Part 3: Interference (Act II: "Blessed Art Thou")

….

What a shame we never listened
I told you through the television
And all that went away was the price we paid
People spend a lifetime this way
And that's how they stay
People spend a lifetime this way
Oh what a shame
What a shame.

- Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow

…

Once, Pink Diamond used to look forward to the day when she would be considered ready to join in as a full-fledged member of the authority, and some might have considered this a testament against her character -

But why would she not have?

Yes, there were many reasons to consider such an occupation horrid and perverse, but as a young, sheltered creature, she would not have known or understood the finer points of any of those – once full of love and admiration for those she had found around her, she longed to win their respect and approval – or wrest it from them, make them see her as one of them if that's what it might end up taking.

She wanted to be as they were and do what they did, simply because that's what it meant to be a part of them – And perhaps, she imagined that being a 'proper Diamond' would come with a bit of freedom, seeing as it was nominally a position of power and respect.

Once she had her own worlds, her own fleets and her own followers, they would have to see her as an equal, and perhaps, listen to her voice here and there.

So at first, she had wanted what they wanted.

But the more that her awareness expanded out into the greater world, the more she came to know of what her duties would entail -

(forever, and ever, and ever)

The more she began to see her destiny with fear and trepidation.

….

On another occasion, the entire Diamond Authority was again gathered at the pool, having what could have been a pleasant evening if only White could have let it be.

"Yellow, sing higher! Blue, lighter! Pink, clearer! Don't smudge it all together like that!" by the end, her void-black lips had curled in disapproval, her long, carbon lashes lowered in a hint of frustration.

She was seated so as to ensure that her shoulders would stay above the water, as she had chosen to leave the hairpins in for today.

"Here. Just follow after me."

And of course they could not hope to match her, the splintering high notes, the pure, and deafening tones, the quick, relentless fugues of her melodies, like castles of ice and mountains of crystal and little pools of water that glittered in deep, untouched caves, and lone bridges that stood in the water all by themselves, with none of their ends leading to anywhere, lost in circles of resonance, reverb and echo that could be felt as much as heard -

But she had commanded for them to follow, and so they must obey.

Yellow, as usual, took it upon herself to go first.

It was exactly the same song, an abstract, classical piece of considerable age, though not nearly as old as Yellow herself – But where White's voice had been the self-contained, maddening swell of a glass harmonica, possessed of some quality akin to the pure sinus tones emanating from a tuning fork, Yellow's deep, powerful voice and her intense, impassioned performance made it into something like an irate funerary march that bombarded the room with dark, thundering tones, as one might expect it from the booming pipes of an organ or the brass trumpets one would expect at the end of the world.

as mighty, it was heavy, it was solemn, and it was titanic, yet for all its resonant power, her rendition was not void of feeling – but those were not little, soft feelings, but sentiments as tempestuous and majestic as befits the full, strong voice carrying them into the heavens.

In her rendition, the nimble quickness of the melody became an urgent, feverish haste, a dramatic, overpowering presence that, without doubt, must have sent some chills down the backs of the Guards outside the chamber doors.

Then, it was Blue's turn, and for all that it had seemed like the two previous versions had been each other's perfect opposites, she somehow found a way to present the exact same melody in such a manner that it was as different from both of them as they had been from each other – not by intention, but just by nature, much in the way the ethereal sounds of a harpsichord or hammered dulcimer still contained a twinge of something that made them recognizable as string instruments as opposed to the clear purity of a piano.

For one thing, Blue sang it somewhat slower, and quieter, following along the melody in a measured, leisurely pace befitting her own regal, graceful presence, something quite at home in these vaunted, hallowed palace halls, but it was not without some haunting, melancholy streak to it; Had one attempted to put it in present-day earth terms, the word 'baroque' might have been used, but of course this occurrence preceded any such art movements by many thousands of years.

Halfway through the song, she had closed her eyes and forgotten about anything else in the world, completely absorbed in this single instant, for it was one of these rare and in-between moments that she never wanted to end – so why would she ever want to be anywhere else in her thoughts and feelings? Soon enough, she was not merely performing because White had requested it, but simply taking this opportunity to do what she loved in the presence of the ones she most treasured.

Somewhere at the bottom of the stairs, near the entrance of the hall, the Pearls were probably crying – Blue Pearl, who was herself a bit of an artistic soul, did so with a slight smile and her own eyes closed (somewhere behind her bangs) to better take in the spectacle, whereas Yellow Pearl was a bit indignant at the inelegant display she knew she must be making and proudly turned her face away from the others, but not without surreptitiously grasping the hand of her companion.

