers" breaking it apart , soaking in more and more, until she simply gave up. She expanded, her burning, light form pushing against the walls of her mindscape, desperate- she wanted to become now. The things she had always known- "tight", "Constraint"- seemed to break away as she pushed- and then, she broke through. Hands, head, arms, shoulders, chest, all formed in a flash of light. That comforting Warmth rushed into her as she took it all in, letting it flood her consciousness and with her first shocked breath of air, she was more than cerebral light. She was alive.

The gem lay dazed as the light faded from around her, dust settling over her new, pink form. Pink… her digits twitched, first a toe, then a finger, as she stared in wonder at herself. Slowly, she sat up, dust and rubble falling away as she looked around herself. She was free. Free from the confines of what she had known. And now she was...in a world of grey, her mind supplied her helpfully. The thick sky above her swirled in shades of orange- and she was the only one around for miles. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but looking behind herself, the lone hole shaped just like her new...body seemed to prove it. The gem stood, wobbling at first, before steadying herself on the thick grey stone she had come out of, solid and firm. The gem looked in wonder at the new world around her. The air here was thick, and for a moment, she wanted to crawl back into the hole she had broken free of, settle in, and feel warmth again, but the potential of meeting others like her- something she knew she must do- was too great and so she began to wonder. The gem climbed hills and crawled through valleys, laughing as she slid down through the sand banks around her, sending dust and rock flying through the air. Every tumble, every new thing tickled her, well, pink.

She followed natural swirls in the rocky soil- clays and minerals she intrinsically knew the names of. When she got tired, she would sit, digging up rock and sand and testing her new senses, delighting when a gap would be filled by the coding still untangling itself in her mind.

Clay felt...mushy. It looked Red. It sounded like...every little grain rubbed against every other little grain. The taste was- she coughed, spitting out the clay and sticking out her tongue, trying to look at it. She used a dirty, gloved hand to scrape the dirt away. The taste was...bad. But maybe a second taste-

She continued on like this until she had exhausted herself. She shuttered- the act of being was a long one. She knew if she could simply rest and absorb the light around her she could recharge and be back to her exploring. She tucked herself under an outcropping, the light pouring onto her, filling her up. She relaxed, looking up into the swirling orange sky. She closed her eyes, pressing her back into the hot stone behind herself, letting it seep into her skin, listening to the sound of the air moving- it took a while for the name to come to her this time. Wind. Yes...even if she found the others like her now, she wasn't sure if she'd want to move from her spot just yet.

Wind was her favorite sound so far. She...loved the way it sounded as it moved everything around her, slowly and steadily reshaping the sandy hills around herself. She loved the way it made low, soothing whirring sounds as it blew past her ears, causing her thick fluffy hair to brush comforting against her cheeks.

Her head lulled as the wind blew, her eyes sliding shut to better listen to the wonderful sounds- to isolate them for a moment. Husssssshhhh…! The Gem was startled out of her mindfulness as the winds picked up to an almost violent degree and she scrambled to her feet, pressing herself against the stone, watching in awe as what seemed to be a large...something descended from the sky, sending sand flying throughout the air, grain after stinging grain striking the gems delicate skin. She gave a whine, pressing herself flat against her hiding spot, one hand held over her core protectively as the other shielded her eyes as the large white something landed, shaking the ground and causing her knees to buckle. She stumbled with a squeak of surprise, landing on her back, her feet flying up into the air.

It took her a few moments to find her bearings again, pushing herself up off of the ground, sand pouring off her. She shook her head, righting herself and moving to peek at the "something" from behind her rocky hideaway.

The girl's breath left her lungs as she took in the beings in the distance. Gems. Like her. Two tall figures rested at the spot she had emerged- looking for her! They must have been! She started off walking, picking up speed in her excitement, until she was tearing across the dunes, tripping over herself in her excitement. She skid to a stop as she neared them, brain stalling to decipher the sounds pouring out of them- words. Her new favorite sounds.

