Going into cloudspace in order to deal with the presence, Rose only had one rule for herself: present herself purely as Rose, and never as Pink. This was a rule she had set for herself long before she even knew that the other voice was a Gem-like construct with her own name and had nothing to do with the voice; it was established out of disdain for any Diamond duties, whether they were actually harmful to organics or not.
Nevertheless, this was an unprecedented event. She never thought she would encounter someone else in cloudspace - truly in cloudspace, and not just as a reflection of reality. Yet, there clearly was someone: someone who, apparently, was there ever since the incident, and who claimed Pink Diamond's identity when Rose wouldn't.
Rose thus let herself disperse the clouds, as much as she could to view as larger a portion of cloudspace as she could, and then, she saw her.
Pink's usual attire was easy to distinguish in a pale landscape. The only significant difference between her and how Rose usually presented herself as Pink was that this Pink's hair was a lot less fluffy and even somewhat spiked at points. She was crossing her arms, as though dealing with Rose was the last thing she wanted.
Pink was the first to speak. "So! You finally show up and don't treat me like I'm nothing! Isn't that a surprise? Well, you're still not treating me as one of the Diamonds, so you're still a traitor by any definition."
"Why are you here? What do you want from me?" Rose asked.
"It looks like you're planning on starting a rebellion to uproot my system. Do you think that's not an existential threat for me?" Pink immediately answered, with a statement that seemed to have more falsehoods and avoidance of the question in it than Rose thought were possible.
Nevertheless, she needed to get to the bottom of who Pink actually was and what she stood for, and her questions would need to be a bit more... targeted. "How can you even be here? Did you appear around the same time I got a new Pearl? That seemed to be your implication."
"No; that's when you appeared. I've been here since I first formed, and I can tell you everything about how Blue and Yellow mistreated me in the same way in which they would never mistreat you."
As much as Rose hated to admit it, this actually made sense. This was why she didn't feel like Pink Diamond; because she wasn't, emphatically. And this was why she took so long in order to figure out who she was and what she stood for; she was a newly created being, who somehow managed to form as a secondary in Pink's gem, pretty much from scratch, with only minimal reliance on Pink's memories.
"I... see." Rose duly noted.
"You know, I have a lot to thank you for. Now that all these nonsense ideas are not part of me, I can be a clearer being than I ever was. You may not know what got into you, but I know your ideas are dangerous and should never come to fruition."
Rose only nodded; she might as well let Pink explain her gemstone's inner workings.
"Now, will you renounce your rebellion idea, admit that you know nothing about colonization, and let me finish the job? It's only right."
"No."
"Excuse me, Rose Clod?" (Yet another word Pink made up - or was it Rose? At this point, it was a little ambiguous.)
"Was I not being clear? I said no."
"Ah, so that's how it is!" Pink moved to shove Rose.
In a split second, though, she found herself stepping back from the threat of a sword.
Rose didn't know how a sword got into her hands. All she knew was that she felt the need to protect herself from Pink, as urgent as anything got, and the next moment she knew, she was already brandishing a sword and protecting herself. The sword proved to be rather intricate in design, marked by weeds and thorns on the handle, with a sharp, pink blade.
As Pink found herself being threatened, she, too, managed to spawn a part-weapon, part-shield to defend herself. Only, hers was a lot more simple: just a pink, translucent rhombus, with the pointy part used for attacking and the flat part used for defending.
Nevertheless, Rose felt like she had the upper hand. After slashing at Pink and her... object for a while, she was able to pierce it right through, then slam the sword into the solid ground (surprisingly, the ground of cloudspace was rather solid) and confront Pink right to her face, the latter being scared for her life.
"You were never awarded this colony, and it is not yours to continue. It is mine to dismantle, and I will do it, no matter what it takes."
"...Fine! But I'm still a Diamond, and I will defend my honor!"
"Just call us 'the Crystal Gems'." Rose answered, appearing to be rather complacent with the idea, before walking away and disappearing into the clouds.
Indeed, she had already formed a plan: she would still frequently go to cloudspace - she still needed to fuel her addiction, if nothing else - but then, when she went to sleep, Pink could potentially awaken.
After all, battles in cloudspace were tiring - and battles on a real battlefield were more fun.
Thus, that very day, Rose Quartz allowed herself to warp on Earth, where she gathered in front of the Amethysts working there and declared everything she knew about the colonization process, how it was harming the native organics, and how it should be the task of Gems to halt the current methods of colonization. And thus, that day, the Crystal Gems officially became a thing.