Perhaps due to being the newest, Pink Pearl was the most overcome of them all and may have made an indecorous display of herself if the others had not emphatically gestured for her to be silent, but soon after, Blue Pearl held out a hand to her as well so that she might aid her in staying calm.

Ultimately, Blue Diamond reached the end of the song and all eyes turned to Pink.

Judging from past experience, she would have grown impatient, so her fellow Diamonds expected to find her fidgeting around, eager to jump at her turn.

But instead, the very opposite was the case: For the first time since they had come to the chamber, she was standing completely still, her mouth agape and her eyes filled with sparkles.

So mesmerized was she, that it slipped her mind that she was supposed to be next until Yellow decided to remind her by aggressively clearing her throat.

Thus jerked back to reality, Pink could scarcely let herself be outdone, and so uncommon deliberation, she swam over to the edge of the pool and stood on it, preparing to make her stand.

But where the other's interpretations had differed from White's simply because they were not her and could not help putting their own handwriting on something that might not even look the same in their differing perceptions, Pink took that as an inspiration to go further.

She wanted her own contribution to be just as unique and original as all the others, and so she took that song and made it as unlike itself as she could while still keeping the arrangement of the notes.

Her voice went soft where the others had remained hard, and where theirs had maintained a solemn dignity, she actually managed to give that same sequence of tones a gentle, soothing, outright angelic quality, like cherubic harps, soft bells and the blossoming swells of violins.

She made it sound as it might feel for a tired, worn out warrior to be taken up into the arms of paradise, where peace and fragrant opulence await.

– and yet, she did not turn this into a game like the others might have expected her to.

One could hear her sincere feelings and her genuine effort, and the result was, without a doubt beautiful.

When she was finished, she even topped it off with a little bow and a big smile, clearly proud of herself.

And for good reason:

Last time she'd tried it, she'd gotten carried away in supplementing her performance with a little dance at the end of the pool, with the inevitable result that she'd ended up slipping and plunging back into the water – her size, while diminutive when compared to her fellow Diamonds, was still considerable enough to build up quite a bit of inertia, and so she'd wound up all the way at the bottom. By the time the bubbles around her dispersed, she'd been standing there with her arms crossed and a very pouty face marked with a deep magenta blush.

Perhaps that's what convinced some of her fellow Diamonds – mostly Blue, really – to phrase their appraisal carefully: "That was very... interesting, Pink."

She probably even meant it to an extent, though one could not overlook that it was clearly a euphemism.

Unlike her, Yellow did not mince her words, but at the same time, she considered what might be conducive to a constructive outcome: "At the very least, it's a definite improvement over last time."

White, of course, was a different matter; She had never known to soften any blow for as long as she had lived, for she was rather... well, black-and-white in her understandings. Things were either perfect, or not, and if they weren't, there could be no way in which they could possibly be satisfactory – not even here, in, what by all means, should have been an intimate, lighthearted setting, and though she was used to it, she couldn't really help her bafflement – how could the others not see this? What could even make them think this was acceptable? Did they just not understand how it was supposed to work?

She was here to improve them after all, but sometimes their limitations rather frustrated her.

One wonders if she would have held that same view if she could have seen her own face in that moment – the huffish pout she was currently sporting was not significantly more dignified than, and indeed, remarkably identical to the one Pink had worn after last week's watery misadventure.

"What do you think you're doing! And not just Pink, all of you. Didn't I tell you to follow after me? Did you not hear?" She signed, making her fastidious exasperation quite heard. "And we were having such a pleasant evening, too. Now it's all spoiled with the way you were getting it all wrong! What were you thinking?"

Blue and Yellow knew to look ashamed and refrain from replying, because they knew it was futile, but also, because they actually felt their own insufficiency.

And for Pink, her feelings can't have been too different, but either from naive hope or poorly restrained impulse, she did consider speaking before White silenced her with a gesture of her hand.

"Don't answer, I already know. This was all supposed to be some prank, wasn't it? At least Yellow and Blue were trying, but you were just messing up deliberately!"

"No of course not!" answered Pink, still not dissuaded from speaking, though that might be more indicative of her inability to read the room than it was of any exemplary courage. "I just... I just thought it might be nice, to sing the song a little different. I thought it was so exciting how you and Blue and Yellow all sang the same song, but it completely was unique each time, like it was a totally different song. Completely the same, but also completely different, and each one was beautiful in its very own way... So I wanted to do that, too, just like you three."

The younger gem's face grew more and more heated with every sentence she spoke, clearly moping rather than apologetic:

"Why is that not okay?!"

"Because the song isn't supposed to go that way!"

"Well, it's not like the original song won't be around anymore just because we sing it a bit differently. I was just having fun."

"By doing it wrong on purpose?"