The one speaking was beautiful- they both were- but this one seemed to demand attention, from the deep soothing rumble of her voice, to her very being. She was...yellow, her height shooting her up into the sky, a golden helmet shining on her head in the orange light of the sky. The gem couldn't see the others face because of how tall she was, but her words reached her even from down this low.

"-could she be? The light came from where we injected her core, and yet I see no exit hole!"

"Yellow…" A calm whisper carried its way to the girl by the Blue Gems size alone. The Gem was draped in layer after layer of soft flowing fabric that stirred gently in the winds. "Perhaps she simply started to make her way towards the drop site. It might have been one of her gems emerging before her. It's much too early for her to have come out, anyways...you were right."

The Yellow Gem Scoffed. "I'm not surprised. If we came all the way out here to welcome another Rose Quartz into the world-"

"Red will want her subjects awed, will she not?"

The small gem blinked. Red? She looked to her gloves again, staring at the now muted hot pink of her dirtied gloves- had she been wrong? Was she...Red?

She searched for language to use back, to catch the attention of the others. A greeting came to her head.

"Hello!" Her own voice was warm and loud. She startled at its sound, though not as much as the other gems did. The blue one gasped, stepping back as she caught sight of her, and the gem -Red, she reminded herself- caught sight of a brilliantly blue eye, through the fabric, and hair just as light as her own. Red squeaked as both Yellow and Blue looked down at her in a mix of shock and...disbelief.

A thin hand was brought to Blue's face as she peered down at her, almost in horror. "She's…!"

"A Rose Quartz. Look at her, Blue, she couldn't-

"She looks nothing like a Rose Quartz!" Blue's voice raised to an almost grating pitch and red winced.

"She's not a Quartz, dear Blue."

Bright bright light, cleaner and colder than anything Red had ever seen flooded the area as a new figure stepped out of the ship. She was taller than even Blue and Yellow, her Face obscured not by her height but by the way she emmited her own piercing light. Blue and Yellow stiffened and fell silent as the figure walked languidly down a long, shining path and onto the sand with them. Red was held in place by awe and...fear as the gem knelt forward, drawing gasps from her companions. Red could make out two piercingly bright eyes through the haze of light that threatened to wash her away.

"She's a Diamond."

Yellow stammered for a moment, though her form was lost in the light pollution just the same.

"She's...not what we were expecting, White. That's all."

Not what they were expecting? Red tore her eyes away from the blinding figure in front of her to inspect herself.

White chuckled warmly. "She's better then we were expecting. She's a darling shade of Pink, isn't she? Just like… warm morning Starlight."

Red met White's eyes and for a single moment she felt drowned in them.

Blue's voice wavered. "Yes...White's right. She's a radiant Pink Diamond."

Red- no. Pink. Pink opened her mouth, her voice a whisper.

"A Diamond?"

White's eyes crinkled through the haze. "It means you're perfect."

Then hands were around Pink, cupping around her gently and raising her up higher and higher into the air as she sat in Whites cool, smooth palm. Yellow's face swam into her view, stern features twisted in awe, and Pink stared back, sharing in it.

"She...White, will she be able to...do what you've made her to do?"

"Made me to do?"

Yellow seemed to shake herself, features hardening.

"Yes. We've made you to save our species. To help us continue our reign across the galaxy and bring us to new heights … but you should know that."

"Let her rest, Yellow…" Blue stepped into the light, hood readjusted to where Pink could finally see her large, drooping eyes, and the way her hair nearly glowed in the white light. The look on her face took longer for Pink to find swimming through the code that had stopped untangling, slowly encrypting itself- pity.

"Blue's right. after all- it's a lot...the birth of a Star."

Yes. Becoming was too much, and yet not enough...bathed in the blinding lights and staring up at the shining diamonds before her, Pink wanted it all. She wanted to become...what they needed her to be. What she was made for.