From their very first days, they were an astounding success. The rebellion had fully ground colonization processes to a halt, and though the vast majority of Crystal Gems were Amethysts, a rather surprising addition, that even Rose herself didn't fully expect, was Pearl.
Of course Pearl was let in on what the Crystal Gems were, and Rose's double identity, very early on. However, what Rose didn't expect was for Pearl to immediately denounce the Diamonds and become part of the Crystal Gems, going for a permanent wardrobe change to reflect herself. With their cards played right, Pink Diamond, the other personality in Rose's gemstone, didn't even realize that she lost a Pearl at first.
When she did, though, she wasn't happy - and Blue and Yellow weren't, either. Considering Pink's behavior in halting the colonization attempt unacceptable, they declared to her, rather explicitly, that she wasn't getting another Pearl, but she could always track down the renegade touring with Rose and take her in as a war criminal.
What Blue and Yellow decided to begrudgingly do, though, was to send their own troops to fight the Crystal Gems - some of whom happened to be Earth-assigned Gems who were never convinced to join the cause, such as Nephrite, whose facet friends joined her as soon as they heard of the Crystal Gems.
And that was how the war between Rose Quartz, of the Crystal Gems, and Pink Diamond, of the Homeworld Gems, got its start, with only herself and Pearl knowing the truth that the two were the same Gem all along - and even that "truth" was highly debatable.
For the most part, the war was an effort that, from an outsider's perspective, seemed to go nowhere. While forces in the name of Pink kept coming, and colonization looked like it was getting back on track (to say nothing of the fact that the Prime Kindergarten continued producing Amethyst soldiers), the Crystal Gems also looked like they were there to stay.
Rose had already gotten used to the rhythm of the war. While blacking out (her most recent trips to cloudspace were nothing like sleeping, and of course Rose would make up alternative words for it), only to discover that Pink got some serious ground and a major battle was lost, was strange, at least she didn't have to deal with herself not exactly being an exemplary Gem.
Yet, above all, the Crystal Gems kind of did not know why they were fighting. Rose knew, of course - they were fighting for Earth's organics, and saving Earth's organics was a cause worth fighting in and of itself - but conveying that to the others wasn't exactly the best goal.
However, eventually, Rose discovered the missing piece. Two whole missing pieces, in fact.
They were otherwise unassuming Gems in line with the Diamond Authority, having arrived on Earth, together with Blue Diamond, as part of the attempt to thwart colonization, and being a good Crystal Gem and fighter, Rose was there with Pearl. One of them was a Sapphire from Blue Diamond's court, who had just informed Blue that her form would be destroyed, but soon thereafter, Rose and Pearl would be stopped, together with the entire rebellion.
If this was what was to happen, then Pearl would definitely fall into the hands of Pink, and Rose didn't even want to think what would happen to her. Luckily, the two were nothing if not skilled fighters, strengthened by two hundred and fifty Earth years (and yes, they counted) of battling for the planet, and were able to tackle Gems, left and right, as though they were nothing, eventually closing in on the Sapphire.
However, this was where the other missing piece came in: a Ruby guard, one of three assigned to protect the Sapphire. Interestingly, whereas the Sapphire's gemstone was on her right palm, the Ruby's was on her left palm, as though the two were made for each other. This was only briefly noted by Rose, though, as she caught the gemstones glowing for a split second as the Ruby sought to protect the Sapphire.
Then, the entire holographic forms glowed, and... fused?
But fusion was something that only two Gems of the same type could do. This was unprecedented.
This was...
The most curious.
However, the other Gems in the skirmish didn't exactly agree. They all stared at the Sapphire and Ruby, who had quickly fallen apart again, as though they had committed the highest form of treason. In addition, Blue was positively furious that the Sapphire's prediction did not come to fruition. The two small Gems didn't know what to do, other than run off the skirmish, which took place high in the sky, and descend onto the surface of the Earth.
Nevertheless, by that time, Rose and Pearl were long gone, trying to figure out what they just saw for quite some time.
"I still can't believe it!" Rose spoke, barely containing herself. "Only on Earth, don't you think? Only on Earth where anything can happen. A fusion of two completely different Gems! Can all Gems do that? How have I never heard of this?! I've only ever heard that it's unheard of. Can you imagine what that must feel..."
However, Pearl was an entirely different Gem; one who, if something such as a fusion of two different types of Gems was even so much as suggested, would immediately try her best to make it happen. She suddenly lifted Rose off the ground - lanky as she was, she was surprisingly strong - and shouted: "Fusion... activate!"
Nothing happened, though. No glowing, no molding of holographic forms. Just pure disappointment, and even Pearl couldn't hold Rose up for that long before the two fell on the grass.