"It was not supposed to be wrong, it was just supposed different! Just like how Yellow and Blue did it!"

White inhaled sharply. "There you go again, encouraging bad behavior everywhere you go, and dragging others into it! You should be helping them to do better, not talking about their shortcomings like they're something praiseworthy! You must be mindful of their flaws Pink, they're not like you or I. Don't make it more difficult for them."

At this point it should be pointed out that Yellow and Blue were still in the room, and not especially surprised by this phrasing – they were rather used to it, and if anything, they just hoped that Pink would refrain from seriously enraging their creator who, at this point, was still merely exasperated – but mercifully, the younger gem was now actually looking somewhat rueful, with her head held low and all – it's not like Yellow and Blue liked seeing her looking discouraged, but they figured it was probably better for everyone involved that this mere scolding did not devolve into a proper confrontation.

As for Pink, well,

"I'm sorry. I know I mess up a lot, but I'd never want to get anyone in trouble! It's just... You're great at singing like you. No one else could do it better, not in a million years! You really are the very best. But only Blue can sing like Blue, and only Yellow can sing like Yellow. When I listen to them, it's like it reminds me of everything that I love about them. Don't you feel the same?

I mean, you're not going anywhere. You can sing like you. But if we all try to sing like you, there'll be no one left to sing like us, and I think that would be very very sad..."

For a moment, Yellow and Blue tensed up, expecting some sort of blowout – But fortunately for them, White did not seem to consider this effusion worthy of a direct answer, or even of her rage.

"Oh Starlight! Only you could say something so preposterous!"

"Wow, she actually laughed," Yellow would observe later, with a hint of slight amusement in her voice, as they were drying themselves off."Can't recall the last time we saw her do that." It was right before she marched right out the door, just as White had done moments before, without ever looking back.

Sure, White had laughed.

And once, that was all Pink had ever wanted.

To get a laugh out of White, or anything at all. But by now, she was beginning to feel that it only ever came at the cost of making herself the punchline.

Every time she dared to bare her honest feelings, she was setting herself up to be picked apart – And not even Blue seemed much interested in the actual content of Pink's words:

"Even so..." she added, still a bit peeved by what she and Yellow had no doubt perceived as a narrowly avoided disaster. "You really shouldn't have talked back to her like that. You know how she gets sometimes..."

"You know I meant it, right? What I said about you two..."

Blue sighed in exasperation. There would be no sympathy from her. "Can't you just... let it be for once? Take things seriously?"

She was being serious.

And maybe the three of them would notice if they could just let her be and take her seriously for a change!

And perhaps Pink had laid her own trap here with all of her earlier tomfoolery, but -

They kept saying they wanted her to act more mature.

But as long as she didn't do so in the precise way that they understood as 'mature' all she did and all she felt counted for nothing.

….

Soon, Pink understood, what she could not help but hear, even if it was not what the others had been meaning to say – they wanted her to go and be this graceful, perfect being;

they thought she could. They wouldn't listen when she cried and screamed that she could not do it, that she did not want to.

They expected her to give up her all, or at least, to play along so at least her shell would be doing something useful.

It was not what they meant to say, but it was what they made her hear, what any logical mind might deduce from the contradictory knots and tangles of their actions:

No one wants or needs your real self.

No one is ever interested in what lies inside you, nobody ever wants to hear about it, and nobody could ever love it.

So she took the contents of her heart and locked them behind thick iron doors, buried under heavy oceans and the soft brown earth, where no one would ever reach them.

It staid where they had left it, in some dark and lofty tower.

If all people would ever listen to was what they already wanted to hear, then that is what she would give them -

Whether it was the bratty little princess, the cherished, gracious queen, the messianic rebel leader, or the starry-eyed lover held in their arms, all her deceptions begin here.

By the time she would make it to earth, her heart had already gone cold.

….

But there was someone who knew her heart, simply because they had always been together, even before the thorns had been sprouting in her soul.

The one who was always at her side, her first and oldest friend -

And all that was delicate or innocent about her, everything honest and pure, was smothered to death when the two of them were parted.

In later years, Pink would not even quite recall was it was she had messed up. It was just another thing of many, but it was one too much.

White Diamond had some issues with her conduct.

And it was one thing when Blue or Yellow would lash out, the selfish, brutish product of their own limitations, the things they were willing to do because it was part of their work, or expected in their society, and then filed away to go back to being people in the comfort of their homes -

But White was an entirely different matter.

As their mother, their god and their empress, she was exactly the same.

For how could she have sinned against the laws that were but extensions of her thought?

Her commands were absolute, as was her adherence to protocol. She never raised her own hand, for it would not do for one of her status to lower herself to such a task, but neither would it be fit for Pink to be beaten by her inferiors.

So, someone else had to stand in her place -

And they had often feared that they might be discovered and punished, but until that day, Pink had never fully realized that the punishments they might be facing were of a very different nature due to the disparity in their rank.

Oblivious in her cruel, foolish innocence, she had been playing with her best friend's life every time she'd requested her company, or even that of the Pebbles, never realizing how often she'd come close to squandering it away – But in the end, that wasn't even what happened.

Pink Pearl had done nothing wrong, not even by the unjust laws of her barren birthplace.

Instead, it was Pink Diamond who had acted out of line, and the price for her thoughtless wrongdoings was to be stripped of what, in this awful place, would be considered her most favorite, shiniest toy.

For White, this was too trivial to even dirty her own hands; She sent for one of her agates, a black-and-gray one with a stern, unreadable face and a large, spiked flail ready in her hands.

She did not hesitate for a second, for to do so in front of her mistress would have been utter suicide.

White did not even have to utter a word; With a snap of her fingers, her faithful servant understood what was required of her, and smashed her large, vulgar weapon into Pink Pearl's fragile little body.

And Pink Diamond really wished she could say that every blow hurt as if she were undergoing them herself, but she was painfully aware that it was not her thin little form splayed out on the ground, nor the splinters of her face falling before her former master's feet.

Pink Diamond herself hadn't been touched – White did never strike her, but oh, how she loved to destroy every single thing she had ever cared about, how she excelled at making her wish she was in pieces!

And yet she knew of the banal insufficiency of her pointless, pitiful feelings, how no amount of feeling sorry for herself would ease the suffering of her friend or the pain she would have to endure solely because of her.

She felt so filthy for even hurting, when an innocent gem was suffering so much worse on her behalf; Right there, she could have begun to hate herself for even existing, and for being the same kind of creature as her cruel, unflinching tormentor towering high above them both, with her hollow heartless smile and that almost gleeful look in her eyes as she beheld the tiny servant gem pinned down beneath Grey Agate's boots.

Knowing that she would do well to anticipate her master's wishes, the Agate inspected her handiwork, and, once she had ascertained that its results should satisfy her ruler, reached for the smaller gem's shoulder and pulled her brusquely to her feet, though she could not keep upright.

Perhaps she was no longer fully conscious, which was a mercy, all things considered.

And there was another: Her gemstone appeared undamaged.

But this is where all benedictions ended.

Her once beautiful face was a wreck, a maze of deep spiderweb cracks and dripping, translucent liquid.

One of her vision spheres had burst open like an egg.

A ghastly sight all on its own, even without the much-compounded horror of seeing it inflicted on the face of her best friend.

But all White Diamond had to say about it was:

"Ah Pink... just look what you made me do."

She seemed more disgusted than anything else.

"My Diamond. Shall I go ahead and dissipate her form?"

What she was actually asking was if White Diamond felt that quite enough suffering had been inflicted. The agate could have poofed Pink Pearl with the first strike if that had been the point of the exercise.

Instead, she had diligently inflicted just as much damage as her little form could take without breaking, nothing more, nothing less.

The finishing blow would almost come as an act of mercy at this point, or one last, painful blow meant to ensure that Pink Pearl would continue to serve her decorative function, as if that was all that been impacted by these blows, as if all that could be objectionable about this horrid, undeserved ordeal she had to endure was that she was no longer pretty – oh what a silly, trivial, shallow consideration, but even that was not quite unfeeling enough for White Diamond's grand design:

"Don't bother. There's no need. I don't think we'll have any more need for that one..."

And Pink Diamond had not dared to move from her place, knowing that it would be futile in the presence of her creator and result only in calling down further punishment, but with this implication in the room, she could not possibly have remained silent.

"What do you mean, no more need? What are you going to do with her?!"

White Diamond looked at her like she had just voiced something ludicrous and obtuse.

"She'll be disposed of, obviously. No more Pearl for you until you learn to behave yourself."

She spoke fairly casually, like she was merely somewhat miffed and out of patience for Pink's antics, but as far as the younger Diamond was concerned, the sky of her little world was coming crashing down on her.

In hindsight she would come to wonder why she was ever surprised – they had been awful to her a great many times, and she had taken it all with little else but soft, apologetic whimpers. They had to target someone else, someone who had unarguably been innocent before she would wise up to the boundless extent of their cruelty.

"No please! Pearl did nothing wrong! It was all me! Please! If you want to punish me that's fine. If you want to take her away from me, that's fine, too! But don't do anything to her! Can't you just give her to someone else or something?!"