"Oh! I thought..." Pearl immediately started apologizing. "If a Ruby and a Sapphire... but you're a Diamond... forgive me! What am I doing? I... I need to be replaced immediately!"
"No!" Rose shot back. This was on several accounts: first of all, she was not a Diamond (that was the other one), and second, Pearl did not need to be replaced. In fact, Pearl was irreplaceable.
"But I've been... imagining things, even when you haven't asked me to. I imagined that I ran away and met you here on Earth, a Rose Quartz. And I'm not yours, but, I make you so happy anyway!"
Now, this was music to Rose's ears. Not only was she called by her correct name, the little story that started in her own gemstone, of a Gem who was of Earth and fell in love with Earth and sought to protect it, was getting more and more chapters, and might even get a happy ending.
However, the way Pearl finished that thought was a bit strange: "Isn't that ridiculous? Tell me to stop!"
But... Rose just felt like she connected with someone, in ways that she didn't think were possible. "Please don't ever stop." she told Pearl, grabbing her by her shoulders.
And then, they started glowing, and fusing, and doing the same thing that the Ruby and Sapphire did.
As brief as the fusion attempt was, it felt like Rose was losing herself. She was not Rose, and she was not Pink Diamond, and though Pearl was an essential part of her being, she wasn't Pearl either.
Simultaneously, she was all three of them.
However, soon enough, she found herself to be Rose again, holding up the cloud barrier to prevent Pink from shoving herself to the front, and Pearl muttering: "This is very not allowed."
Rose then suddenly remembered something. "That fusion! We never should've left her there with Blue! Who knows what sort of horrible punishment..."
She was interrupted, though, by rustling of leaves, as though something or someone fell down.
Pearl was the first to approach the source of the noise, pointing her sword at it if it happened to be a malicious, Diamond-aligned Gem. However, the Gem in question meant no harm, and even recoiled in fear: "Ah! Don't hurt her! Don't hurt... me?"
The mixture of colors, otherwise indicative of an off-color, was immediately recognizable, and even if it hadn't been, only one sort of Gem could talk in this way: one who was confused on what she even was. It was understandable, then, that Pearl responded: " It's you! The fusion..."
"We didn't mean to fuse! Well... well, we did this time. We'll unfuse! We, we'll..." the fusion continued, barely coherent.
That was when Rose, having overheard the scene and being able to relate in more ways than one, stepped in. "No, no, please... I'm glad to see you again."
In general, the Crystal Gems were welcoming of anyone so much as considering joining them; only those who praised the Diamond Authority beyond reason would actually get slashed and poofed. This behavior, however, confused the fusion, who only answered: "I don't upset you?"
"Who cares about how I feel? How you feel is bound to be much more interesting."
More accurately, how the fusion felt was going to be downright illuminating how Rose felt. From brief moments of experiencing fusion herself, she knew that different personalities weren't given a chance to come to the front; rather, they all controlled the same body. If a cohesive, mixture personality came from that, Rose would hear every word from it.
"How I feel?" The fusion started. "I feel, uh... lost... and scared... and happy. Why am I so sure that I'd rather be this than everything I was supposed to be, and that I'd rather do this than anything I was supposed to do?"
Now, this was a sentiment that was pretty much common among Crystal Gems, and Rose could only answer with: "Welcome to Earth."
The fusion, though, had more questions than even Rose. "Can you tell me!? How was Ruby able to alter fate? Or, why was Sapphire willing to give up everything? What am I!?"
In these moments, Rose usually embraced spontaneity; just coming up with something on the spot. However, this was someone who needed to be taught such an attitude, and Rose knew the perfect words to say while holding the fusion's hands: "No more questions. Don't ever question this. You already are the answer."
The fusion only stared, first at Rose, then deep into her mind, in confusion. Though, as time went on, she looked like she was still parsing everything, and soon, came into comprehension.
"Take care of them for us, okay?" Rose finished.
In time, the fusion was shown around the Crystal Gem headquarters at the time, and fully inducted into their ranks. However, Rose and Pearl still wanted the moment to themselves, so that they could make their own fusion attempt.
Once again, they chatted each other up about the shared delusion: where Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz were two completely different Gems, rather than two Gem-like constructs sharing a gemstone, and how one of them was this malicious leader and the other started a valiant rebellion.
And then, they clicked with each other, just as they had last time, and started glowing and all that stuff.
They were not one Gem, and they were not two Gems. Instead, they were someone who transcended the very idea of a Gem.
They were Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond and her Pearl, all at once.
They were a rainbow rich with colors that one could only dream to instill into a Gem by the simple colonization process.
They were Rainbow Quartz.