"Now how could I possibly do that? You must understand that she was made specifically for you. Everything about her was tailored to your needs – so there's no other gem in the empire whom she could fit with as perfectly as she does with you. Without you, her existence is without a purpose... and you, my dear, have not been behaving yourself."

"PLEASE!"

Grey Agate was quite shocked at the contradictory sight before her; Never did she even think it possible that she might see a Diamond begging on her knees, even if it was the youngest and smallest one – and least of all over a Pearl of all things.

"PLEASE White! I'll do anything... anything you want, just please don't hurt her anymore! PLEASE!" She was in tears at this point, her whole face was a puffy, undignified mess.

Later she would lament how close she had come to getting her effusions on the wounds of her fallen friend, how close she had been to mending the deep gashes that would never quite heal.

But at the time, she had simply not known that she had that power – she felt like she had no power at all, as helpless as she had ever been. At least if this violence had been directed at her, she could have chosen how to bear it, and perhaps, she could have remained defiant or pleaded her way out of it.

But no concoction of Pink Diamond's mind could possibly have helped Pink Pearl.

All she could do was beg.

"Please White!" she pleaded between sobs. "If you ever cared for me at all- Even just the tiniest little bit... please don't hurt her anymore!"

White Diamond merely shook her head. "Oh Starlight... aren't you getting a little bit too old to be this attached to your playthings?

But fine. Since it's you, I will make a single exception. The things you make me do, Pink... "

Grey Agate was not insignificantly startled by that.

"So, she can stay with me?"

And for a moment, Pink dared to think that maybe, things wouldn't be so bad, that someone she had thus far loved as part of her family couldn't possibly be capable of such a heinous act-

"Stars, no! I'd love to let you keep her, but if I did, you'd never learn your lesson..."

"But you said-"

"If you want her to stay in service so badly, I shall take her as my own."

And though that sounded like mercy, though it was spoken as if White meant for it to be mercy, Pink couldn't help the sudden sense of dread that flared up in the pit of her stomach.

The younger three Diamonds had been assigned a Pearl not long after they emerged, as it befitted their status, but White – White had never wanted nor needed one...

She'd been around since before there were Pearls. Since before there was anything apart from herself...

But despite her encroaching desperation, Pink tried to urge herself to hope – Pearl would still be around after all, right? She'd simply be working for White is all. Opening doors for her or whatever – and considering how rarely White went outside that should be quite an easy job to do. Sure, White might be very strict, and, Pink Pearl could be a little clumsy sometimes, not unlike her Diamond, but – At least they should still be able to see each other during official functions, right? Or whenever else all four of them would be required to be together... right?

Right?

"I can see this working, actually, now that I think of it..." White Diamond mused as if the gem whose fate she was discussing wasn't still hanging in her Agate's grasp with her face smashed in. "Don't you think she matches me a little bit, Starlight?"

Pink Diamond said nothing. The surreal sight before her, this sheer callousness coming from someone she had once admired... it boggled her mind.

Grey Agate was not so speechless:

"Shall I destroy her form after all, then?"

"Nah. You might as well leave her like this. It will serve as a good reminder to everyone, don't you think? Of all the unpleasant mishaps that can happen when one forgets their place..."

Then, she turned to Pink Diamond.

"But alas, I have no doubt that you must have spoiled her beyond all remedy, as you seem to do with just about anything... So I hope you'll understand that I'll have to make a few... adjustments before I can make use of her."

And that's when the light burst forth from behind her eyes.

(Later, after she had met and exchanged thoughts with individuals such as Garnet and Bismuth, she would know to classify this moment as yet another example of homeworld's callous disregard for life -

If life, on its own, had no value, and only it's purpose mattered at all, it was not surprising that they felt justified in inflicting all sorts of agonies upon their lives and their feelings in the name of that very purpose – especially on poor little Pink Pearl, who hadn't been considered to hold much importance in the greater scheme of things.

But at the time, Pink Diamond had no other framework by which to understand what had transpired than the one she had been given: That she was supposed to be a leader, and that she had led the first person entrusted to her command to this horrid, grisly fate, all because of her. Because she ruined everything she touched, as White had so helpfully informed her...

And even once her mind knew better, her heart would never quite manage to un-believe it.)

…

"What has she done with her?!"

Blue Diamond didn't know how to answer this – She wasn't used to seeing Pink this enraged, not engaged in such open unapologetic defiance.

Even Yellow had privately agreed that White's actions had been a little bit... excessive. She could understand her confiscating Pink's pearl, but was there really a need to parade her around like that? And it's not like White had ever come out and explained to them in detail just how exactly her powers worked.

"Well, she's White's pearl now... So White is free to with her however she pleases..."

At first, Blue had been inclined to comfort her (and Pink maintained some hope for her because she had sounded uncomfortable), but as the days went on, she had continued to make herself absolutely impossible. This was her worst tantrum yet.

"Oh quit making a fuss! If you could only behave yourself for a while, you'd get a new one in no time!"

"A- A new one? You think that's what I want? Pearl was my best friend! No one will ever replace her! I don't ever want another one, not forever and ever and ever!"

"Well, you'll have to get another one eventually. As it befits your status."

Status? Befitting? Seriously?

Pink had thought that at least Blue would understand her. She still had her original Pearl, the same one she had received in her youth and, to an extent, been raised with. Ever sentimental, Blue had opted to keep her, even if she had developed a few quirks over the years such as a love for drawing pictures. After all, she still performed her assigned duties exactly as she was supposed to, with great attention to proper decorum just as Blue would have it. She'd even found her some application for her drawings, because, why not?

Pink didn't know how many Yellow had gone through – she'd only known the one for as long as she could remember, but she'd heard her mentioning how her first one had perished in an enemy raid on one of her early conquests. Yellow had of course been too concerned with attaining her strategic objectives to go back for her before it was too late...

But even she wasn't a complete stickler for the rules – she allowed Yellow Pearl to make herself useful in ways that went beyond the typical applications of a Pearl, because, when would she ever complain about too much usefulness or too good a service? And she'd never really cared about the details of formalities to begin with, always cutting off her subjects when they sang her praises – it was almost mean, really, especially now that Pink was beginning to think that they praised her only because if they didn't, they might end up like poor, poor Pink Pearl...

A lot of gems were attached to, or appreciative of their tools and spaceships, and that didn't mean that they actually cared about them as one would for a person.

Yellow and Blue were different from White alright, they didn't bring her horrible attitude into everything they did. They could act somewhat civil among themselves and those who didn't oppose them, it was very much possible to have a good working relationship with them. Theirs was the banal, compartmentalized evil of those who could do horrid things because it was part of their job, or expected in their society, and then turn back to their ordinary little lives, as if the victims of their terror didn't have loved ones just like them...

Out of the three, White was certainly the viler horror, an uncompromising, unyielding creature who couldn't suffer anything good to live – But one doesn't begrudge the storm on the horizon; One merely avoids it.

And without people like Yellow and Blue to serve as their enforcers, how much damage would people like White really be able to inflict upon this world?

"You think you can do anything to anyone, do you?"

"Pink, let it go. Do you want to get locked in the tower again?"

"You even think you can do anything to me."

"That's enough!"

…

"I see! So you're just gonna lock me away again so you don't have to deal with me, right, Yellow? I bet you wish I'd just shut up so you'd never have to listen to me at all!"

Exasperated, Yellow Diamond paused to massage her temples.

"I'm doing this because I have better things to do than to deal with your tantrums, and if you ever stopped to think before you act and consider anyone besides yourself, you would have thought of that already.

If you won't act as it befits you, at least let me do my part! You're not the only one who has even been asked to make sacrifices, you know? This is what White expects of all of us."

This, if anything, just added fuel to the fire of Pink's ire.

"What- White?! Who cares about White! What has White ever done for us? You should know better than anyone that she doesn't care about us! She doesn't care about me, she doesn't care about Blue, and she certainly doesn't care about you! You think she'll care about you if you try to be like her and do all this stuff for her, but you know what?

She never will!

Stop trying to be like White! You're nothing like White, and you never will be!"

"I... know." she uttered, her gaze averted, her voice suddenly quiet, her rage wiped off her face by a dried-up, pained expression.

And like that, she locked the door, leaving Pink alone in the dark.

...

"Say Yellow..." Blue would remark, after yet another confrontation that ended with her disciplining Pink rather harshly.

"Don't you think we're perhaps...being too hard on her?"

Yellow had just stood back during most of the altercation, with her back turned and her shoulder blades arranged so as to look very disappointed.

"She'll have to learn to do her part, just as we did. The sooner she understands that, the easier it will be for her. We're not doing her a favor if we let her think it could be otherwise..."

"You're far too soft on her. Even you, Yellow." White would conclude the one time they succeeded in bringing up the subject to her. "If this keeps up then, well... I don't know what may become of our poor little Starlight... And you wouldn't like to be responsible for that, now would you?"

...

Of course, her newly-acquired Pearl gave White yet another excuse not to show up where she didn't want to, often sending that pitiable creature in her stead.

The cracks in her face closed up with time, but they left marks that never faded.

Though they never knew for sure, Yellow and Blue had come to suspect that it was her in there – They knew her voice and her gestures.

Far be it from them to guess why she felt the need to act out the part, to play the role of a Pearl like she felt it ought to be played in some sort of macabre stageplay that much outshone Pink Pearl's own, often lackluster performance, but she was far too comfortable on her throne, and far too direct and unreserved in her way of ordering them around, as only she would dare.

If the other royal Pearls had known that they had sometimes stood ready in the presence of what was essentially an extension of their supreme ruler, it may have been more than they could take – Even just under the assumption that it was simply Pink Pearl after being subjected to some horrific unspeakable fate, they made sure to give her a wide berth.

…

Pink and White were... not speaking anymore.

Or at least, not more often than they had to – if White felt the need to talk at them for a bit about something, none of the younger Diamonds would have had any choice but to listen to her, but if they wanted to speak to them, well, she had never much valued their input, and she wasn't about to start now.

Yet, it was a bit disconcerting, considering how Pink once used to cherish any opportunity to spend time with their elusive ruler, always eager to know more about her – Or that's what Blue thought when it appeared to her as if Pink had been avoiding White for quite some time now.

Yellow merely remarked that Pink still got to see White a lot more than either of them ever did, and usually for messing up, too.

...

At about three-thousand years old, Pink Diamond was a sullen, malcontent youth with a face like sour fruit and full, cerise lips that were seldom ever smiling.

Of course, they would only remember the good moments, those to their liking, and imagine her laughter haunting empty corridors where it had not been heard for a long, long time.

And looking back in anger, she would only see the screams, the dark, and the silence.

She would stomp through the corridors of wherever she had been dragged to, looking for something to occupy her attention and alleviate her stewing, simmering boredom, and woe to anything in her way.

Only when she heard Bismuth remarking about some upper crusts smashing things up with impunity since they knew they wouldn't have to clean it up would this come to add more fuel to the fires of her self-hatred.

But she had enough of that already.

She was no longer had the bright eyes of a hopeful child, but still lacked the embittered wisdom and maternal airs of Earth's beloved, charming ruler (or its beloved charming rebel leader).

Eventually, her disgruntled steps led her to a control room where Yellow Diamond was, as always, absorbed in her work.

She looked overwrought, really, how many days might it have been since she'd last risen from that chair and put her fingers away from those holoscreens?

There she was, listlessly typing away, and yet still intent on ignoring Pink. She'd brought her along to one of her colonies, but in all the time they had been here, Pink had barely seen anything of her in all that time.

Good thing too, because the younger Diamond was starting to hate the sight of her.

She must think she was so much better than her, even more so than Blue did – Yellow was everything a Diamond was supposed to be. Everyone listened to her, everyone respected her, everyone feared her -

Of how easy it must be to be her. Or how grand, being so great at everything she was supposed to be! No wonder that she felt she was too good for her and Blue, so much that she'd rather slave away at her machines, and always, always ignoring her -

She was not the company that Pink wanted, but she was the only one she was going to get.

Who knew? Maybe some part of her still hoped that one day, she might respect her, but that hope grey more and more distant each day.

She only ever yelled, and scolded her, and grabbed her to drag her around.

But Pink couldn't stand to be alone... it made her feel all restless and wound-up.

"Oi! Yelloooow! Play with me! Why won't you play with me? I said PLAY WITH ME!"

(Predictably, she wound up reprimanded and punished.)

…

Pink Diamond eventually received a new Pearl.

Legend said that White visited one of the kindergartens on one of her most abundant worlds, startling some kindergartener nearly half to death.

Not for tens of thousands of millennia had such a low-ranked gem laid eyes on her, but this was not a task that she trusted anyone else with.

The facilities didn't even have rooms big enough to hold her – She ended up sitting on the edge of a cliff.

She had brought with her a long list of precise requirements and specifications, along with a fresh vial of her essence.

"Then you've finally decided to have one made for yourself? We thank you for this honor, m-my Diamond..."

"For me? Stars, no! She's for Pink Diamond!"

"I beg your Pardon! It's just when I saw those specifications, I thought they were yours... I don't presume to question your impeccable judgment, but I don't understand... Wouldn't it be more suitable for Pink Diamond to provide the raw material herself?"

"Oh no! That would be most unsuitable! I don't expect one such as you to understand, but Pink Diamond is a bit of a... difficult case. Her involvement would only mess things up. But she is my dear little Starlight, so I need you to understand that this undertaking is quite important to me. She must have the most perfect, the most beautiful, the obedient Pearl ever created! The most ideal image of a Pearl, do you understand? Do not displease me.

I will accept only the very best to make my little Starlight happy... And who knows, this one might actually be a good influence on her..."

And perfect she was.

Where Pink Pearl had marveled at Pink's tricks or joined in in her games, this new one only spoke when spoken to, always orderly, always on point, always precise, always finicky, always asking her what she wanted to do.

Sometimes, when she was with her, Pink felt like she might as well be alone, like she might as well be talking to a computer.

On some days it scared her and on others, it made her so very, very angry... but she could never resent the poor creature for it. It wasn't her fault that she was like this. Pink didn't know the details but it figured that White has done this to her, somehow. That she had made her to be this way, which made her yet another innocent being to be mangled because of Pink.

She'd tried to talk with her, of course, to prod her to see if there was somehow a person in there somewhere, someone with their own wonderful qualities who was actually nothing like White, but so far, she hadn't been very successful.

Sometimes, when Pink Diamond looked at that Pearl, she found herself wishing she had never been made. At least if she weren't here, neither this Pearl here nor Pink Pearl would ever have suffered...

...

Even Yellow Diamond could not help but notice that Pink had been... brooding, as of late.

Morose, sulky, and just all around unlike herself.

It had started sometime after White had confiscated her Pearl.

She had never been all that obedient or patient to begin with, but never like this.

Sometimes it seemed like she was alternating between rejecting everything about her role, and loudly demanding that she be given the privileges of her station in a manner that could no nothing other than cement how very far she was from being ready, though she was already past the age when Blue had been given free reign over her own worlds.

Yellow was beginning to worry about her.

Just a few cycles ago, she had shown up in one of her control rooms – unruly as she always was these days – and stomped on the armrests of her throne, claiming that she deserved her own colonies, and everything else that befitted a member of the authority.

At the time, Yellow had naturally blown her off, since she had been acting like a brat.

It was only when she'd been done with her work and making her way to the warp pad that she had come by a smashed mirror and some seriously trashed floor tiles and wall panes, and in one terrible moment of lucid awareness, Yellow wondered if they would ever be able to make her fall in line without ruining everything that had been good and lovable about her.

If this kept up, she might end up just like the rest of them, blackened with sin and bursting with rage...

Yellow was not one to dwell on such things – but likewise, she could never stand to see her loved ones in distress without feeling the immediate urge to do something about it – and whenever Yellow had been feeling discontented or frustrated, she had usually found solace in her work. If Pink was bored, wouldn't it be right to find her something to do?

By the time she reached the warp pad, she had outwitted her own better judgment with a web of self-serving rationalization – Perhaps Pink could not be expected to mature until she was given actual responsibilities, and wasn't it a good sign if she was asking for a colony, even if she wasn't doing it in the most appropriate of ways?

Shouldn't they encourage her, if she was finally showing interest in her duties as a Diamond? Conveniently, her scouts had just recently located another promising world, a strange place covered in so much water that it sometimes just fell from the sky as precipitation. There were quite a few organics to be cleared away, but nothing much resembling civilization apart from a few primitive buildings scattered across a handful of dank river valleys – and the soil was ideal for growing quartzes. If Pink wanted her own army, this planet would provide everything she might need to make them herself.

She could make this world her capital, and, once her armies were assembled, she could set out from there to collect her own selection of worlds in whatever way she desired. Indeed, the prospect of creating her own gems en masse might make it quite easy to enthuse her about it, for if there was one aspect of her duties as a Diamond that Pink had never had a problem with, or even relished in, it was her ability to create new life. Even White had to admit that Pink had a gift for it; She'd been able to come up with those defensive-specced quartzes of hers at a far younger age than Yellow or Blue were when they'd first created their own, all-new gem type - and she should easily be able to get a good batch of those out of that little blue planet.

White might not be convinced right away, but Yellow doubted that she would put up much of a fight as long as herself and Blue vowed to intervene and take responsibility in case anything went wrong. She always had a soft spot for Pink, after all, and in the end, it was Yellow's planet – she could give it to Pink if she damn well pleased.

Yellow Diamond would come to regret that decision for the rest of her life.

…

Pink Diamond's heart might have gone cold, but it did never, ever turn hard.

But when she finally encountered something that incensed its passion, well-

Blue dismissed her.

Yellow scolded her.

And White just laughed in her face.

(A wicked, empty sound)

A/N This turned out almost nothing like I planned it but that's probably for the better.

Maybe I can funnel some of my scrapped, fluffier ideas into some additional fanfic. Or plopp them into a bonus chapter at the end when I no longer need to worry about the proper flow and impact.

I also read somewhere that Rebecca had the idea for whom to cast as BD and YD from hearing their VAs perform the exact same song in completely different ways, idk if it inspired or fit their preexisting idea of the contrast between them, but I thought it might be fun to throw in something like this, mostly because it provided an opportunity to illustrate Pink's and White's contrasting worldviews.

Look forward to the next chapter, in which Blue Diamond shall faint like a victorian heroine.